FAA Drone License: The Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate, Step by Step

If you want to earn money with a drone in the United States, you need the FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificate. That is the official name for what most people call the FAA drone license. It is issued by the Federal Aviation Administration under 14 CFR Part 107, the rule that governs small drones (under 55 pounds) flown for commercial, government, and other non-recreational purposes.^[1]

The good news: this is one of the most accessible credentials in aviation. No flight training requirement, no medical certificate, no logbook minimum. You study, pass one multiple-choice knowledge test, file an online application, clear a routine security check, and you are a certificated remote pilot. By the FAA’s latest count, 481,760 people have done exactly that.^[3]

Third-party sites often make the process look more complicated (and more expensive) than it is, usually because they are selling a prep course. This guide walks through the actual FAA process, step by step, with current costs, so you know what is required and what is optional. Every regulatory detail here comes from FAA sources, linked at the end.

The dividing line is purpose, not the drone. The FAA sorts drone flyers into two groups.^[4]

Recreational flyers fly strictly for fun. They do not need a Part 107 certificate. Instead, they fly under the FAA’s Exception for Limited Recreational Operations: pass a free online safety test called TRUST (The Recreational UAS Safety Test), follow the safety guidelines of an FAA-recognized community-based organization, and register any drone heavier than 0.55 pounds (250 grams).^[4]

Certificated remote pilots fly for anything else, and “commercial” is broader than most people assume. Selling aerial photos, inspecting a roof for a client, mapping a construction site, shooting real estate listings, or posting monetized drone footage all count as non-recreational flying. So does flying for a government agency or nonprofit, or even an unpaid flight that furthers a business, like photographing your own restaurant for its website.^[4]

One practical warning: a drone registered under the recreational exception cannot be flown under Part 107, and registrations do not transfer between the two categories.^[5] If there is any chance you will fly commercially, register under Part 107 from the start; it costs the same $5.

Before investing in study time, confirm you qualify. The FAA’s eligibility rules for a first-time remote pilot are short:^[1]

• Age. You must be at least 16 years old to hold the certificate.
• English. You must be able to read, speak, write, and understand English.
• Condition. You must be in a physical and mental condition to safely fly a drone. There is no medical exam; this is a self-assessment, and it is your ongoing responsibility every time you fly.

That is the entire list. No flight hours, no instructor sign-off, no citizenship requirement. (If you already hold a Part 61 pilot certificate with a current flight review, the FAA offers a shorter path: a free online training course instead of the proctored test.^[1]) The steps below cover the standard first-time route.

Here is the full sequence the FAA lays out for first-time pilots, from zero to certificate in hand.^[1] Most people complete it in three to six weeks, and study time is the biggest variable.

The UAG test is the only real gatekeeper in this process, so it deserves a closer look. The FAA lists the topic areas directly: regulations and operating rules, airspace classification and flight restrictions, aviation weather sources and weather effects on drone performance, loading and performance, emergency procedures, crew resource management, radio communication procedures, physiological effects of drugs and alcohol, aeronautical decision-making, airport operations, maintenance and preflight inspection, and night operations.^[1]

For most first-time candidates, the challenge is not drone handling (the test involves no flying at all) but classic aviation ground school material. Reading a sectional chart, decoding a METAR weather report, and knowing where Class B airspace begins are the skills that separate a pass from a retake, so a typical study plan spends most of its hours on airspace and weather. If you fail, you can retest after 14 calendar days, but you pay the testing fee again.

Search for “FAA drone license cost” and you will find figures from $175 to $700. The spread comes entirely from optional study products. Here is the honest breakdown.

Bottom line: about $180 gets you a certificate and one registered drone if you use the free FAA materials. Add a mid-range prep course and the realistic total lands between $310 and $530. Ongoing cost after that is effectively zero, since the recurrent training that keeps your privileges current is free.

The certificate comes with a rulebook. These are the Part 107 operating rules you will use daily; the knowledge test covers them in detail.^[7]

• Stay at or below 400 feet above the ground. You may go higher only when staying within 400 feet of a structure, which is what allows tower and building inspections.
• Keep the drone within visual line of sight (VLOS), yours or a visual observer’s, unaided by binoculars. First-person-view goggles are fine only if an observer keeps eyes on the aircraft.
• Night flying is allowed without a waiver, provided your training or testing is current (night operations are part of today’s curriculum) and the drone carries anti-collision lighting visible for three statute miles.^[4]
• Do not fly over people unless they are part of the operation or your drone qualifies under the operations-over-people categories. Maximum speed is 100 mph; minimum visibility is three miles.
• One aircraft at a time, never from a moving vehicle except over sparsely populated areas, always yielding to crewed aircraft.

When a job cannot fit inside these limits, Part 107 has a built-in relief valve: waivers. You can ask the FAA to waive most operational rules if you show your operation is just as safe as the rule intended. The most requested waivers cover flying beyond visual line of sight, above 400 feet, and over people; the FAA generally responds within about 90 days.^[7] Waiver work is where drone flying starts to look like a profession: someone has to build the safety case, and that person is rarely just “the pilot.”

Staying current is the easiest part of the system. The certificate never expires; you simply complete the Part 107 Small UAS Recurrent online training course (ALC-677) on the FAA Safety Team website every 24 calendar months, at no cost.^[1]

Here is the framing most “get your drone license” content skips: Part 107 is deliberately easy to get, and nearly half a million people hold it.^[3] The certificate proves you know the rules of the sky; it says nothing about whether you can plan an inspection program, process mapping data, manage a fleet, or run a safety program. Those skills separate a per-shoot side gig from a salaried career, and we break down what those jobs pay in our guide to drone careers.

That gap is what a structured degree targets. Everglades University’s Bachelor of Science in Unmanned Aerial Systems, one of nine aviation bachelor’s specializations the university offers, is built for people who want to work above the controller: UAS operations, program and project management, regulatory compliance, and integrating drones into larger aviation organizations. The program is available online, which matters for working pilots already flying under their own Part 107 certificate. To be clear, you do not need a degree to fly commercially, and plenty of solo operators do fine without one. Many UAS operations management and program leadership positions list a bachelor’s degree as preferred or required. If you are still comparing directions within aviation, our bachelor of aviation guide maps how the UAS specialization sits alongside the other paths on the Everglades University aviation hub.

A sensible sequence for a career changer: earn the Part 107 certificate first (it is fast and cheap, and lets you start logging real commercial work immediately), then pursue the degree while flying. Graduates who follow that path may enter the job market with both the certificate and a portfolio of actual operations, a materially stronger position than either credential alone.