CompTIAAvailable
CS0-003
1YPS Exam Guide: TryHackMe Premium Cost and Study Plan
Direct answer: 1YPS is not an exam. It is a 12-month TryHackMe Premium subscription for hands-on cybersecurity practice, and we sell it for $57.99. Plan about 5 hours a week, follow one learning path at a time and keep notes as you go.
1YPS is not an exam. It is the TryHackMe 1 Year Premium Subscription, a 12-month pass to a hands-on cybersecurity training platform, and we sell it for $57.99. There is no passing score, no question bank and no proctor, so this guide shows what you get and how to use the year well.
What 1YPS is and what it does not prove
TryHackMe is a browser-based platform where you learn security by doing. You work through short lessons called rooms, and many rooms give you a virtual machine to attack or investigate. Rooms are grouped into learning paths.
A subscription does not prove anything by itself. Nobody awards you a credential for paying. What it gives you is practice, and practice is what employers and certification exams both reward.
That is why 1YPS fits best beside a certification plan, not in place of one. Use it to build skills, then decide whether you also need a formal exam.
Price: what you pay and how the year spreads it out
Item | Detail |
|---|---|
Product | 1YPS, TryHackMe 1 Year Premium Subscription |
Our voucher price | $57.99 USD (as listed on our voucher page, checked 2026-11-15) |
Term | 1 year |
The $57.99 price is spread across 12 months, or across about 260 study hours if you practice 5 hours a week for all 52 weeks. The more weeks you actually use, the more practice each dollar buys. If you stop after a month, the same money buys far less. Check TryHackMe's own pricing page for its current list price before you compare.
Who gets the most from a year of TryHackMe
Use this table to decide quickly.
Your goal | Good fit? | Why |
|---|---|---|
Start in cybersecurity with no background | Yes | Guided rooms explain networking and Linux from zero |
Prepare for a SOC analyst role | Yes | Defensive paths let you practice with logs and alerts |
Learn ethical hacking basics | Yes | Attack rooms run in a safe, legal lab |
Pass a specific vendor exam only | Partly | Practice helps, but you still need the official exam objectives |
Only want a certificate for your CV | No | A subscription is not a credential |
If you want formal exams later, browse our Cybersecurity and Penetration Testing & Ethical Hacking categories.
A 12-week starter plan with weekly hours
This plan uses about 66 hours. Path names on the platform can change, so pick the current beginner path that matches each stage.
Weeks | Hours per week | Focus | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
1–2 | 4 | A beginner or pre-security path: networking, the web, basic Linux | One page of notes per room |
3–4 | 5 | Linux command line, file permissions, | A personal command cheat sheet |
5–8 | 6 | One main path: a junior penetration tester path or a SOC analyst path | Finish at least 3 rooms a week |
9–10 | 6 | Challenge rooms with no hints for the first 30 minutes | A short write-up of each solve |
11–12 | 6 | Repeat your weakest two topics, then review all notes | A list of gaps to fix next |
Pick one path and finish it. Switching paths every week feels productive but leaves gaps.
Commands you will use in the first month
You can use the in-browser attack machine and skip setup. If you prefer your own Linux virtual machine, you connect over OpenVPN with the config file from your TryHackMe account.
sudo openvpn ~/Downloads/yourname.ovpn
ip addr show tun0
ping -c 4 TARGET_IP
nmap -sC -sV -oN scan.txt TARGET_IPHere is what each line does:
openvpnjoins the lab network. Leave this terminal open.ip addr show tun0confirms you received a lab IP address.pingchecks that the target machine is reachable.nmap -sC -sV -oN scan.txtscans default scripts and service versions, then saves the result toscan.txt.
Worked example: you start a room and get a target at an IP address. You run the nmap line above, and the output lists port 80 open with a web server. You note the service and version in your file, then open the address in a browser. That habit of scan, record, then investigate is the core loop of most rooms.
Only scan machines the platform gives you. Scanning anything else without permission can be illegal.
Common mistakes that waste the year
Copying walkthroughs. Reading a solution teaches far less than getting stuck for 20 minutes first.
Skipping the basics. Many learners rush to hacking rooms and then struggle with networking and Linux.
No notes. Without a cheat sheet you re-learn the same commands every month.
Collecting rooms. Finishing 100 rooms you barely understood is worse than 30 you can explain.
Studying in long, rare bursts. Short regular sessions, such as five sessions of one hour, stick better than one long weekend.
Starting the year when you have no study time. A 12-month term only helps if you have hours to spend in it. Start when you can commit your weekly hours.
Ordering, delivery and refund terms
The voucher code is emailed within 12 hours of payment. It also appears in your account. Prices are in USD.
You can cancel an order for a full refund before delivery. After delivery, the code is non-refundable unless the test provider rejects it as invalid, already used or expired on first use. In that case, contact support within 14 days with your order number and a screenshot. We then replace the code or refund you.
Read the full terms on our refund policy and delivery policy pages. Redeem your code soon after it arrives so you can report any problem within the 14-day support window.
What to do after the first 12 weeks
Check your notes against your goal. If you want defensive work, spend months 4 to 6 on a SOC-focused path and practice reading logs. If you want offensive work, move to harder challenge rooms and write one report per room.
Then consider a formal exam. Entry-level learners can start with our Entry-Level & Fundamentals vouchers. Hands-on practice from TryHackMe makes exam scenario questions easier to picture.
Ready to start? Get the 1YPS TryHackMe 1 Year Premium Subscription for $57.99.
Sources
Questions about this topic
Is there a passing score or time limit for 1YPS?
No. 1YPS is a subscription, so nothing is graded and nothing expires after a test window. You set your own pace over the year and finish rooms when you choose.
Can I learn cybersecurity from zero with TryHackMe Premium?
Yes, beginner paths start with networking, the web and Linux basics. You do not need prior security knowledge. Plan regular weekly hours, because steady practice matters more than speed.
Do I need to install Kali Linux to use it?
No. You can work in the browser with the attack machine the platform provides. If you want your own Linux setup, you can connect with OpenVPN using the config file from your account.
Will it help me pass CompTIA Security+ or similar exams?
It builds practical skills that make exam topics easier to understand. It does not replace the official exam objectives, so study those separately. Many learners combine hands-on rooms with a certification study plan.
How many hours a week should I study?
About 5 hours is a realistic target for most working adults. That adds up to roughly 260 hours over a year. Even 3 steady hours beat one long session every few weeks.
What should I do if my code does not work?
Contact support within 14 days with your order number and a screenshot of the error. If the provider rejects the code as invalid, already used or expired on first use, we replace or refund it.
