ITIL has a new major version, and which number ends up on your next certificate depends on a decision most candidates have not thought through yet. ITIL Version 5 launched in early 2026 with the Foundation exam first in line, and the ITIL 5 certification path now runs alongside ITIL 4 instead of replacing it overnight. For someone starting from zero, that is straightforward. For the many people who already hold an ITIL 4 credential, there is a cheaper Bridge exam, a firm retirement date, and a couple of details that change what is worth paying for.<\/p>\n
This guide stays at the Foundation level, because that is where the real decisions sit: what the exam now tests, what it costs on PeopleCert’s own listing versus what the internet claims, whether the Bridge beats a full retake, and what the next rung looks like once you hold the credential.<\/p>\n
PeopleCert’s own ITIL Foundation (Version 5) page<\/a> describes an exam shape that ITIL 4 candidates will recognize immediately:<\/p>\n That last line deserves a second look before you book. The certificate is issued with a renewal clock attached, so budget for keeping it current rather than treating it as a one-time purchase.<\/p>\n Same length, different content. Training Camp’s side-by-side of the two blueprints estimates that ITIL 4 Foundation put about 42.5% of its questions on memorizing seven specific practices in detail. The ITIL 5 exam drops that practice-level recall and, by the same analysis, puts roughly 40% on the service value system and about 30% on terminology. Treat those percentages as a training provider’s estimate rather than a PeopleCert-published weighting. The direction is still clear: the new version is built around digital products and services managed as one lifecycle, with AI handled as a native part of the framework instead of an add-on.<\/p>\n The same Training Camp analysis<\/a> puts the overall content mix at roughly 40% carried over from ITIL 4, 24% modified, and 36% new. The new vocabulary is the practical consequence. Digital product, agentic AI, experience level agreement, observability, and complexity thinking now sit inside the terminology domain. A candidate who studied from an ITIL 4 book and skimmed the glossary is the one most likely to be surprised on exam day.<\/p>\n Pricing is where published guides disagree with each other the most, so it helps to anchor on one primary source. These are the figures PeopleCert listed on its Foundation and Foundation Bridge pages<\/a> at the time of writing, in US dollars with VAT included:<\/p>\n\n
Where the Question Weight Shifted<\/h3>\n
What the ITIL 5 Foundation and Bridge Exams Cost<\/h2>\n
PeopleCert’s Own Price Listing<\/h3>\n