- The $300 Exam Fee at a Glance
- What the Fee Actually Covers
- The Prerequisite Cost You Might Forget
- Costs Outside the Exam Fee
- Retake Rules and Retake Math
- Test Center vs. OnVUE: Cost Implications
- Training Spend: Where the Real Variance Lives
- Renewal Over the Three-Year Cycle
- Building a Realistic Budget
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The published JN0-364 examination fee is $300 per attempt plus applicable taxes; no member or nonmember pricing is published.
- An active JNCIA-Junos is required first, so budget for that exam separately if you do not hold it.
- The first retake has no waiting period, but you pay the full fee again; later retakes require a 14-day wait.
- Training courses, practice material and regional taxes are separate from the $300 exam fee and vary widely.
The $300 Exam Fee at a Glance
The Juniper Networks Certified Specialist, Service Provider Routing and Switching (JNCIS-SP) is earned by passing a single written examination, JN0-364, which is aligned to Junos OS 25.2. According to the General Certification Program FAQs published by HPE Juniper Networking, the examination fee is $300 USD per examination, plus applicable taxes. That is the one hard number you can build a budget around.
Two things are worth knowing up front. First, no separate member and nonmember price tiers are published for this exam. Second, the final amount you see at checkout in Pearson VUE (the testing provider) can differ from $300 because of regional tax treatment and any voucher arrangements you may hold. The tax-inclusive total for your location is not something this article can quote, so confirm it at checkout before you commit.
| Cost Item | What Is Published |
|---|---|
| JN0-364 examination fee | $300 USD per examination, plus applicable taxes |
| Member/nonmember pricing | No distinction published |
| Regional tax-inclusive total | Varies by location; confirm at checkout |
| Discounts and vouchers | Candidate-specific; no universal discount published |
| Required training | None mandatory; recommended courses are optional |
What the Fee Actually Covers
The $300 buys you one sitting of the JN0-364 exam: 65 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes, delivered in English, either at a Pearson VUE test center or through OnVUE online delivery, subject to local availability and technical checks. Pass or fail results are available immediately after you finish, subject to exam-security validation. The published policy states that valid results appear in CertMetrics within three business days.
The fee does not include any study material, course access, or practice exams. It also does not include a free second attempt. Each sitting is a separate purchase. If you want a feel for what you are paying to be tested on, the exam spans ten objective headings, from Protocol-Independent Routing and OSPF through IS-IS, BGP, Layer 2 bridging and VLANs, spanning-tree protocols, MPLS, IPv6, tunnels and high availability. Our complete guide to all 10 JNCIS-SP content areas walks through each one.
The Prerequisite Cost You Might Forget
The credential requires an active JNCIA-Junos. There is no additional mandatory education, employment hours, training hours or references stated on the credential overview, but that single prerequisite matters for your budget. If you do not already hold a current JNCIA-Junos, you need to earn it, and that means paying for that exam as well. This article does not quote a fee for the associate-level exam because it was not part of the verified pricing for this credential; check the official fee table for the exam you need.
Two program rules are relevant here. Written examinations may be taken in any order, but every prerequisite requirement must still be fulfilled, and none is waived. Taking JN0-364 before your JNCIA-Junos is active does not entitle you to the specialist credential. Also, the prerequisite must be active, so a lapsed associate credential does not count. Our JNCIS-SP requirements and eligibility guide covers the prerequisite path in more depth.
Costs Outside the Exam Fee
Candidates often focus on the exam fee and underestimate everything around it. Here is where additional spending typically comes from for this particular exam:
- Applicable taxes: The $300 is stated before taxes. The amount depends on your region and is not something to guess at.
- Training courses: Juniper lists recommended courses such as Junos Intermediate Routing, Junos Service Provider Switching and Junos MPLS Fundamentals. These are recommended, not mandatory, and their charges are separate from the exam fee.
- Practice material: Third-party practice banks, video courses and books carry their own prices. Their quality and alignment to JN0-364 specifically vary, so verify the exam code before you buy.
- Lab equipment or virtual labs: Hands-on practice with Junos matters because the exam tests configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting knowledge, not just terminology. Whether you spend on hardware, virtual images or a hosted lab is your call.
- Time off work: A test-center visit costs travel and possibly leave, while OnVUE avoids travel but requires a compliant testing space.
Retake Rules and Retake Math
Because every attempt is a separate $300 plus tax, understanding the retake policy is a direct budgeting exercise. The published rules are:
- After a first failure, you may make a repeat attempt without a waiting period.
- After a second or subsequent failure, you must wait 14 calendar days, counted from the day after the failed attempt.
- After you pass, you must wait at least 18 months before retaking the same exam.
The absence of a wait after the first failure is a double-edged sword. It lets you rebook quickly, but rebooking immediately without fixing the gaps simply means paying $300 again for the same result. A sensible rule: if your score report shows weakness in a specific area, spend at least a focused study block on it before spending another fee.
| Scenario | Attempts | Exam Fees Before Tax |
|---|---|---|
| Pass first time | 1 | $300 |
| Pass on second attempt | 2 | $600 |
| Pass on third attempt (14-day wait before it) | 3 | $900 |
These totals simply multiply the published fee; they exclude taxes, training and any other spend. For a realistic look at how demanding the exam is, read our guide on how hard the JNCIS-SP exam is. Note that no current pass rate is verified, so we do not quote one; the JNCIS-SP pass rate article explains what is and is not known.
Test Center vs. OnVUE: Cost Implications
The exam fee is the same regardless of how you sit it, as far as the published fee goes, but the surrounding costs differ. Pearson VUE offers both test-center delivery and OnVUE online proctoring, each subject to local availability.
Test center delivery
You travel to a Pearson VUE location and test in a controlled environment.
- Possible travel and parking costs
- No need to meet home-office technical requirements
- Identification check on arrival
OnVUE online delivery
You test from your own location under remote proctoring.
- No travel cost, but a technical check is required beforehand
- You need a compliant, quiet testing space
- Candidate identification is still required
In both cases, the legal name on your Pearson VUE and CertMetrics accounts must match your government-issued photo and signature identification. A name mismatch can cost you a missed appointment, and that is a very avoidable way to waste $300. We also cover scheduling in the JNCIS-SP exam dates and scheduling guide.
Training Spend: Where the Real Variance Lives
The exam fee is fixed at $300; your total investment is not. The largest swing factor is how much structured training you buy. Nothing in the credential overview makes training mandatory, so an experienced Junos engineer who already works with OSPF, IS-IS, BGP and MPLS daily may spend little beyond the exam itself, while someone coming from an enterprise or non-Junos background may invest far more.
When deciding what to buy, anchor your choice to the actual exam objectives rather than to marketing claims:
- Routing core (Protocol-Independent Routing, OSPF, IS-IS, BGP): This is where Junos Intermediate Routing-style material is relevant. The exam separates identifying concepts such as the link-state database, packet types, TLVs and path selection from demonstrating configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting knowledge.
- Layer 2 (bridging, VLANs, spanning tree): Service-provider switching topics include virtual switches, provider bridging/Q-in-Q, IRB, and STP, RSTP, MSTP and VSTP with BPDU, loop and root protection.
- MPLS: Labels, the label information base, RSVP, LDP and segment routing with MPLS, plus configuration and monitoring of RSVP-signaled, LDP-signaled and shortest-path segment-routing LSPs.
- IPv6, tunnels and high availability: OSPFv3, IS-IS and BGP for IPv6, GRE tunneling, and LAG, GR, GRES, NSB, NSR, BFD and VRRP.
Beware of outdated material. Some courses and older books reference earlier exam codes such as JN0-360, JN0-362 or JN0-363, or even decade-old publications, and some listings mix enterprise and service-provider content. Recommended-course pages may also list older software releases that do not supersede the pinned exam version. Paying for the wrong-vintage resource is a hidden cost. Our JNCIS-SP study guide and training overview help you pick resources aligned to the current blueprint.
Key Takeaway
Spend where your gaps are. The exam publishes no percentage weights for its ten objective headings, so you cannot justify skipping a domain based on assumed exam share. Map your existing Junos experience against each heading and purchase training only for the areas where you cannot yet configure, monitor and troubleshoot.
Renewal Over the Three-Year Cycle
The JNCIS-SP is valid for three years. A complete cost picture includes what it takes to keep it. Per the published recertification options, you can renew by completing an eligible current exam or a specified qualifying course before expiry, or by achieving a higher-level credential in the same track. A higher-level renewal also renews active lower-level credentials in that track and active associate credentials. Earning a new certification or recertifying any certification also renews all active associate-level certifications, including eligible cross-track associates.
Two practical points affect cost. First, no universal CEU, CPE or CDU quota is published on the reviewed recertification page, so you are not tallying continuing-education credits. Second, if the credential expires, you restart the track, which can mean repeating prerequisite steps and paying again. Letting it lapse is therefore the most expensive renewal strategy. Also remember the 18-month rule: after a pass, you cannot retake the same exam for at least 18 months, which constrains how you plan a same-exam renewal.
Building a Realistic Budget
Rather than guessing, build your budget in layers. Use one short planning pass tied to the exam's actual structure:
Confirm eligibility
- Verify your JNCIA-Junos is active, or budget for that exam first
- Check that your legal name matches your ID and both accounts
Audit your gaps
- Rate yourself on all ten objective headings, separating concept knowledge from configuration and troubleshooting ability
- Weigh the routing protocols and MPLS heavily if you lack hands-on Junos time
Price your preparation
- Choose only the courses and practice resources that fill identified gaps
- Confirm any resource targets JN0-364 and Junos OS 25.2
Reserve for a retake
- Set aside a second $300 plus tax as a contingency
- Treat it as insurance, not a plan
If you are weighing whether the whole outlay is justified, the JNCIS-SP ROI analysis and the salary guide discuss the return side. No credential-caused salary uplift is verified, so treat any specific earnings promises with skepticism. Our JNCIS-SP jobs overview looks at the kinds of service-provider and network-operations roles where the credential is relevant. For a consolidated look at fees and related details, you can also revisit the main JNCIS-SP certification cost page, and when you are ready to check your knowledge against exam-style questions, try the JNCIS-SP practice tests. Keep a quick-reference sheet handy with our JNCIS-SP cheat sheet.
Frequently Asked Questions
The published examination fee for JN0-364 is $300 USD per examination, plus applicable taxes. No member or nonmember price difference is published. The tax-inclusive total at checkout depends on your region and was not independently verified, so confirm it in Pearson VUE before paying.
No. The only stated prerequisite is an active JNCIA-Junos. There are no additional mandatory training hours, employment hours or references on the credential overview. Recommended courses exist, but they are optional and carry their own charges separate from the exam fee.
Each attempt requires a new $300 fee plus tax. After a first failure you may retake without a waiting period; after a second or subsequent failure you must wait 14 calendar days, counted from the day after the failed attempt. Plan a contingency in case you need a second sitting.
The published fee is the same figure either way. The differences are indirect: test-center delivery may add travel costs, while OnVUE requires a compliant testing space and a technical check. Availability of each option depends on your location.
The credential is valid for three years. Renewal requires completing an eligible current exam or specified qualifying course before expiry, or achieving a higher-level credential in the same track. The renewal cost therefore depends on which route you pick; a lapsed credential means restarting the track.