For any candidate appearing for any of the PMP or PMI-ACP related exams, it is a very important question that is the difference between the two. Being certified in both , I often get a chance to share the difference between the two exams. This feedback is more interesting for those candidates who have already appeared in any one of them and are looking to attempt the other one. 

First of all, both of them have the same level of value in their respective areas. If you compare the exam fees, they are almost the same for both the exams. For Non PMI members, PMP is $555 and PMI-ACP is $495. Similarly for PMI members PMP is $405 and PMI-ACP is $435.

There is a reasonable difference between the two with respect to the content. PMP has much more comprehensive content as compared to PMI-ACP. This may be due to the fact that PMI started the PMP exam much earlier than the PMI-ACP exam and the same goes for the respective communities. Therefore it is natural for PMP to have more rich content which has been developed over time. 

For the same reason, the PMP exam is 230 minutes long with 180 questions while the PMI-ACP exam is a 120 minutes exam with 120 questions. If we talk about the content and length of the questions, then again there is a quite noticeable difference between the two. The PMP exam questions may be quite lengthy as compared to the PMI-ACP exam.

The experts often tip the candidate to memorize the “Process / Knowledge Area Sheet” along with a list of different formulas related to the PMP exam. It is recommended to write down those during the 15 minute tutorial before the start of the exam. There is no such thing related to PMI-ACP. 

Another experience I always share about the two exams is that when you are attempting the PMP exam, you generally get down to 2 out of the 4 options as answers. These 2 options are very close and both seemed right in their own regard. It requires real experience and practice to answer those questions. In case of the PMI-ACP exam, you generally don’t get into such situations and get to one choice easily. 

Another thing about the two exams is that PMP is considered more dynamic and is applicable to almost every other domain while PMI-ACP is considered more suited to the Software Development domain. Although many organizations from other domains have adopted Agile in recent times and are reaping its benefits , PMP has a much broader domain. 

Personally I believe that PMP is a complete knowledge base and Agile is one of the frameworks that falls under the PMP domain. If we consider the exams, then they are not the same and have their own study content.