How Much Does the SIE Exam Cost?
The Securities Industry Essentials® (SIE®) exam costs $100. That’s FINRA’s current enrollment fee, verified August 2026 against finra.org. FINRA raised the fee from $80, and a surprising amount of prep content still quotes the old number. If a source says $80, be skeptical of its other facts too.
Why some sources still say $80
$80 was the SIE fee for years, and it’s fossilized in older prep books, forum threads, and articles that were written once and never re-checked. The current fee is $100. The $20 difference won’t change anyone’s plans, but it’s a useful test of a prep source: a site that hasn’t updated the exam fee probably hasn’t updated its settlement dates or gift limits either.
How and when you pay
You pay FINRA when you enroll, not the test center when you sit. The sequence is short:
- Open an SIE enrollment through FINRA and pay the $100 fee.
- Schedule your appointment at a Prometric test center.
The full walkthrough (enrollment, scheduling, rescheduling) is in our guide to how to register for the SIE exam.
One thing the fee does not require: a firm. Anyone 18 or older can enroll and pay the $100 directly, no sponsorship, no application, no employer (verified August 2026, finra.org).
What a retake costs
There’s no discount for a second attempt. Each retake is a new $100 enrollment, so two attempts cost $200, three cost $300. FINRA also imposes waiting periods between attempts (and those waits get shorter on January 19, 2027) so check the current SIE retake rules and waiting periods before you budget for another try.
The cost you can control
The $100 fee is fixed. What you spend getting ready isn’t, and it’s the number the prep industry works hardest to inflate, often with expiring access and re-unlock fees on top of the sticker price.
Our position is simpler: practice should be free. No card, no clock, no locked answers: the $100 you hand FINRA should be the only check you write. Try 10 free practice questions, no signup.
What the $100 buys
Your fee covers one sitting: 75 scored questions (plus 10 unscored) in 105 minutes. Here’s how the question count works, and for the full picture (format, sections, scoring, and where the SIE fits in the licensing ladder) start with what the SIE exam is.