Best Networking Certifications to Earn in 2026
At this point, we've reached the end of networking, right? There's nothing further to learn about connectivity, speed, throughput, security, and storage accessibility.
Obviously, that's not true. Could you imagine rewinding the clock by just ten years and showing our past selves what today's networking tech can do? It'd feel like something out of a sci-fi movie.
The career field of networking is poised to explode, and there's never been a better time to get into it. Whether you're just starting your career, thinking about shifting into IT and networking, or want to reach even greater heights in your networking career, earning a certification is almost always the right step.
Are Networking Certifications Still Worth It?
Yes, there's no doubt that networking certifications are worth it. There's no better tool than a certification to verify your level of experience, knowledge, and competence. Alternatives to certifications, like professional references or recommendations, project portfolios, hiring exam projects, and interviews, simply don't carry the same weight.
Earning a certification is worth it (especially in networking) because employers know and trust the certification vendors. Hiring managers know what a CCNP on your resume means—they understand the level of experience and knowledge it takes to pass that exam.
If nothing else, having a high-profile certification on your application demonstrates your commitment to professional excellence and your familiarity with current best practices and technological trends.
Vendor-Agnostic Networking Certs vs Vendor-Specific Certs
Networking certifications come in two major varieties: vendor-agnostic and vendor-specific. Vendor-agnostic means the knowledge and skills are applicable in any combination of networking hardware and software. Vendor-specific means you're trained according to a particular manufacturer's best practices (for example, Cisco, VMware, Juniper, etc.)
Vendor-agnostic certs usually mean you have a practical understanding of a wide range of network administration principles and skills, and you're flexible. They tend to be harder to earn since you must learn about different manufacturers.
On the other hand, vendor-specific certs can be attractive to companies that are already invested in that vendor's technology suite. After all, if Cisco powers its entire network, does a company really need an entry-level tech who knows how to configure a Juniper router?
Best Networking Certifications for Beginners
There's a simple reason why a certification is the best way to get your networking career started: even entry-level IT jobs want on-the-job experience before they'll hire you for your first job (where you'll get the experience needed to be qualified). This sort of circular logic isn't malicious—it comes from companies' understanding that even very simple IT work is complicated, and it's hard to identify who is ready.
There are tons of options for networking certifications for beginners, but we think these four are the best starting points for networking professionals:
CompTia A+
The A+ certification from CompTIA is arguably the premier entry-level, vendor-agnostic IT certification. It's much more than a networking certification—it includes security, cloud computing, hardware, and mobile devices.
However, earning it is a good place for a networking professional to start their career because it thoroughly covers all the technologies that must be incorporated into your networks. You'll want to prepare for the A+ because its two mandatory exams each cost $246, so you don't want to have to retake them.
CCT
A Cisco Certified Technician (CCT) is a great choice for someone applying to jobs at companies that use Cisco technology. A CCT covers all the skills related to diagnosing, restoring, repairing, and replacing Cisco network and system devices.
The scope of the CCTs is limited to hands-on, entry-level technician work, and earning it could easily land you your first gig in networking. There are actually three different CCTs, focused on different aspects of Cisco networking: CCT Data Center, CCT Collaboration, and CCT Routing & Switching. Each costs $125 to attempt, and you can choose which one (or ones) you earn.
VCTA
VMware is one of the world's leading virtualization providers, offering numerous certifications related to maintaining, optimizing, and configuring virtual machines, networks, and data centers. There are several VMware Certified Technical Associate certifications dedicated to the type of virtualization work you're familiar with.
We recommend the VCTA - Network Virtualization or VCTA - Data Center Virtualization for entry-level networking professionals who want to focus on virtualization or know they're applying to companies that use VMware.
You can earn a VCTA with no previous networking experience, but since they emphasize virtualizing traditional technologies, they can be more challenging than most entry-level certifications.
JNCIA-Junos
If your first networking job involves working with Juniper equipment or technology, it's hard to imagine a better entry-level certification than the JNCIA-Junos. Much of the certification focuses on foundational knowledge in general IT and networking information, but the primary emphasis is on the Juniper operating system, Junos.
With this cert, you'll be equipped to handle basic operation and maintenance of Juniper networking equipment. The JNCIA-Junos exam (JN0-105) costs $200 and remains good for three years.
Best Networking Certifications for Advancing Your Career
Networking certifications aren't just for getting your foot in the door—they're excellent tools for advancing or specializing your existing career. If you're already working in IT or networking, earning the right certification can signal your interest in developmental growth to your employer and teach you new skills that open you up to expanded responsibilities and promotions.
Say your company uses a lot of Cisco equipment. It's possible that earning a Juniper certification could teach you a new solution to a networking issue no one else thought to try. On the other hand, earning a Cisco cert would set you up for more challenging configurations and responsibilities (and pay raises!) Either way, a networking certification is a solid way to move up the career ladder and diversify your experience or double down on your skills.
If you're already working as a networking professional and want a certification that will move your career forward, these are the three networking certifications we recommend:
Network+
The Network+ from CompTIA is an early-career, vendor-agnostic networking certification that covers the skills and knowledge necessary to support networks on any platform. It's ideal for networking professionals with one to two years of experience who want to ensure they have all the necessary bases covered.
Once you've finished preparing for the Network+, your foundation of IT and networking knowledge will be unassailable. The Network+ exam (N10-009) costs $358 and is considered one of the most challenging IT certifications at its level.
CCNA
Cisco's CCNA is arguably one of the most recognizable certifications in all of IT. There are networking professionals who've gone on to have full careers with just the CCNA. With a focus on Cisco equipment and technologies, the CCNA covers networking fundamentals, IP services, security fundamentals, automation, and programmability.
People who study for the CCNA learn more about IT, networking, and network infrastructures than most people learn in the first several years on the job. The CCNA exam (200-301) is notoriously challenging and costs $300.
JNCIS-ENT
For someone who's been working with Juniper equipment and tech for about a year or more, the JNCIS-ENT is an obvious choice to deepen your familiarity with Juniper's approach to enterprise routing and switching. The JNCIS-ENT covers networking concepts like OSPF, BGP, and tunnels.
However, the technical aspects of implementation and configuration are viewed through the lens of the Juniper routing and switching platform. You'll want to prepare for the JNCIS-ENT exam (JN0-351), which costs $300, by focusing on configuring Juniper devices and the Junos OS, as well as generic networking information.
Best Networking Certifications for Network Administrators
As you progress to a more advanced stage in your career, you begin to delve into more complex areas of network administration, including network design, optimization, security implementation, and strategic infrastructure planning.
Professional-level certifications are excellent tools not only for demonstrating your readiness for advanced responsibilities, but also for learning to perform them effectively. Preparing for professional-level certifications typically involves more hands-on practice with advanced configurations and problem-solving scenarios that don't have a single definitive solution.
For network administrators with a few years of experience already, three certifications have the most power to advance your career:
CCNP Enterprise
The CCNP Enterprise is Cisco's professional-level certification for proving advanced skills in enterprise networking. Earning it can propel your career into roles with higher salaries, like network engineer or architect.
Some advanced enterprise networking topics include implementing and optimizing advanced routing protocols, navigating VLANs, STPs, and multilayer solutions, incorporating wireless networking into new and existing enterprise environments, security, infrastructure design, and a heavy focus on automation and programmability. Earning the CCNP Enterprise requires passing a core exam (350-401 ENCOR), which costs $400, and one of seven concentration exams of your choice, each costing $300.
CCNP Data Center
The CCNP Data Center is another professional-level certification from Cisco. This one places a much larger emphasis on implementing core data center technologies, including compute, storage, automation, and security. The topics of the CCNP Data Center are highly focused on Cisco technologies, including the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS), Cisco Nexus, and Cisco Storage Networking Solutions (DCSNS).
That's why preparing for the CCNP Data Center should include deep hands-on familiarity with Cisco hardware, software, and configurations. It also has two exams, the core exam (350-601 DCCOR), which costs $400, and at least one of the five concentration exams, which cost $300 each.
Not sure how long you'll need to prepare for the CCNP Data Center certification? Check out our guide on how long to study for CCNP Data Center certification to help you plan your studies effectively.
JNCIP-DC
Juniper Networks Certified Internetworking Professional in Data Center (JNCIP-DC) is more than a mouthful, it's also one of the most detailed and advanced tests of a network administrator's familiarity with configuring, troubleshooting, and implementing data center technologies using Juniper's Junos software and data center devices.
The JN0-683 exam costs $400, so you'll want to study for the JNCIP-DC by mastering VXLAN-EVPN Signaling, data center interconnect, and single- and multi-tenant architectures.
Best Networking Certifications for Network Engineers
Many networking professionals aspire to become network engineers. It's often the peak position in networking. If you want to become a network engineer, these are the certifications we recommend:
Cisco DevNet Professional
The DevNet Professional, offered by Cisco, demonstrates your proficiency in network programmability and automation. This is our choice for network engineers because artificial intelligence is having a serious moment right now. Combining high-level network configuration skills with advanced automation and programmability knowledge is a recipe for the most exciting and unexpected network solutions in the world.
Network engineers are expected to do much, much more with less, and the DevNet Professional is designed to help you come up with clever ideas for unexpected networking problems. The DevNet Professional has one exam, which costs $400 to attempt.
Juniper JNCIE
Juniper Networks' JNCIE program comprises four distinct certifications in four categories of networking: Data Center, Enterprise Routing and Switching, Security, and Service Provider Routing and Switching. Juniper's expert-level certifications are—to put it simply—no joke.
Earning one is a huge undertaking, starting with every preceding certification in the same track (Associate through Professional), and then passing a six-hour practical exam that involves building a network architecture that withstands serious scrutiny while incorporating advanced protocols and features. Juniper's expert-level certifications take tremendous preparation but are held by some of the most successful network engineers in the world.
News in Networking Certifications
Staying up-to-date on networking certifications can be a challenge. Not only are they updated regularly to reflect changes in technology, best practices, and implementations, but despite these updates, certifications sometimes don't cover new advances in the broader IT world.
Cisco's DevNet series of certifications, for example, was released in 2020, and they're already hurrying to keep it contemporary. It's important to remember that, as valuable as IT certifications are for advancing your networking career, they aren't a panacea. Vendors can't always have thorough, trusted certifications that are also cutting-edge.
To that end, CompTIA's new Xpert Series (DataX, SecurityX, and CloudNetX) adds expert-level, vendor-neutral paths beyond Network+ and Security+. Networking professionals will probably be most interested in CloudNetX, which will be a natural progression for jobs already benefiting from Network+ and Cloud+.
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