A HighLevel Certified Admin is someone who has paid for and passed HighLevel’s official certification program — a self-paced course followed by a live, proctored skills exam — and been listed in HighLevel’s public Certified Admin directory. It’s a paid, renewable badge tied to an active subscription, not a free credential and not the same thing as simply being good at using the platform. Here’s what it actually costs, requires, and gets you.
(Looking to hire a Certified Admin rather than become one? HighLevel’s public directory lets you search by name or skill badge. The rest of this article is written for people evaluating whether to pursue the certification themselves.)
What The Certified Admin Program Includes
Signing up for certification gets you:
- Access to a self-paced course on operating the platform at an expert level, per HighLevel’s own program description
- A live proctored exam to earn the foundational Admin badge
- A listing in HighLevel’s public Certified Admin Directory (optional to complete, but the badge itself still requires passing the exam)
- Entry into a private community for certified admins
- Eligibility to take additional specialty exams once you’ve passed the core one
None of this is automatic once you subscribe. You still have to complete the coursework and pass a live exam before any of the directory or community benefits kick in.
What It Costs
The certification subscription runs $97 per month or $970 per year, which works out to a 20% discount versus paying monthly. It’s billed and administered separately from your core HighLevel software plan, but HighLevel’s own program materials describe it as an add-on to an active HighLevel subscription rather than a fully standalone product — whether it’s possible to hold certification with zero HighLevel software subscription isn’t clearly confirmed, so don’t assume that path exists without checking directly at enrollment.
| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $97/mo | Testing the waters, or a short-term push before a launch or pitch |
| Annual | $970/yr (≈$80.83/mo, 20% off monthly) | Anyone confident they’ll stay certified past a few months |
| 15+ seats | Custom enterprise pricing | Agencies certifying a full team, contact HighLevel’s account team directly |
The Two-Part Exam
Certification isn’t graded on course completion alone. It’s a two-stage process:
Part A is self-paced: training videos and coursework you move through at your own speed, building toward the practical exam.
Part B is a live, proctored practical exam. Instead of multiple-choice questions about features, you’re given real tasks to complete inside the platform, live, with someone watching. This is the part that trips people up — not because the concepts are hard, but because doing something correctly while explaining it under time pressure is a different skill than knowing the answer on a quiz.
HighLevel states the coursework is designed to be completed in 7 to 10 days at a steady pace, faster for power users who already live in the platform daily. A fixed minimum score or exact time limit for Part B isn’t publicly documented anywhere in HighLevel’s materials — if that detail matters to your prep, ask HighLevel’s enrollment team directly rather than trusting a third-party number, since exam specifics can change between cohorts.
The Recertification Question, Resolved
Current policy: the Admin badge is valid for two years from your live proctor exam pass date, and staying certified within that window requires earning at least two additional skills badges per year.
That’s what HighLevel’s current primary certifications page states, but it’s not what all of HighLevel’s own materials say. Some of the company’s older program pages still describe annual recertification instead. Both versions exist on official HighLevel domains, which means the terms have genuinely changed over time rather than one source simply being wrong. If you’re relying on an article, forum post, or video from a year or two ago, assume it may be outdated, and check the current terms directly on HighLevel’s enrollment page before you budget for renewal.
What Happens If Your Certification Lapses
This is one of the more practical things to confirm before you pay, since it directly determines what you’d have to redo if your subscription lapses. According to HighLevel’s own program materials, if you’ve passed the live proctor exam but later cancel your certification subscription, you have a 90-day window to re-enroll and reactivate your certification and directory listing without retaking the live exam. Miss that window, and you’ll need to retake the live proctor exam from scratch to regain your listing.
If you’re considering certification as a seasonal or short-term credibility boost — say, ahead of a launch or a client pitch — this is the number that should shape your decision, not the monthly price. A lapsed subscription outside the 90-day grace period effectively resets your progress on the exam requirement, even though you already proved you could pass it once.
Specialty Badges
They let you signal expertise in a specific area rather than general platform competence. They aren’t sold separately, you take them only after clearing the core certification.
| Specialty badge | Covers | Most valuable for |
|---|---|---|
| A2P Compliance | Messaging compliance and 10DLC registration | Anyone running SMS campaigns for clients, where compliance mistakes carry real penalties |
| Paid Ads | Lead sources, workflow optimization, conversion tracking | Admins managing paid traffic and attribution for clients |
| Course Creator | Community building, onboarding, membership scaling | Admins building membership or course-based client offers |
| Social Media Manager | Social automation and engagement strategy | Admins running organic social alongside HighLevel automation |
| HIPAA Compliance | Data handling for medical-adjacent clients | Anyone serving healthcare, dental, or wellness clients |
| AI Employee | Voice AI and automation tooling | Admins selling AI-driven client intake or support |
| Automated Swag Store | Branded merchandise funnels | Niche, mainly agencies already running merch offers |
| SaaSPRENEUR “Local Hero” | Agency offer structure and client acquisition | Agency owners building a repeatable local-business offer |
| Quick Wins | Fast-turnaround client deliverables | Freelancers who need a fast, low-cost trust-builder with new clients |
Is It Worth It? Quick Decision Table
Match your situation to the row below for a fast read, the full reasoning behind each call follows underneath.
| Your situation | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Freelancer/consultant pitching cold leads with no track record to point to | Likely worth it, the directory listing functions as inbound proof |
| Agency owner wanting team expertise listed publicly | Likely worth it, especially stacked with a relevant specialty badge |
| Already have a steady referral pipeline | Skip, the badge won’t create demand where none exists |
| New to the platform, still learning fundamentals | Skip for now, Part B tests practical fluency under pressure, and failing wastes a subscription month |
| Manage HighLevel internally for one employer only | Skip, a public directory listing has little value if you’re not being discovered by new prospects |
Why These Recommendations Hold Up
The economics are simple for cold-lead work: directory visibility turns a stranger’s search into inbound proof of skill, and $97/month is easy to justify against even one new client who converts because of it. That math breaks down once you already have a steady referral pipeline, at that point the badge adds credibility you don’t need, not demand you’re missing.
The bigger risk sits with timing, not audience. As noted earlier, certification isn’t the same thing as being good at HighLevel — and that cuts both ways here. Part B tests fluency demonstrated live, under pressure, not tenure: someone with years of unofficial platform experience can still fail if they haven’t rehearsed working under a proctor’s watch, while someone newer who prepares deliberately can pass. Running out of attempts compounds this — three failed tries at the live proctor exam, per HighLevel’s own terms, forces a full retake of Part A before another shot at Part B. That’s not a one-time $97 risk; it’s a possible do-over of the entire coursework portion for anyone who walks in underprepared.
Frequently Asked Questions
HighLevel’s public materials don’t spell this out, leaving it genuinely unclear whether falling behind on that pace revokes the core badge early or only affects eligibility for specialty badges. The safer bet: earn at least one skills badge per year as a buffer, rather than waiting until the deadline to find out.
No additional per-badge fee is confirmed anywhere in HighLevel’s public program materials. The company’s own FAQ describes specialty lessons as something you “unlock” after passing the core exam rather than a separate purchase, which points toward inclusion in the standing subscription — worth a quick check at enrollment rather than an assumption, since pricing structures shift over time.
Certification is tied to the individual, not to an agency or employer, since it’s earned and paid for as a personal subscription. Your badge and directory listing stay associated with you regardless of where you work, as long as the subscription stays active.
HighLevel doesn’t publish an answer to this scenario, so treat it as an open question rather than a settled one. If your income depends on the badge staying active, the safest move is asking HighLevel’s support team directly before changing your core software plan — not after.
Search HighLevel’s public Certified Directory for their name or profile, an active badge means an active listing. Since a lapsed subscription pulls someone from the directory immediately, a missing listing is a faster and more reliable signal than taking a badge image or LinkedIn post at face value.