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24 different·7 in common
🧭 Overview
Certifying body= same
PMI
PMI
Focus≠ differs
PMI's certification for business analysis in projects & programs.
PMI's certification for agile practitioners across frameworks.
Best suited for≠ differs
BAs / PMs doing analysis (mid)
Practitioners with agile team experience (1–2 yrs)
Pass mark= same
Proficiency bands (no fixed %)
Proficiency bands (no fixed %)
Difficulty= same
3 / 5
3 / 5
Open book= same
No
No
🚀 Career & roles
Career prospects≠ differs
PMI's business-analysis credential bridging BA and project delivery. Suits BAs and PMs who shape requirements on projects.
PMI's agile credential spanning Scrum, Kanban, Lean and XP — suits practitioners in agile delivery who want a broad, framework-agnostic agile cert.
Post-certification roles≠ differs
Business Analyst · Product Analyst · Requirements Lead
Agile PM · Scrum Master · Agile Coach · Delivery Lead · Product Owner
Demand trend≠ differs
Growing — BA demand strong
Growing — agile delivery roles in demand
Typical salary≠ differs
Good; complements a PM or BA career
Comparable to other agile certs; strongest when paired with PMP
🌍 Recognition & market
Recognition≠ differs
PMI (USA) · global
PMI (USA) · recognised worldwide · broader than single-framework certs
Popular in≠ differs
USA, India, Europe
USA, Europe, India, ANZ
Companies hiring≠ differs
IT services, consulting, BFSI, product
Product companies, IT services, digital & consulting
Industry verticals≠ differs
IT/software, finance, healthcare
IT/software, fintech, telecom, digital
Tech horizontals≠ differs
Requirements, product, data/analytics
Software delivery, product, cloud/DevOps teams
📝 Exam format
Questions≠ differs
200 questions
120 questions
Duration≠ differs
240 min · 4h
180 min · 3h
Question types≠ differs
Not published
Multiple choice
Delivery≠ differs
Not published
Test centre · Online proctored
Languages≠ differs
Not published
English
🎓 Eligibility & process
Eligibility / prerequisites≠ differs
Degree + 36–60 months BA experience + 35 contact hours
12 months general project experience + 8 months agile + 21 contact hours
Application process≠ differs
Online application (audit possible) → pay → schedule within 1 year
Online application (audit possible) → pay fee → schedule within 1 year
💸 Cost & effort
Training cost (approx)= same
USD 300–1,000
USD 300–1,000
Exam / application fee≠ differs
USD 555
USD 495
Prep time= same
~8 weeks
~8 weeks
Study hours= same
~90 hours
~90 hours
🔄 Validity & renewal
Validity≠ differs
Not published
3 years
Renewal≠ differs
Not published
30 PDUs every 3 years
Retake policy≠ differs
Not published
Up to 3 attempts within a one-year eligibility period.
📈 ROI
ROI score≠ differs
3 / 5
4 / 5
Worth it?≠ differs
Solid for BA-leaning PMs; competes with IIBA's CBAP/ECBA.
Solid for agile career paths; the broad coverage differentiates it from Scrum-only certs.
📊 Syllabus — domain weighting
🔍PMI-PBA
- Needs Assessment18%
- Business Analysis Planning22%
- Requirements Elicitation & Analysis35%
- Traceability & Monitoring15%
- Solution Evaluation10%
🌀PMI-ACP
- Agile Principles & Mindset16%
- Value-Driven Delivery20%
- Stakeholder Engagement17%
- Team Performance16%
- Adaptive Planning12%
- Problem Detection & Resolution10%
- Continuous Improvement9%
Career, cost, effort and ROI figures are indicative — they vary by region, employer and experience.