APEX · pricing
Real numbers, like everything else we sell.
The list
Everything, including the parts nobody publishes.
| Standard | OSEE bridge | What it covers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eligibility review | Free | Free | Free, permanently. Nobody pays to be told they are not ready — and every other body charges an application fee. |
| Performance exam — one full attempt | $6,500 | $5,800 | All phases, the oral and design assessment, and a written decision with reasoning. The bridge rate is the assessment time the Phase A waiver removes, not a promotion. |
| Security AI Engineering course | $2,950 | $2,450 | Twelve modules, each with a graded lab artifact reviewed by a person. Priced to be the accessible part — a genuinely experienced engineer picks this discipline up quickly, and the gate should be the exam, not the tuition. |
| Course + exam | $8,500 | $7,500 | Saves $950 standard and $750 on the bridge route against buying separately. |
| Retake — up to two failed phases | $300 | $300 | You retake only the phases you did not clear, on a different design and different technology. Each phase beyond two adds $200. |
| Team cohort, 5 or more — per head, all in | $7,750 | $6,900 | Course and exam. Priced per head by that head’s route, so a mixed team pays the bridge rate for the engineers who hold an OSEE and the standard rate for the rest. |
Eligibility review is free, permanently
Nobody pays to be told they are not ready. Every other certification body charges an application fee; we would rather spend the hour and give you a straight answer, because an applicant who is told honestly that they need another year is worth more to us than one who pays for a fail.
Retakes
Priced so that you actually take them.
A retake priced like a second exam does not protect the standard. It just loses the candidate — and somebody who comes back and passes is worth far more to everyone than a few hundred dollars.
You retake only the phases you did not clear — except that the build and the defense are one unit, because the defense runs against what you built. Retaking either means retaking both.
A retake draws a different design on different technology. The phases are the same; what you are standing in front of is not. Come prepared.
| Phases to retake | Fee |
|---|---|
| 1 phase | $300 |
| 2 phases | $300 |
| 3 phases | $500 |
| 4 phases | $700 |
| 5 phases | $900 |
One coupling to know about
The build and the defense are a single unit. The defense runs against what you built, so retaking either means retaking both — you cannot defend an environment that no longer exists.
Teams
Cohorts of 5 or more.
Priced per head by that person’s route, so a mixed team pays the bridge rate for the engineers who hold an OSEE and the standard rate for the rest. No negotiation required, and no volume discount that quietly lowers the bar.
Why it costs what it costs
You are buying senior attention, not a proctored quiz.
A typical certification exam costs its issuer a few dollars to grade, because a machine marks it. This one does not work that way. An AI agent monitors the sitting for integrity, but the assessment itself is a Certified APEX Instructor going through your build, your tooling, your evidence and your report, then sitting across from you and asking about it — with the final decision made by the program principal.
That is where the money goes, and it is the reason the exam is the expensive part and the course deliberately is not. The gate should be the assessment, not the tuition.
When automation takes more of those hours back, the price comes down. It came down once already for exactly that reason.