AAISM exam cost and prerequisites

The AAISM prerequisite: an active CISM or CISSP

ISACA is unambiguous. AAISM candidates must hold either a CISM or a CISSP, and it must be active, which for CISM means the annual maintenance and continuing-education requirements are up to date. Beyond the credential, ISACA describes the intended candidate as someone with proven experience in security or advisory roles and some expertise assessing, implementing and maintaining AI systems, but those are expectations rather than gates.

If you hold neither certification, the cost of AAISM is really the cost of CISM plus AAISM, and the timeline is measured in years rather than months.

What the AAISM exam fee covers

The fee buys one attempt at the exam, delivered either at a PSI testing centre or as a remotely proctored exam from home. Third-party sources report a twelve-month window after registering in which to sit it; confirm the current window when you register, since ISACA sets it, not the sources.

The member price is US$140 lower than the non-member price. Whether joining ISACA to get it is worth doing depends on the membership fee for your chapter, which varies, and on whether you would use anything else membership offers. Members also pay less for ISACA's own study material and for the maintenance fees later.

Fees after you pass the AAISM exam

Passing the exam does not by itself make you certified. ISACA gives you five years from passing to apply for the certification, and third-party sources report a one-off application processing fee of US$50 at that point. Once certified, the reported maintenance requirement is ten continuing-education hours a year, thirty over three years, and an annual fee of US$20 for members or US$35 for non-members.

Treat the reported figures as reported. They match the pattern of ISACA's other credentials, but ISACA's own AAISM page states only the exam fees, the prerequisite and the five-year application window, so the rest should be checked against the candidate guide when you register.

What AAISM study material costs

ISACA sells a review manual, a questions-and-answers database, an online review course and virtual workshops, and publishes a free 12-question practice exam. Training companies sell bootcamps. Apps sit at the cheap end.

AAISM Exam Prep is free to start: the diagnostic, one full chapter of lessons and a 25-question mini mock. The remaining 2,026 questions, the four full mocks, the 2,283 flashcards and the glossary are in AAISM Pro, an auto-renewing subscription whose price is shown in the App Store for your region. There is no account to create and the app works offline.

Adding up the cost of AAISM

For a member who passes first time and uses an app rather than a course, the exam fee dominates: US$459 plus the reported US$50 application fee plus a subscription for a few months of study. A non-member using ISACA's full suite of material is looking at several times that. A failed attempt adds another exam fee, which is the strongest financial argument for sitting full-length mocks under time before booking.