FedRAMP Certification Paths are Heating Up
July 30, 2026
FedRAMP hasn’t slowed down this summer. July kicked off the final quarter of the federal fiscal year, putting us in the home stretch toward one of our 2026 goals: “providing a modern, standardized, and reusable approach to assessment and certification that meets the critical needs of all stakeholders.”
The FedRAMP community is getting familiar with the Consolidated Rules for 2026. Earlier this month, we hosted three FedRAMP events to walk stakeholders through the rules and answer questions live. We’re also responding daily to feedback and questions in our GitHub discussion forum and through our shared inbox.
Today, we’re giving you a quick look at what’s opening, what’s transitioning, and what’s coming next.
Opening 20x Certification Pipelines
Several important dates in the Consolidated Rules for 2026 are already here. At first glance, retiring familiar designations may feel like options are disappearing. In practice, FedRAMP is transitioning to progressive Certification Classes that allow providers to scale their investment and level of assurance as agency interest and customer needs grow.
Earlier this week, we said farewell to FedRAMP Ready as a road to eventual Certification. Instead of being completely axed: that designation transitioned to a “Legacy FedRAMP Ready” status on the FedRAMP Marketplace. Recently completed Readiness Assessment Reports (RARs) are still viable to submit for a Class A Certification.
Which is to say: if you’re new to FedRAMP and interested in getting certified, you have a lot of options.
- This is the entry-level FedRAMP 20x baseline tier on the marketplace and replaces FedRAMP Ready.
- If you have a complete FedRAMP Readiness Assessment Report or a SOC 2 Type II, you can submit for a Class A Certification when the pipeline opens.
- Once a cloud service offering has a federal customer using their service they have 12 months to begin transition to a Class B (or higher) certification.
- This pipeline officially opens Monday, August 3, 2026.
- This class is an updated version of what stakeholders may have previously referred to as the FedRAMP Low impact level.
- This pipeline for 20x Class B opens on Monday, August 31, 2026.
- This is a mid-level baseline for certifications and replaces the FedRAMP Moderate impact level.
- This pipeline for 20x Class C opens on Monday, August 31, 2026.
FedRAMP plans to begin working with cloud service providers interested in pursuing the 20x Class D Certifications in Phase 4. This process will be similar in nature to how FedRAMP worked with early adopters for 20x Class B and Class C a year ago. The current plan anticipates piloting Class D in late 2026 and making it available as a formal Certification option in early 2027.
Opening limited Rev5 Program Certifications
As described in NTC-0008: Initial Outcome from RFC-0023 Rev5 Program Certifications, FedRAMP will open two limited, temporary Rev5 Program Certification pipelines on August 10, 2026:
- Lost Sponsor
- Ready Conversion
FedRAMP will review completed form submissions before contacting you directly to confirm your eligibility and your individual path forward. Cloud service providers must still meet minimum Rev5 requirements to achieve certification, including maintaining security and documentation requirements.
Please do not email the shared inbox to request an individual eligibility determination. Submitting the appropriate form gives the team the information it needs to evaluate the request consistently and efficiently.
Making the rounds
This week, FedRAMP celebrated the graduation of the 2026 U.S. Digital Corps Fellows cohort. FedRAMP has been a strong partner and supporter of the program, and U.S. Digital Corps alumni now make up a significant portion of our federal team.
The Fellows who joined FedRAMP last year contributed to many of the improvements the cloud community benefits from today, including the redesigned FedRAMP website and Marketplace. Following their graduation, these Fellows will continue their work as members of the FedRAMP team.
Last week, we met stakeholders where they were by participating in a major annual industry event. We also took the FedRAMP transformation conversation on the road during an interview with Fed Gov Today. The recordings are coming soon!
Before the summer ends, we plan to participate in at least three additional external events. We hope to see many of you at our August Community Updates, but we’re even more excited about what’s coming in late September.
If you’re a FedRAMP agency liaison or partner, you are familiar with our quarterly FedRAMP Day. These events are typically an in-person, invitation-only event in collaboration with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In the past, we’ve invited a select group of industry experts to present but historically, these events are limited to agencies.
Our final FedRAMP Day of the fiscal year will be different.
On Wednesday, September 30, 2026, FedRAMP Day will take over the second day of the Cloud Service Providers–Advisory Board’s two-day annual Summit at Fuse at Mason Square in Arlington, Virginia. For the first time since the launch of FedRAMP 20x, we will bring agencies and the commercial cloud community together in person for a full day focused on the FedRAMP and cloud security topics that matter most.
The final agenda is coming soon, and we hope to see you there.
The Road ahead is heating up
The summer heat is a fitting metaphor for the transformative work underway at FedRAMP. We’re sprinting toward the end of the fiscal year while continuing to build a better program for current and future marketplace partners.
The month started with the optional early adoption of the Consolidated Rules for 2026, including the launch of the window period for new 20x Marketplace Listings. In less than 30 days, we’ve received nearly 30 FedRAMP Marketplace Provider Listing Forms under this Initial Implementation Phase. How did we get so many submissions so quickly? It’s easy - they simply followed the new rules!
We’re excited to continue this modernization journey with the FedRAMP community. Keep building with us.
