Guide
How long to study for CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ on YouTube? 10 courses measured
Updated 2026-10-21 · 6 min read
Professor Messer's free CompTIA courses on YouTube take 52 hours for A+, Network+ and Security+ together. We measured them on 21 October 2026, counting every video to the last: A+ is 23 hours 53 minutes over its two exams (Core 1 10 hours 11, Core 2 13 hours 43), Network+ is 12 hours 55 and Security+ 15 hours 11.
At 1.5× speed and an hour a day, that is 16 days of video for A+, 9 for Network+ and 11 for Security+: about five weeks for all three. The other free courses run longer, up to 44 hours for A+, partly because they include hours of practice questions in the same playlist.
Every course, measured
Ranked by total. "1.5×" is the total watched at one and a half times speed, and "Avg" the average video. BIT is BurningIceTech, CB is Certify Breakfast.
| Course | Videos | Total | 1.5× | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BIT: A+, both cores | 29 | 44h 30m | 29h 40m | 92m |
| CB: Security+ | 41 | 26h 11m | 17h 27m | 38m |
| CB: CySA+ | 58 | 24h 04m | 16h 03m | 25m |
| BIT: Security+ | 18 | 22h 09m | 14h 46m | 74m |
| Messer: Security+ | 121 | 15h 11m | 10h 07m | 8m |
| BIT: Network+ | 24 | 14h 03m | 9h 22m | 35m |
| Messer: A+ Core 2 | 74 | 13h 43m | 9h 09m | 11m |
| Messer: Network+ | 87 | 12h 55m | 8h 37m | 9m |
| BIT: ITF+ | 7 | 11h 21m | 7h 34m | 97m |
| Messer: A+ Core 1 | 63 | 10h 11m | 6h 47m | 10m |
The exam codes are A+ 220-1201 and 220-1202, Network+ N10-009, Security+ SY0-701, CySA+ CS0-003 and ITF+ FC0-U61. None of the ten has a private or deleted video. Each course name opens its live page, where the total is current and you can tick off what you have watched. The same ten are on our list of free CompTIA courses.
Short videos or long sessions
Professor Messer teaches one exam objective per video, and the video titles carry the objective's number, from 1.1 onwards. His videos are short: the middle one is 7 to 10 minutes long in each course, and 94 of the 121 Security+ videos are 10 minutes or less. Three of the four open with a "How to Pass" video for the exam. That shape makes them easy to fit around a job and easy to revise from: when a practice test shows a weak objective, the video for it is a few minutes long.
BurningIceTech teaches in modules of one to two hours and ends each playlist with long practice exams, "Questions with Explanations" videos of up to 3 hours 41 minutes. In the A+ playlist those are six videos, 17 hours 42 minutes of its 44 hours 30; the course overview and 22 modules are 26 hours 47. In Network+ they are two, 6 hours 38 minutes of its 14 hours, and the overview and 21 lessons, which end at spoofing, are 7 hours 24. Certify Breakfast teaches Security+ in 41 lessons of about 38 minutes and has no practice exams in the playlist.
So the totals are not three teachers taking different times over the same thing. For A+, Messer's 24 hours of lessons compares with BurningIceTech's 27 hours of lessons, not its 44.
Days to finish, exam by exam
How many days Professor Messer's courses take at 1.5×, watching every day:
| Exam | Total | 30 min a day | 1 h a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| A+, both cores | 23h 53m | 32 days | 16 days |
| Network+ | 12h 55m | 18 days | 9 days |
| Security+ | 15h 11m | 21 days | 11 days |
| All three | 51h 59m | 70 days | 35 days |
These are days of video. CompTIA exams include performance-based questions, where you configure or troubleshoot something rather than pick an answer, so plan practice questions and hands-on time on top, and treat these days as the floor. Messer's short videos hold up well at 1.5×; slow down for subnetting and the command-line topics, where you will want to pause and try it yourself (what each speed costs →).
Which Security+ course
Security+ has the most choice: Messer at 15 hours, BurningIceTech at 22 (18 hours 37 minutes of lessons and a 3-hour-32 practice exam), and Certify Breakfast at 26. Messer's is the shortest route through every objective. The longer two explain more around each topic, which helps if Security+ is your first CompTIA exam rather than your third. For the exam after it, Certify Breakfast's CySA+ course is 24 hours over 58 parts.
Before A+, BurningIceTech's ITF+ course is 11 hours for people new to IT. It is optional; A+ assumes no earlier exam. Whichever course you choose, check that the exam code in its title matches the exam you are booking on CompTIA's site, since CompTIA replaces each exam every few years.
Check the total covers every video
Some playlist length tools add up only the first 100 videos and stop without saying so. Professor Messer's Security+ course is 121 videos: the first 100 come to 12 hours 52 minutes of its 15 hours 11. If a total looks short for a playlist of more than 100 videos, here is how to check it.
Plan the exam you are booking
Open the course from the table above and set your speed and daily time in the planner: it gives you a finish date and the videos for each day, and you can put the sessions in your calendar. Tick each video as you finish it and the time left updates; the course stays in your list on the home page, so you can pick it up where you stopped. If the exam is already booked, the exam date guide works back from the day. After CompTIA, the AWS, Azure and Google Cloud courses are measured the same way, and how long a free YouTube course is puts CompTIA next to 23 other subjects.
Frequently asked
How long does it take to study for Security+ on YouTube?
Professor Messer's free SY0-701 course is 15 hours 11 minutes over 121 videos, measured on 21 October 2026. At 1.5× that is about 10 hours: 11 days at an hour a day, or three weeks at half an hour. Practice questions come on top.
How many hours is Professor Messer's A+ course?
23 hours 53 minutes over 137 videos for both exams: Core 1 (220-1201) is 10 hours 11 minutes and Core 2 (220-1202) 13 hours 43, measured on 21 October 2026. You need to pass both cores for the certification.
How long does it take to get A+, Network+ and Security+?
The video alone, with Professor Messer's courses, is 52 hours, or 35 at 1.5×: about five weeks at an hour a day. Most people take longer, because each exam needs practice questions and hands-on work after the videos.
Which free CompTIA course is the shortest?
Professor Messer's A+ Core 1 course, at 10 hours 11 minutes. His Network+ course is 12 hours 55 and his Security+ course 15 hours 11, the shortest for each exam on our list.
Why might a total differ from the playlist today?
These totals were measured on 21 October 2026. Creators add and remove videos, and videos go private. Each course's page here, and the CompTIA list, shows the total as it is now.