I personally wouldn't pay for it right now. I might go to WGU for their Info Assurance master's, and they would pay for it

I feel like they need to do something different with this exam. Maybe make it a little harder, add some type of lab, and stop raising the damn price a hundred dollars every year!

If I wanted that cert, then I would pay for it. There are similar crimes across the board for all certifications so this doesn't seem overly outlandish to me.

LOL.  OSCP, bringing sexy back.  But seriously, they could get better by just trying to compliment the OSCP.  Teaching more laws, PCI compliance, auditing, etc, to make you more of a complete pentester.  But raising the prices without content is just crazy.  I mean you see what's happening to Netflix...

Bad move? Maybe. For our pockets (if you're not reimbursed by the job), yes, for theirs, no unfortunately. 

As long as the CEH has the backing of the DoD as a baseline cert they can definitely get away with the costs. This comment is not made to degrade the certification in any way but rather to the effect of as long as there is a demand, people will pay just about pay anything within reason.

I nabbed CEH v6 earlier this year but if I had to do it again with these prices, I think I would still eventually force myself to do it. At the end of the day, money needs to be made and going back to the 8570, the ROI that comes from covering four out of five CND discipline baseline requirements isn't half bad at all!*

*This is assuming of course your DoD client doesn't require a CE and IAT or IAM cert on top of it.

From a private industry standpoint, I definitely agree with the others and I'd most likely spend my money on Offensive Security Training (OSCP/OSCE) and take exams such as the IACRB CPT/CEPT first. I am more of a hands-on guy personally so I have greater respect for technical certifications that force you to prove your skills in a labbing environment.

So most of us would not go for it from our own pocket and would wait for the budget to be allocated and made avaialable out of the employer's pocket!!! But the question is "Is it really worth it?" is this certification a big forward knowledge gear? or a career bolstering piece? or does it really help you conduct practical pentesting? Well even if the answer is YES for some of us the big negativity that spirals out is this ... "they just woke up in the morning and saw owww we have V7 well this is a big milestone ... so lets grab some cash ... why not just double the fee ... wait ... not just double it ... why they opt for self study when we are already selling it ... hmmm that is bad ... so all you self stud(y)iers, you bloody hardworking (eh) security pros you need to shed extra $100 on top... and in the end all you get is "C|EH" !!!

Can you see it? No? Just roll a little into recent past and see what was the price? I would say a bad commercial move... and the cert would die under its own weight. Why not they just put "Only For DoD aspirants" tag?? 

and i totally Agree with PENTESTER

I got this cert when they were on v5 and believe me no magical doors opened by having it.  I think most employers said "oh that's nice" or cared more about my education then the cert itself.  I could see paying the above price if the material was better written.  It seems to me that you do stand to gain more by going to the training instead of self studying.  Most of the reviews I read when people took the course made it seem a lot less like l33t t00lz tutorial and more of a comprehensive review of an actual pen test.

All that being said, for another $200 you could get OCSP and be better off in the long run.  I'll probably take CHFI just to renew the CEH and please the HR people....