Ask anyone on the CompTIA Security+ subreddit how they studied, and "Professor Messer" comes up in nearly every thread. Jason Messer has become the default starting point for Security+ candidates — not because he's the only option, but because his free video series is good enough that paid alternatives struggle to justify the price difference. This guide covers what the Professor Messer Security+ course actually contains, how the SY0-701 exam works, and what the certification is realistically worth in today's job market.
What Professor Messer Security+ Covers
The Professor Messer Security+ series maps directly to the CompTIA SY0-701 exam objectives — the current version of the exam, which replaced SY0-601 in 2023. The course lives on professormesser.com and YouTube, and the core video content is completely free.
The SY0-701 exam covers five domains:
- General Security Concepts (12%): Basic cryptography, authentication types, security controls
- Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Mitigations (22%): Malware categories, social engineering, vulnerability scanning
- Security Architecture (18%): Network segmentation, cloud security, infrastructure hardening
- Security Operations (28%): Identity and access management, incident response, log monitoring
- Security Program Management and Oversight (20%): Risk management, compliance frameworks, data privacy
Each domain gets its own playlist of short videos — typically 8 to 15 minutes each. The total runtime across the full course is roughly 14–16 hours of video, which is more digestible than a single massive course dump. Messer films in a whiteboard-style format that favors clarity over production value, which works in practice because the explanations are precise and tightly scoped to exam objectives.
Free vs. Paid Resources
The videos are free. Everything else on professormesser.com is optional paid content:
- Study Notes and Lab Guide: A PDF companion that follows the video sequence
- Practice Exams: Three 75-question tests formatted to match the real exam style
- Course Notes: Condensed printable reference sheets per domain
Most candidates spend $30–50 on the study notes and practice exams. If you want more question volume, Jason Dion's Udemy practice exams are commonly recommended alongside Messer's — that combination gives you enough repetitions to identify weak domains before exam day.
How the CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 Exam Actually Works
Before committing study time, it helps to know what you're walking into:
- Questions: Up to 90 (mix of multiple choice and performance-based)
- Duration: 90 minutes
- Passing score: 750 out of 900
- Exam cost: ~$392 USD retail (discounts available through employer vouchers or exam bundles)
- Delivery: Prometric test centers or online proctored
- Renewal: Required every 3 years (30 CEUs or retake)
Performance-based questions (PBQs) are where candidates who relied solely on video content tend to struggle. These simulate real tasks — configuring a firewall, analyzing a packet capture, setting file permissions — and they appear at the beginning of the exam. Professor Messer's videos describe these concepts clearly but do not substitute for hands-on time. A TryHackMe free tier account or a basic home lab in VirtualBox helps substantially here.
Pass Rates and Realistic Expectations
CompTIA doesn't publish official pass rates, but data from the r/CompTIA subreddit and exam forums consistently suggests a first-attempt pass rate around 50–65% for self-studiers. Candidates who combine Professor Messer's videos with 200–300 practice questions from a separate source report significantly higher pass rates. The failure mode is almost always insufficient practice question volume, not insufficient concept coverage.
Professor Messer Security+ vs. Paid Alternatives
The honest comparison:
- Professor Messer (free + ~$30–50 optional): Best conceptual foundation, well-organized, follows exam objectives exactly. Weaker on hands-on labs and practice question volume.
- Jason Dion's Udemy course (~$15–20 on sale): Heavier emphasis on practice questions, similar concept coverage. Most candidates use Messer and Dion together rather than choosing between them.
- Mike Chapple / Mike Pastore "CompTIA Security+ Study Guide" book (~$40–60): Comprehensive written reference, stronger on the Security Program Management domain. Slower to update than video content when exam objectives change.
- CompTIA CertMaster Learn (~$349): The official CompTIA e-learning platform. Expensive, and not demonstrably better than Messer for exam prep given the price difference.
The most common successful study sequence: Professor Messer videos → practice exams (Messer + Dion) → identify weak domains → re-watch specific Messer sections → hands-on lab time in the week before the exam.
What Security+ Actually Gets You Career-Wise
CompTIA Security+ is DoD 8570/8140 approved for IAT Level II roles. That means it's a hard hiring requirement — not just a preference — for a large portion of federal contractor and government IT security positions. This is the primary reason the certification carries a salary premium in government-adjacent markets that other vendor-neutral certifications don't match.
Typical job titles held by Security+ certified professionals and their salary ranges:
- Security Analyst: $75,000–$100,000
- SOC Analyst (Tier 1/2): $55,000–$85,000
- Systems Administrator with security responsibilities: $65,000–$90,000
- Network Administrator: $60,000–$80,000
- IT Auditor: $70,000–$95,000
- Cloud Security Associate (with cloud certs): $85,000–$115,000
These figures skew upward significantly for cleared positions (TS/SCI) and federal contractors. If you're targeting defense contractors in the DC metro area specifically, Security+ can add $15,000–$25,000 over comparable non-cleared roles because DoD 8570 compliance creates a forced floor on compensation for cleared personnel.
Is Security+ Enough on Its Own?
As an entry credential, yes — it opens doors at the IAT Level II floor. As a long-term career strategy, it functions best as the first in a sequence. The typical progression:
- CompTIA Security+ (entry, broad foundation)
- CompTIA CySA+ or CEH (analyst track), or CompTIA Network+ if skipped
- CISSP or CISM (management track, requires 5 years of experience to certify)
Security+ alone won't land senior roles, but it legitimately functions as a gate-opener for junior positions where employers want confirmation that candidates understand the vocabulary before investing in training.
Top Courses
The following courses are available through this site for broader professional development. Note these are supplemental learning resources outside the Security+ track:
Photoshop Professor Notes - Volumes 1-5
Structured, chapter-by-chapter technical instruction built around the same objective-by-objective methodology that makes Professor Messer's format effective — clear progression through specific skills without padding. Rated 8.6 on Udemy.
How to Write Emails and Engage Professors
A practical Coursera course on academic professional communication — directly useful if you're pursuing a degree alongside your certification track and need to navigate academic relationships for recommendation letters or research access.
Innovation That Works with Professor Jagdish Sheth
A business strategy course from a well-regarded academic; has adjacent value for security professionals moving into GRC or leadership roles where understanding organizational decision-making and budget conversations matters as much as technical knowledge.
Customer Centricity with Professor Jagdish Sheth
Explores stakeholder-focused strategy — useful for security consultants and client-facing roles where framing security risk in business terms is a required skill, not an optional one.
FAQ
Is Professor Messer Security+ enough to pass the exam by itself?
The videos alone are not sufficient for most candidates. Professor Messer's content builds solid conceptual understanding, but passing SY0-701 requires extensive practice with exam-format questions and some hands-on exposure to the tools covered in the Security Operations domain. Plan to supplement with at least 200–300 practice questions from a separate source.
Which exam version does Professor Messer cover?
As of 2024, Professor Messer's active course covers SY0-701, the current exam version. His SY0-601 content is still available on YouTube but that exam was retired. Make sure you're watching the SY0-701 playlist, which is clearly labeled on his website and YouTube channel.
How long does it take to study for Security+ using Professor Messer?
Most candidates report 6–12 weeks of structured study at 1–2 hours per day. Background matters significantly: IT professionals with 2+ years of hands-on experience often pass in 4–6 weeks; complete beginners may need 3–4 months. The videos run roughly 14–16 hours total, but passive watching without supplemental practice is not an effective strategy.
Do I need to pay for anything to use Professor Messer?
No. The full video course is free on YouTube and his website. The paid items — study notes, course notes, and practice exams — are optional materials ranging from $15–50. Many candidates pass using only the free videos combined with Jason Dion's inexpensive Udemy practice tests, which frequently go on sale for under $20.
Is CompTIA Security+ worth pursuing for career changers?
It depends on where you're targeting. For government, defense contracting, and positions requiring DoD 8570 compliance, Security+ has unusually high ROI because it's a hard requirement rather than a preference. For private sector roles, it functions more as a credential verification than a differentiator — many private tech hiring managers weight demonstrated skills, GitHub projects, and TryHackMe profiles more heavily than the cert alone.
Can I get a job with just Security+ and no IT experience?
It's difficult but not impossible. Security+ plus a technical degree plus documented hands-on work (TryHackMe profile, home lab documentation) is a viable package for entry-level SOC Tier 1 or help desk-to-security-analyst transition roles. The cert without any supporting evidence of practical ability is harder to convert into an offer at most employers.
Bottom Line
Professor Messer Security+ is the most efficient starting point for SY0-701 prep — not because it's the only option, but because it covers exam objectives directly, updates when the exam changes, and costs nothing for the core content. The format is genuinely useful, not just accessible.
The limitation is practice volume. Messer's content builds understanding; it doesn't build the exam stamina and pattern recognition that comes from working through hundreds of practice questions. Build your study plan around the Professor Messer Security+ videos as the conceptual foundation, add 200–300 practice questions from Dion or a similar source, and spend real time in a hands-on environment before you sit for the exam.
On the career side: Security+ is a legitimate accelerator for federal, defense, and government-adjacent roles where DoD 8570 compliance is a requirement. In private sector tech, it's a floor credential — useful for clearing initial HR filters, but the real differentiation comes from what you build and demonstrate after you pass.