How Much Does the Part 107 Test Cost — and How Hard Is It to Pass?
Updated July 2026 · Part 107 Quiz editorial team
If you're thinking about getting your Remote Pilot Certificate, two questions almost always come up first: what is this actually going to cost me? and am I actually going to pass? Both are fair questions, and both deserve more than a one-line answer. Below is a full cost breakdown for the Part 107 process, an honest look at pass-rate data, and a free two-week study plan built entirely from FAA source material and this site's practice tests.
Total cost breakdown
The Part 107 process has a handful of required fees and one big variable: how much you choose to spend on study materials. Here's how the pieces add up.
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FTN (FAA Tracking Number) | Free | Created through IACRA before you can register for the knowledge test. |
| Exam fee | About $175 | Paid to PSI, the FAA's third-party testing vendor — not the FAA itself. The fee is set by the vendor, so confirm the current amount when you book. |
| Registration | $5 per aircraft | Covers 3 years, paid at FAA DroneZone once you have an aircraft to register. |
| Recurrent training | Free | Required every 24 calendar months; completed online at faasafety.gov. |
| Study materials | $0–$300+ | Well-known paid Part 107 video courses list at roughly $200–$300; when we checked in September 2026, several were discounted to about $150–$160. The FAA publishes all of its own source material free, and this site's practice tests are built on that same material at no cost. |
Add up only the required costs — the exam fee (about $175) plus $5 once you register an aircraft — and you're looking at roughly $180 before you open a single study guide. Everything past that is optional. Study using the FAA's free publications (14 CFR Part 107, the Remote Pilot – Small UAS Study Guide, and the Airman Certification Standards, all available at faa.gov) plus free practice tests like the ones on this site, and a $0 study budget is realistic. Paid courses can be convenient, but they aren't required to pass.
If you want more timed practice than the free site offers, our optional Premium Pack adds five more full 60-question mock exams, a 385-question study bank and 56 sectional chart image questions as printable PDFs, for a one-time CA$29 (about US$21). It is not required: the free route above covers every exam area.
How hard is it, really?
The Part 107 knowledge test (UAG) has 60 scored multiple-choice questions plus 5 unscored validation questions, all within 120 minutes on a computer at a PSI test center; you need 70% on the scored questions — so you can miss up to 18 of the 60 scored questions and still pass. Results are available the same day you test.
FAA airman knowledge test statistics put the initial Part 107 (UAG) pass rate at 82.96% in 2025 and 84.20% in 2024, down from above 92% in 2017–2020. Treat that as a rough benchmark, not a guarantee: it is the share of all UAG tests taken in a calendar year, not your individual odds, and it says nothing about how much you personally studied.
The FAA's current test blueprint, published in PSI's UAG Applicant Information Bulletin (effective September 29, 2025, replacing the older ranges in the Remote Pilot ACS), allocates test items by subject area as follows:
| Test area | Share of scored questions |
|---|---|
| Regulations | 48% |
| Airspace & Requirements | 20% |
| Weather | 5% |
| Loading & Performance | 2% |
| Operations | 25% |
Which sections trip people up
Regulations now carries by far the most weight — 48% of test items under the blueprint in effect since September 29, 2025 — followed by Operations at 25% and Airspace at 20%. Airspace & Requirements and Weather both borrow from material originally written for manned-aircraft pilots — reading sectional charts, classifying airspace, and interpreting aviation weather products aren't skills most people bring in with them — so give them focused practice, keeping in mind that Airspace is 20% of test items and Weather just 5%. Regulations, by contrast, tends to be the most memorization-friendly section: the rules are finite and well documented, so focused review usually pays off fast. Loading & Performance carries the smallest weight of the five categories, but it still deserves its own dedicated study session, since it covers a narrow set of calculations that don't show up anywhere else on the test.
A free 2-week study plan
Here's the plan we'd suggest if you're starting from zero and want to spend nothing beyond the required fees:
- Days 1–2: Read through the study guides start to finish to get familiar with the material and the vocabulary.
- Day 3: Take the Regulations practice test.
- Day 4: Take the Airspace practice test.
- Day 5: Take the Weather practice test.
- Day 6: Take the Loading & Performance practice test.
- Day 7: Take the Operations practice test.
- Day 8: Go back to whichever topic test felt weakest and retake it.
- Days 9–13: Take one full mock exam each day, reviewing every question you missed before moving on to the next one.
- Day 14: Sit the real exam.
Want something to review offline, on a plane, or in a waiting room? Download the free 50-question PDF and work through it alongside this plan.
As a starting point, we suggest budgeting roughly 10 to 20 total hours of study over one to two weeks — that's our recommendation, not an FAA figure. Your own timeline will depend on how much aviation background you already have and how much time you can set aside each day.
FAQ
How much does the Part 107 exam actually cost?
The knowledge test fee is about $175, paid to PSI (the FAA's testing vendor), not the FAA directly — that fee is set by the vendor, so confirm the current amount when you book. Add $5 for drone registration at FAA DroneZone, which covers 3 years, and your required costs land around $180 total. Study materials beyond that are optional and can run anywhere from $0 to $300+.
Do I have to buy a paid course to study?
No. The FAA publishes all of its own source material for free — 14 CFR Part 107, the Remote Pilot – Small UAS Study Guide, and the Airman Certification Standards — and this site's practice tests are built directly on that material at no cost. Paid video courses exist and some people like the structure they offer, but they aren't required.
Does the Part 107 pass rate mean I'll pass?
No. FAA airman knowledge test statistics put the initial Part 107 (UAG) pass rate at 82.96% in 2025, and that figure is the share of all UAG tests taken that year — not any one individual's odds. Treat it as a healthy sign that the exam is passable with reasonable preparation, not a promise about your own result.
What happens if I fail?
You can retake the exam, but you'll need to wait 14 calendar days from your last attempt before sitting it again, and you'll pay the exam fee again when you rebook. Use the waiting period to focus on whichever topic areas gave you the most trouble the first time.