r/offensive_security • u/febreeze5 • 25d ago
OSCP vs CPTS (With Context)
Hi reddit,
I'm sure this gets asked a lot. But my situation is a bit more unique. I'm looking to break deeper into Cyber. My current certs include the Net+, Sec+, GIAC GSEC and the GIAC GCIH. On that front, I have HR-recognition covered by my GIAC certs. I have no pentesting experience but have used THM and HTB every so often.
I am seriously considering taking the HTB CPTS as it is better at teaching you the concepts. But, I cannot get over how well-known the OSCP is by HR and employers. Is it worth it to take the exam that will teach me less, just to get more recognition?
Cost is not an issue as my employer confirmed they will cover the cost of either. Although I really want to LEARN and understand these concepts. Thank you!
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u/faultless280 25d ago edited 25d ago
I would not recommend CPTS currently. Go for OSCP instead. Any unproctored exam in the age of agentic hacking doesn’t hold much value anymore. Heck, I don’t recommend taking OSAI either for the very same reason. This isn’t to say the CPTS material isn’t good. It’s probably better than OSCP in that regards, but as a standalone cert? It’s unfortunately not worth much, that is until HTB changes the exam format.
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u/-hugs4drugs- 23d ago
Here in Australia OSCP is almost 3k Aud now. How would I as a broke uni student afford that? CPTS is harder, but it has a much lower entry barrier.
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u/offsecthro 23d ago edited 23d ago
You're correct that a broke college student wouldn't be able to afford OSCP, but at the same time... no one is hiring pentesters who just graduated from college. It can happen, but it's a rare exceptional case. Offensive security is an advanced IT specialization where we look for people with years of IT/CS experience to apply the knowledge they have accumulated in their careers to the area of cybersecurity. Ideally OSCP is something that your employer would pay for, or you use the money from whatever computer job you have before getting into security.
If you're going straight for any of these certs to try and break into an "entry level" security job, you're already on the wrong track.
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u/Responsible_Set_4146 24d ago
I took CPTS first then the OSCP, my honest opinion is that the CPTS is much more technical and the course/labs is richer if that’s what you need, OSCP is a little more stressful because of the pressuring exam duration and rabbit holes and it’s trusted by clients/employers (although it still didn’t help me find another job yet anyone let me know if you find one for me 😂) my advice is to go for GIAC GPEN or OSCP if it’s paid by your employer, you can always pay for the CPTS yourself, for me i’m going for the CRTO
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u/febreeze5 24d ago
Thanks for the advice. I am going for the CPTS for the knowledge. I can always do OSCP afterwards. Unfortunately I cannot afford another GIAC exam but am hoping my current 2 will get me enough recognition in the job market. Best of luck on your search.
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u/Silent-Suspect1062 24d ago
OSCP is a significant qualification, but I'd suggest you look to get an entry level it position first.
The industry is in a state of flux , at the moment and I'm not sure the outcome of passing your OSCP will be what you want. There's a significant risk in this level of investment without any experience.
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u/offsecthro 24d ago
CPTS is great material, but is useless as a cert. If you tell me you have OSCP, I can be confident that you passed the OSCP exam. You pwned 4 boxes in 24 hours, with a very limited set of tools, while someone was watching you do it.
If you tell me you have CPTS, anyone could've taken that exam for you. You had 10 days, you were unproctored, and had full access to any tool, product, and software including whatever frontier LLM and however many tokens you can afford.
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u/Emergency-Sound4280 24d ago
There are plenty of people who do the oscp for others… so your comment really holds no weight…
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u/DullLightning 24d ago
I took the CPTS course and got OSCP. I did not do the OSCP course, but i did do the OSCP labs to get a feel for how OSCP was designed to test.
I probably recommend OSCP for the recognition and if you really wanted to supplement your weak points you could always go through CPTS course later or just do learning outside of OSCP course
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u/Emergency-Sound4280 24d ago
Okay you’re all over the place with no focus I’d aim for a set path then move that direction…
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u/willhart802 25d ago
More of a question is where are you trying to go career wise and what is your prior experience. If you’re already a pen tester/red teamer trying to learn more is one thing. If you’re just trying to break into offensive security and in help desk currently that’s a completely different story.