Hack The Box's Certified Penetration Testing Specialist (CPTS) is rapidly closing the gap with OffSec's OSCP as the entry-level pentest credential. It's cheaper, the lab is excellent, and the exam is brutal in a different way. But OSCP still wins on hiring volume in India. Here's the unbiased comparison.
- Cost (India): ~₹1,45,000 with Macksofy partner discount
- Exam: 24h hands-on + 24h reporting
- Lab time: 3 months default (extendable)
- Recognition: Universal — listed in 90% of Indian pentest JDs
- Style: Manual exploitation, limited Metasploit, write a 100+ page report
- Cost (India): ~₹50,000 (₹40k cube/Tier + exam)
- Exam: 7 days hands-on + 4 days reporting
- Lab time: Pay-as-you-go HTB Academy
- Recognition: Growing fast in India; 'OSCP-equivalent' in many JDs
- Style: Long-form business report against a realistic environment
Cost in INR (2026)
| Item | OSCP | CPTS |
|---|---|---|
| Course + lab | ₹1,18,000 (PEN-200 90-day) | ₹40,000 (HTB Academy bundle) |
| Exam voucher | ₹27,000 (included in PEN-200) | ₹17,000 |
| Total all-in | ₹1,45,000 | ₹57,000 |
| Macksofy mentorship add-on | ₹35,000 | ₹25,000 |
| With mentorship | ₹1,80,000 | ₹82,000 |
Difficulty — what they actually test
OSCP throws a multi-host network at you with 24 hours to compromise and another 24 hours to report. The clock and the focus required to keep enumeration discipline make it as much an endurance exam as a technical one. CPTS gives you 7 days to compromise a realistic enterprise environment and 4 more days to write a deep, business-grade report. The technical bar on CPTS is in some respects higher — the environment is larger, the chains more complex, the report expectations more demanding. The lower time pressure makes it accessible to more candidates.
Recognition in India
OSCP is universal currency. CPTS is rising fast. If you screen-resume hundreds of openings per month in India, OSCP is still the safer single-cert bet. If you can do both, the combination of OSCP + CPTS distinguishes you very strongly.
Salary impact in India
| Profile | Salary range |
|---|---|
| No certs, 0-2y | ₹4-6 LPA |
| CPTS only, 1-3y | ₹8-13 LPA |
| OSCP only, 2-3y | ₹10-15 LPA |
| OSCP + CPTS, 3-5y | ₹16-25 LPA |
| OSCP + CPTS + OSWE, 5y+ | ₹25-40 LPA |
Decision matrix
- On a strict budget (under ₹75k) → CPTS
- Need maximum hireability with one cert → OSCP
- Want to skip Cobalt Strike / EDR depth → either
- Plan to also do OSCP later → start with CPTS, pay for the report-writing depth
- Plan to also do CPTS later → start with OSCP, get the universal credential
- Already have OSCP → CPTS adds depth and is cheap; do it
Our pentest certification prep is one of several hands-on tracks Macksofy delivers across India and the UAE. CERT-In empanelled, OffSec/EC-Council authorized, with weekend cohorts and corporate batches.