TSA PreCheck vs Global Entry vs CLEAR in 2026: Which Trusted-Traveller Program Is Worth It

Three names dominate any American conversation about getting through the airport faster — TSA PreCheck, Global Entry and CLEAR. They sound interchangeable, they are constantly bundled together in credit-card perks, and they are quietly different products that solve three different problems. One speeds up domestic security. One speeds up US customs when you fly home from abroad. One is a private line you pay a company to stand in. Get the distinction wrong and you either overpay or buy the thing that doesn't help your kind of travel. Here is the plain-English 2026 breakdown, with the fees confirmed against the official programs.

TSA PreCheck: faster domestic security

TSA PreCheck is the one most frequent domestic flyers actually want. It gives you a dedicated, faster security lane at participating US airports where you don't have to remove your shoes, belt, light jacket, laptop or liquids. You apply, pass a background check, get fingerprinted, and receive a Known Traveler Number (KTN) that you add to your airline reservations so the PreCheck indicator prints on your boarding pass. Enrollment is handled by three approved providers — IDEMIA, CLEAR and Telos — not by the TSA directly. The fee currently runs about $76.75 to $85 and membership lasts five years before you renew; because the exact fee depends on the provider and has changed, confirm the current figure on the official tsa.gov site before you pay.

Global Entry: faster customs when you fly home

Global Entry solves a different pain point: the long immigration and customs queue when you land back in the US after an international trip. Approved members use automated kiosks (or the CBP mobile app) to clear border formalities in a fraction of the usual time. The enrollment fee is $120 for five years — it rose from $100 in October 2024 — and the application involves a background check plus an in-person interview where your fingerprints and photo are taken. Interview wait times can stretch from months to nearly a year, so apply well before a big trip.

The decisive detail: Global Entry includes TSA PreCheck. Approved members automatically get PreCheck benefits and a KTN. For only about $40 more than PreCheck alone, Global Entry gives you both the domestic fast lane and the arrivals fast lane — which is why, for anyone who flies internationally even occasionally, it is usually the smarter buy.

CLEAR: a private biometric shortcut, not a government program

CLEAR Plus is run by a company, not the government. For roughly $219 a year, CLEAR members use biometric kiosks (iris or fingerprint) to verify their identity and then get escorted to the front of the security screening line. Crucially, CLEAR only speeds up the ID-check step — you still go through the actual security screening afterward. It operates at 55-plus airports and stadiums, so its usefulness depends heavily on whether your home airport is covered. Many travellers stack CLEAR with PreCheck for the fastest possible path, but on its own it doesn't get you the shoes-on, laptop-in-bag screening that PreCheck does. And as PreCheck lanes have gotten faster, the standalone value of CLEAR has narrowed at some airports.

Which international travellers benefit

Global Entry isn't only for US citizens. US lawful permanent residents qualify, and so do citizens of a growing list of partner countries — including the UK, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, Mexico and Brazil, among others (Canadians access the same benefit through the NEXUS program). If you hold one of those passports and visit the US often, Global Entry can turn a long arrivals hall into a walk-through. If you're a visa-exempt visitor still sorting out the basics of US entry, that's a separate document — see our explainer on the 2026 entry-rule changes, including the US ESTA fee, which every Visa Waiver traveller now pays before boarding.

The Nepal angle for trekkers

Here's where this touches us. If you're a US passport holder flying home after a Himalayan trek, Global Entry is the perk that gets you through US customs while everyone else queues — a genuine relief after 20-plus hours in the air from Kathmandu. It does nothing to your entry into Nepal, though, and it doesn't need to: Nepal issues a straightforward tourist visa on arrival at Kathmandu airport (and is rolling out an eVisa), so there's no trusted-traveller hoop to jump through on the way in. Sort your Global Entry out for the trip home, get your Nepal visa at the desk on arrival, and the airport is the easy part of the adventure. When you're ready for the hard, beautiful part, our Everest Base Camp trek and Nepal-from-the-USA planning guide lay out exactly how to plan it.

Fees and rules change. The figures above were confirmed against the official Global Entry, TSA PreCheck and CLEAR programs, but always verify the current fee and terms on the official tsa.gov, cbp.gov and clearme.com sites before you apply.

Cover photo: Matthew Turner via Pexels (Pexels License).