Part 107 Renewal: Free, Online, About Two Hours
Let's kill the myth first: your certificate never expires. The FAA's FAQ answers it in one word — "No." What lapses every 24 calendar months is your currency to operate, and restoring it is a free online course, not a $175 trip back to the test center. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling something.
The whole process, four steps
- 1
Log in to FAASafety.gov
Free account on the FAA's safety-training site (not the main FAA site, not a test center, not a prep company).
- 2
Take ALC-677 — "Part 107 Small UAS Recurrent"
The FAA's own course: free, online, approximately 2 hours. The end-of-course exam must be completed in one 90-minute sitting, and you can retake it if needed.
- 3
Save the completion certificate
No new card is issued and nothing is mailed. The PDF completion certificate IS your proof of currency — keep it with (or accessible alongside) your remote pilot certificate whenever you fly.
- 4
You are current for 24 calendar months
"Calendar months" means it runs to the END of the 24th month — pass in September 2026 and you are current through September 30, 2028.
Lapsed for years? Same free course.
The FAA opens ALC-677 to any certificate holder "regardless of aeronautical knowledge recency." There is no penalty track, no retest for the long-lapsed, no fee that appears after month 25. Pilots interchangeably say "expired, lapsed, out of currency" — the FAA's process treats them all identically. Sources: FAA FAQ and the Become a Drone Pilot page, read 2026-09-01.
Renewal questions, answered
My Part 107 "expired" — do I have to retake the knowledge test?
No. The certificate itself never expires — the FAA's own FAQ says so in one word. What lapses after 24 calendar months is your currency to operate, and the fix is the same free ALC-677 online course whether you lapsed last week or three years ago. There is no penalty version, no retest at a PSI center, no fee.
How much does Part 107 renewal cost?
Nothing. The FAA lists the recurrent course as "no cost" on its own pages. Companies charging for "Part 107 renewal courses" are selling optional study material around a free government course — sometimes worth it for rusty pilots, never required.
I also hold a Part 61 pilot certificate — same course?
If your Part 61 flight review is current, you take ALC-515 instead (also free on FAASafety.gov). If your flight review is not current, you take the standard ALC-677 like everyone else.
Do I get a new certificate card after recurrent training?
No — the FAA issues nothing new. You keep flying on your existing remote pilot certificate and must be able to show the ALC-677 completion certificate as proof of currency. Losing that PDF means redoing a free 2-hour course, so file it somewhere findable.
How is the renewal different from getting certified initially?
The initial certificate requires the UAG knowledge test at a PSI testing center: 60 questions, 2 hours, 70% to pass, approximately $175 per the FAA. Renewal replaced its old in-person recurrent test with the free online course in 2021 — which is why advice you read from before then is wrong.
Renewal is free. The initial test is the one worth preparing for.
If you're reading this for a friend — or your own certificate is still ahead of you — the UAG knowledge test is 60 questions at a PSI center for about $175 per sitting. The dashboard drills airspace, sectional charts and weather until the $175 only gets spent once.
- Sectional chart and METAR questions with explanations
- Readiness score against the 70% pass line
- Free tier: 20 questions a day