TRUST vs Part 107: which one do you actually need?

Two different FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) credentials cover flying an unmanned aircraft system (UAS, “drone”) in the United States, and they are not interchangeable, not a beginner and advanced version of the same thing, and not a choice you make based on how experienced you are. They are gated by why you are flying, not how well you fly. Get this wrong and you either wasted time on a test you did not need, or you are flying illegally without realizing it.

The one-question test: are you getting anything of value for the flight?

The dividing line is not payment amount. It is whether the flight is “in furtherance of a business” or done for compensation, incentive, or any other business purpose, under 49 U.S.C. 44809 (the Exception for Limited Recreational Operations of Unmanned Aircraft). Part 107 itself, at 14 CFR 107.1, explicitly excludes aircraft operating under that recreational exception, which is what makes the two paths mutually exclusive for a given flight: you are on one or the other, never both, and never neither.

• If the answer is “purely for my own enjoyment, nothing else”: you are a recreational flyer. Take TRUST.
• If the answer is “yes, in any way this benefits a business, mine or someone else’s, even unpaid”: you need Part 107.

TRUST: the recreational path

The Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST) is a free, open-book knowledge and aeronautical safety test built for hobbyists. It has no minimum age and does not expire once passed. You take it online through any FAA-approved test administrator (the Academy of Model Aeronautics is one), and you keep the completion certificate as proof. There is no practical flight test, no medical requirement, and no application through IACRA (the FAA’s Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application system), because TRUST is not an airman certificate. It confirms you understand basic safety rules before you fly for fun.

Part 107: the commercial and non-hobby path

The Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate is an actual FAA airman certificate. It requires passing a 60-question, 2-hour, proctored knowledge test at a PSI test center (a $175 fee, per PSI’s own fee page), a minimum age of 16, and an FAA identity and background check before the certificate issues. Once you hold it, you keep it current with free recurrent training every 24 months (see the free renewal path) rather than retesting from scratch. Holding Part 107 lets you fly for any purpose, business or personal, so a certificate holder never also needs TRUST.

Decision by use case

• Hobby only, flying for the enjoyment of it, no business tie of any kind: TRUST. Nothing else required.
• Paid work of any kind: real estate photography, wedding videography, roof inspections, crop surveys, delivery testing, or any job where the flight is part of what you are paid to do: Part 107.
• Real estate: taking photos or video of a property you or your employer is trying to sell, lease, or market, even if you are the property owner and no fee changes hands, counts as business use. Part 107. See the deeper do I need Part 107 guide for real estate specifics.
• Research: university or independent research flown as part of a job, grant, or funded project is business use. Part 107. Purely personal curiosity with no institutional or funded tie is closer to recreational, but confirm with your institution before assuming; many universities require Part 107 for any research flight regardless of funding status, as an internal safety policy layered on top of the FAA rule.
• Small business, side hustle, or “just helping a friend’s business”: any of these count as business use. There is no small-enough or unpaid-enough exception; see do I need Part 107 for the exact reasoning.

What happens if you fly commercially on TRUST only

Flying for business purposes without holding Part 107 is an unauthorized commercial operation, a regulatory violation the FAA can enforce with civil penalties regardless of how small or informal the job was. There is no “just this once” exception and no size-of-business threshold. If any part of the flight benefits a business, TRUST does not cover you.

Which one should you take first if you’re not sure yet

If you are testing the waters, unsure whether a hobby will turn into paid work, start with TRUST: it is free, takes under an hour, and never expires, so there is no cost to having it regardless of what you decide later. The moment a flight has any business purpose, even one unpaid listing photo for a friend, take the Part 107 knowledge test before that flight, not after. Study with the free practice bank and the sectional chart drill once you know you need it.