Short answer: the same Green Belt exam carries three different prices in 2026 - $350 on IASSC's certification page, $402 in IASSC's own order store, and 361 euro (about $415) at PeopleCert - and the cheapest of those is the one you cannot actually buy. The exam behind all three is identical: 100 questions, 180 minutes, closed book, 70% to pass, no prerequisites. The difference is which storefront of the same group you happen to open. Every figure below was checked at the publisher on 22 September 2026, and euro amounts are converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of 1.1490 USD per euro published for 21 September 2026.
The three price lists
| Where you buy | Green Belt certification exam | What the page says |
|---|---|---|
| IASSC certification page | $350 | "Purchase a Green Belt Exam Voucher for $350 USD through the link provided below" |
| IASSC order store | $402 | "Green Belt On-Demand Web-Based Certification Exam Voucher" |
| PeopleCert | 361 euro (about $415) | Exam voucher, take it "from home or office 24/7" |
The $52 between the marketing page and the store is not a discount you can claim. It is the marketing page quoting a number the checkout no longer uses. If you are building a budget for yourself or for a team, take it from the cart, not from the certification page.
The exam does not change between sellers:
| IASSC | PeopleCert | |
|---|---|---|
| Questions | 100 (plus up to 10 non-graded on some forms) | 100 |
| Time | 3 hours | 180 minutes |
| Book | Closed, reference document with formulas provided | Closed, reference document provided |
| Pass mark | 70% | 70% |
| Prerequisites | None; training and project experience recommended, not required | None |
| Validity | Current status for three years | Renewal every three years |
| Languages | Not stated on the page we checked | English, French, Japanese, Latin Spanish |
Full format detail is on our Green Belt exam format page, and the fee table is kept current on Green Belt cost.
Why one certification has two sellers
This is not two bodies competing. PeopleCert announced the acquisition of IASSC in 2020: "PeopleCert, the global leader in exam delivery and the certification of professional skills, today announced the acquisition of the International Association for Six Sigma Certification (IASSC)". The delivery arrangement is older than the ownership - IASSC's own announcement of the PeopleCert partnership states that "PEOPLECERT will be the primary organization responsible for delivering IASSC certification exams and processing IASSC accreditations for organizations".
So the practical reading of the price spread is simple: one credential, one exam engine, two checkouts and one stale brochure page. Nobody is selling you a cheaper or better version of the ICGB. You are choosing a currency, a tax treatment and a website.
One consequence worth knowing before you compare: PeopleCert prices are shown per country. The page we read served a German storefront ("PREIS 361.00 euro"), and it does not state whether VAT is included. Open it from your own country before you convert anything, and expect the local number to differ from ours.
What the fee does not cover
Training. Neither price includes a course. IASSC accredits providers who set their own prices, and since no training is required to sit the exam, this is a genuine choice rather than a hidden fee.
A practice exam. IASSC sells Evaluation Exam Vouchers separately: the Green Belt evaluation is a non-proctored exam written by IASSC Technical Committee members with the same methods as the certification exam, sold at $78 with a single-user 20-day access licence, and it does not lead to certification. PeopleCert sells its own official Green Belt mock exam separately at 62 euro (about $71) on the German storefront.
A second attempt. IASSC's store lists certification, recertification and evaluation vouchers - and no retake product, so a failed sitting means buying another voucher at full price. PeopleCert offers Take2, a re-sit that "can only be purchased before taking your exam", up to 15 minutes before the session, valid for six months and included for PeopleCert Plus members. That is a decision you have to make while you are still confident, which is exactly when people skip it.
At Green Belt level the honest all-in figure for a first attempt is therefore around $480 if you buy the IASSC voucher plus the evaluation exam, or roughly the same in euro through PeopleCert with the mock. Our certification cost calculator adds the retake and renewal scenarios.
Recertification: where the spread gets worse
IASSC grants Current status "for a period of three years", after which a limited re-examination is required. The exam is the same wherever you buy it - 50 questions, 90 minutes, closed book, 70%, and IASSC limits it to two attempts separated by at least two weeks - but the price is not:
| Where you buy | Green Belt recertification |
|---|---|
| IASSC recertification policy page | $175 |
| IASSC order store | $268 |
| PeopleCert | 243 euro (about $279) |
The policy page and the store differ by $93 for the identical voucher, and the policy page is the one search engines quote. Over six years - one certification plus one renewal - the realistic totals are $670 through the IASSC store and about $694 through PeopleCert. The brochure version of that journey, $350 plus $175, would be $525, and it is not on sale anywhere we could find.
PeopleCert adds one eligibility rule the IASSC page does not spell out: its recertification exam is for candidates who "achieved the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification three years ago or earlier".
All three belts, for context
| Belt | IASSC page | IASSC store | PeopleCert | Exam |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow Belt | $250 | $289 | not checked | 60 questions, 2 hours, 70% |
| Green Belt | $350 | $402 | 361 euro (about $415) | 100 questions, 3 hours, 70% |
| Black Belt | $450 | $516 | 464 euro (about $533) | 150 questions, 4 hours, 70% |
The pattern holds across belts: the store charges roughly 15% more than the certification pages, and PeopleCert lands a little above the store once converted. Black Belt recertification runs $235 on the policy page and $335 in the store. If you are weighing the jump, the Black Belt practice questions show how much deeper the statistics go - the price difference is the smaller part of that decision.
How to buy without overpaying
- Price it in the cart, in your own country. The certification pages are stale and PeopleCert's number is country-specific.
- Decide on the re-sit before you sit. Take2 is unavailable after a failure, and IASSC has no retake product at all.
- Budget the practice exam as a separate line. $78 or 62 euro, not included anywhere.
- Check who will recognise the credential. IASSC and ASQ Green Belts are different certifications from different bodies; if an employer named one, buy that one.
- Do not pay for training you do not need. No course is required for the ICGB, and the exam is closed book with a formula sheet provided - what it tests is whether you can pick the right tool for a situation.
That last point is the one that decides the fee you pay in total. A failed attempt costs more than any of the price gaps in this article, so the cheapest route through the Green Belt is the one where you sit the exam once. Our free Green Belt practice questions are built against the IASSC body of knowledge, 20 questions per DMAIC phase, with an explanation linked to the source on every answer. If you are still choosing between credentials, start at which certification.
All fees verified at the publishers' own pages on 22 September 2026 and converted at the ECB euro reference rate for 21 September 2026. Prices change without notice - check the checkout before you budget.