PMP Renewal Fee: What It Costs and How to Renew
The PMP® renewal fee is $60 for PMI members and $150 for non-members, paid directly to PMI every three years alongside your 60 required PDUs. That's the fee itself — but it's only part of what renewal actually costs once you factor in PDU training and whether PMI membership is worth adding.
This guide covers the fee, the full renewal process, what membership changes about the math, and what happens if you miss your deadline.
Reviewed by the Granite PM Academy Instructional Team, PMI Premier Authorized Training Partner · Last updated October 2026
PMP Renewal, by the Numbers
The renewal fee funds PMI's certification program directly — maintaining exam content, updating standards like the PMBOK® Guide, and running the CCRS system you report PDUs through. It's separate from (and smaller than) the original PMP exam fee, and it recurs every cycle for as long as you hold the credential.
Is Joining PMI Worth It Just to Lower the Fee?
The $90 gap between the member and non-member renewal fee ($150 vs. $60) is large enough that many PMP holders join PMI specifically to shrink it. Individual PMI membership has its own annual cost, separate from the renewal fee — check the current rate on pmi.org, since it changes periodically. If you're also planning to sit another PMI exam during the membership period, members additionally get a meaningful discount on exam fees, which can make membership worth it well beyond just the renewal-fee savings.
If you're certain you'll never take another PMI exam and don't use any other member benefit, run the math on membership cost versus the $90 you'd save — it isn't always a clear win on renewal savings alone.
The Real Total Cost of Renewal
The renewal fee is the smallest line item in most people's actual renewal cost. The bigger variable is how you earn your 60 PDUs:
Free route: $0 in course costs, but real time spent tracking a dozen-plus small activities across different providers and making sure you hit the Talent Triangle minimums in all three areas (see our free PDU sources guide for exactly what counts).
Paid bundle: A single course that's pre-mapped to all three Talent Triangle areas, like Granite's $125 60-PDU bundle, trades a small up-front cost for zero tracking overhead.
Either way, the $60-$150 PMI fee is paid on top of whichever PDU route you choose — it isn't included in any training provider's price, Granite's or otherwise.
Two Ways to Cover the PDU Side of Renewal
The PMI renewal fee applies either way — this is just the PDU cost.
Free Route
Renewal fee only ($60-$150) plus whatever time it takes to find, complete, and track roughly a dozen free activities across PMI webinars, chapter meetings, and accredited podcasts — while making sure you hit the minimum in all three Talent Triangle areas, not just a big total.
Paid Bundle
Renewal fee ($60-$150) plus a one-time course cost — $125 for Granite's bundle, which is pre-mapped to all three Talent Triangle areas. No tracking across multiple providers, no risk of an area shortfall near your deadline.
How to Renew Your PMP, Step by Step
Earn your PDUs
Complete 60 PDUs across your three-year cycle, clearing the minimums in each Talent Triangle area.
Report them in your PMI account
Log each PDU in PMI's Continuing Certification Requirements System (CCRS) as you earn it, not all at once.
Confirm your total
Check your PMI dashboard shows all 60 PDUs reported before your cycle-end date.
Pay the renewal fee
Pay $60 (members) or $150 (non-members) through your PMI account to complete the renewal.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline?
If you reach your cycle-end date without 60 PDUs reported and the fee paid, your PMP goes into suspended status for up to one year. You can't use the PMP designation while suspended, but you can still reinstate it during that year by finishing your PDUs and paying the fee — no exam retake required.
If the one-year suspension period passes without reinstatement, the certification expires permanently. At that point there's no renewal path — you'd need to reapply and retake the PMP exam from scratch, meeting all current eligibility requirements again.
Budgeting and Planning Ahead
Set a reminder well before your cycle-end date — not the week of. PMI sends renewal notices, but your own calendar is more reliable than relying on an email to arrive.
Start earning PDUs early in the cycle, not in the final few months. Spreading 60 PDUs over three years is a light lift; cramming them into a last-minute sprint is where people miss a Talent Triangle area minimum.
Check your membership status before paying — if it's lapsed, you'll pay the $150 non-member rate even if you were a member years ago. Renewing membership first, if it makes sense for you, can bring the fee back down to $60.
A Few Common Questions
You can report PDUs and pay the fee as soon as you've met the requirement — you don't have to wait until your exact cycle-end date, though your new three-year cycle starts from whenever you complete renewal, not your old end date.
No — each credential you hold is renewed (and paid for) separately, on its own cycle. Holding a PMP and a CAPM means two separate renewal fees on two separate schedules.
PMI sets the fee and can change it; always confirm the current amount in your PMI account before paying, rather than relying on a number from an old renewal.
Whichever side of the free-vs-paid PDU decision you land on, the fee itself is the one part of renewal you can't avoid or discount your way out of — budget for it alongside however you choose to earn your 60 PDUs. For the PDU side specifically, see our breakdown of exactly what counts toward your requirement and how the Talent Triangle minimums work.