Part 107, the commercial certificate
Seven pages covering the whole certificate: who needs it, what the exam asks, how to prepare, and what it lets you do afterwards.
Researched from published specifications and verified owner reviews · updated 2026
The short answer
An FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate is required for any drone flight in furtherance of a business in the United States, which includes unpaid work for a business and monetized content. Getting it means being at least 16, passing a 60-question proctored aeronautical knowledge exam with a 70 percent mark, and completing TSA vetting through IACRA. Privileges stay current through a free online recurrent course every 24 calendar months.
The Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate is the single most valuable thing in this hobby that is not a piece of hardware. It costs less than a set of ND filters, takes a few weeks of evenings, and it is the difference between a drone being a toy and a drone being a tool you can legally point at a job. It is also the requirement people most often discover after they have already broken it, usually because they assumed "commercial" meant "paid".
ASA
ASA Remote Pilot Test Prep
Paperback plus practice software
The test-prep book most flight schools hand out, organised by knowledge area with a question bank structured the way the real exam is. If you have no aviation background, this plus the free FAA publications is the whole study plan, and the airspace and sectional chapters are the ones that decide whether you pass.
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Who needs it, stated precisely
You need Part 107 for any drone operation in furtherance of a business. The FAA reads that phrase broadly and the examples it and its inspectors have cited include photographing a property for a listing, filming a friend's restaurant for their social media at no charge, capturing roof imagery that supports an insurance claim, shooting b-roll for a corporate video, and posting drone footage on a monetized channel. None of those require an invoice.
You do not need it for flying purely for personal enjoyment, which is covered by the limited recreational exception and the free TRUST test instead. The two are not interchangeable and you do not get to pick: the purpose of the flight decides which rule set applies. That boundary is the entire subject of Part 107 versus TRUST.
A useful practical test: if the footage will ever be used by anyone to promote, sell, document or support anything commercial, get the certificate first. Retroactively deciding a recreational flight was actually commercial is not a thing you can do.
Getting certificated, step by step
Confirm eligibility. You must be at least 16 years old, able to read, speak, write and understand English, and in a physical and mental condition to operate a small unmanned aircraft safely. There is no medical certificate requirement, unlike manned aviation.
Get an FAA Tracking Number. Register in IACRA, the FAA's certification system, before you sit the exam. The tracking number identifies you at the testing centre and links the result to your application afterwards, and doing it in advance removes a real source of delay.
Study. The exam is not a formality. Most failures come from airspace and sectional chart questions, because they are the only part that is genuinely unfamiliar to someone outside aviation. A realistic plan by background is on how to study, and the subject weighting is on what the exam covers.
Schedule and sit the exam. The initial aeronautical knowledge test, known as the UAG, is taken at an FAA-approved knowledge testing centre. It is 60 multiple-choice questions in two hours, the pass mark is 70 percent, and you may bring nothing except what the centre provides, which includes the supplement book of charts and figures the questions refer to.
Apply for the certificate. Complete the application in IACRA using your exam result. TSA security vetting follows automatically, a temporary certificate is typically available quickly once vetting completes, and the permanent card arrives by post afterwards.
Register the aircraft. Under Part 107 every aircraft must be registered regardless of weight, so the 250 g exemption does not apply to you. Registration is done through FAA DroneZone and the number must be marked on the outside of the aircraft. The process is on how to register a drone.
Start a logbook on flight one. Part 107 does not require a flight log. Every client, insurer and eventual dispute does. A ASA Standard UAS Operator Logbook ($10) costs less than a propeller set and reconstructing a year of flying from photo timestamps is not defensible.
What Part 107 lets you do
The operating privileges the certificate grants, the limits that come with them, and what still needs a waiver on top.
Open →What the exam covers
The knowledge areas on the initial aeronautical knowledge test, weighted by how much of the exam each one accounts for.
Open →How to study for Part 107
A realistic study plan by starting background, from three weeks for a pilot to six for someone new to aviation.
Open →Practice questions and how to use them
Worked sample questions in the style of the exam, plus the right and wrong ways to drill a question bank.
Open →Part 107 vs recreational rules
The two rule sets compared line by line, including which one applies when a single flight could fit either.
Open →Waivers explained
Which sections are waivable, what a strong application actually contains, and how long approval really takes.
Open →Recurrent training
The free online course every 24 calendar months, what changed from the old recurrent exam, and what to keep on file.
Open →What the certificate actually grants
Holding Part 107 lets you operate a small unmanned aircraft weighing less than 55 lb including everything aboard, for any purpose including commercial work, subject to the operating rules. The headline limits are a 400 foot ceiling above ground level, extended to 400 feet above a structure when operating within a 400 foot radius of it, a maximum ground speed of 100 mph, minimum flight visibility of three statute miles from the control station, and defined cloud clearances of 500 feet below and 2,000 feet horizontally.
Night operations are permitted with the required training and anti-collision lighting visible for three statute miles, which is what a STARTRC anti-collision strobe lights (2 pack) ($23) is for, though you should verify the manufacturer states that visibility figure rather than assuming it. Operations over people are governed by a category system based on the aircraft rather than on a blanket prohibition. Beyond visual line of sight still requires a waiver. The full picture is on what Part 107 lets you do.
What the certificate does not do is override airspace. Controlled airspace still needs an authorization before launch, normally through LAANC, and temporary flight restrictions still apply to you exactly as they apply to everyone else.
Staying current
The certificate itself does not expire, but the privileges lapse unless recurrent training is completed every 24 calendar months. Since 2021 that is a free online course rather than a paid retest, which was a genuine improvement, and the completion certificate is what evidences your currency. Set a calendar reminder at 22 months, because there is no renewal notice and flying on lapsed currency is not something you want to discover during an incident. Details on recurrent training.
What comes after the certificate
The certificate is the entry ticket, not the business. Three things follow immediately. Insurance, which is not legally required and is effectively mandatory once a client is involved, covered on drone insurance explained. A repeatable workflow, because a client is buying a deliverable rather than a flight, which is the subject of the roof inspection and photogrammetry guides. And a kit that can finish a job, which is the commercial mapping build.
Best Part 107 study materials
Which book, and why it depends on how much aviation background you are starting from.
Open →Reading a sectional chart
The single hardest part of the exam for most candidates, translated for a complete beginner.
Open →Starting a drone business
What comes after the certificate: registration, insurance, contracts and the first paid flight.
Open →Drone insurance explained
Not legally required, effectively mandatory for commercial work, and cheaper than most people expect.
Open →Two honest warnings
The exam is easier to underestimate than to pass. The regulations and loading questions are straightforward. The airspace, chart reading and weather sections are not, and they are where the failures cluster. If you can look at a sectional and immediately say what class of airspace you are standing in and up to what altitude, you are ready. If you cannot, you are not, regardless of how many practice questions you have answered correctly.
The certificate is not a shield. It grants privileges and it also raises what is expected of you. As remote pilot in command you are responsible for the airworthiness of the aircraft, the preflight inspection, the airspace, the weather, the people below and the outcome. Nothing on this site is legal advice, and the FAA at faa.gov/uas is the authority on every requirement described here.
Questions people ask
+ Who actually needs a Part 107 certificate?
Anyone flying a drone in furtherance of a business in the United States. That is broader than being paid: photographing a friend's shop for their marketing, filming your own business premises, capturing roof images for an insurance claim and posting monetized video are all commonly treated as commercial operations. Flying purely for personal enjoyment is the only case the recreational exception covers.
+ How hard is the Part 107 exam?
It is a real proctored aeronautical knowledge exam rather than a formality, and most candidates who fail did not study sectional charts. It is 60 multiple-choice questions in two hours with a 70 percent pass mark. Someone with no aviation background typically needs three to six weeks of steady study; someone who already holds a pilot certificate can often convert with a short free online course instead.
+ What does it cost to get certificated?
The knowledge exam carries a test-centre fee that is usually a little under two hundred dollars, and it is paid to the testing provider rather than to the FAA. Study material ranges from free FAA publications to a paid test-prep book of roughly twenty-five dollars. The certificate application itself through IACRA is free, and TRUST is irrelevant here since it does not substitute.
+ How long does the certificate last?
The Remote Pilot Certificate itself does not expire, but the privileges lapse unless you complete recurrent training every 24 calendar months. Since 2021 that recurrent requirement is a free online course rather than a paid retest, and the completion certificate is what you keep on file to show currency.
+ Does Part 107 let me fly anywhere?
No. Controlled airspace still requires an authorization before launch, usually through LAANC. Temporary flight restrictions still apply. Operations over people, at night, from a moving vehicle and beyond visual line of sight are each governed by specific provisions or require a waiver. And state, local and property rules on takeoff and landing are entirely separate from anything the FAA grants.
+ Can I fly a sub-250 gram drone commercially without registering it?
No. The 250 g registration exemption applies only to recreational flying under the limited recreational exception. Any aircraft flown under Part 107 must be registered regardless of weight, so a 249 g aircraft used for a paid shoot needs registration, marking and a certificated remote pilot in command exactly like a heavier one.
