AWS Certifications

Complete Guide to All 12 Active AWS Certifications
Exam Details · Passing Scores · Domain Weights · Study Strategies
1
Foundational
3
Associate
2
Professional
6
Specialty
12
Total Certs
F

Foundational

No prior AWS experience required. Best starting point for all paths.
Entry Level
CLF
C02
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
CLF-C02 · Foundational · Valid 3 Years
Validates overall understanding of the AWS Cloud. Covers cloud concepts, core AWS services, security, architecture, pricing, and support. Ideal for non-technical roles (sales, managers, finance) and anyone starting their AWS journey.
Questions
65 scored + 15 unscored
Duration
90 Minutes
Passing Score
700 / 1000
Exam Fee
$100 USD
Format
Multiple Choice / Multiple Response
Exam Domains & Weights
Domain 1: Cloud Concepts
24%
Domain 2: Security & Compliance
30%
Domain 3: Cloud Technology & Services
34%
Domain 4: Billing, Pricing & Support
12%
Exam Strategy
Study Duration: 2-4 weeks for beginners, 1-2 weeks with IT background. Focus on breadth over depth — know what each service does, not how to configure it.
High-Yield Topics: Shared Responsibility Model, Well-Architected Framework, pricing models (On-Demand/Reserved/Spot), S3 storage classes, IAM basics, and Support Plans (Basic → Enterprise).
Time Management: ~70 seconds per question. Flag and skip difficult ones — come back later. You have plenty of time. Read ALL options before answering.
Pro Tip: Security & Compliance is 30% — master shared responsibility, encryption (KMS/CloudHSM), Shield/WAF/GuardDuty. This single domain can make or break your score.
Prerequisites:
None required6 months cloud exposure recommended
Study Materials →
AIF
C01
AWS Certified AI Practitioner
AIF-C01 · Foundational · Valid 3 Years
Validates understanding of AI/ML concepts, generative AI, and responsible AI on AWS. Covers foundational AI/ML concepts, generative AI basics, Amazon Bedrock, SageMaker, and responsible AI practices. Launched in 2024.
Questions
65 scored + 20 unscored
Duration
120 Minutes
Passing Score
700 / 1000
Exam Fee
$100 USD
Format
Multiple Choice / Multiple Response
Exam Domains & Weights
Domain 1: Fundamentals of AI and ML
20%
Domain 2: Fundamentals of Generative AI
24%
Domain 3: Applications of Foundation Models
28%
Domain 4: Guidelines for Responsible AI
14%
Domain 5: Security, Compliance & Governance
14%
Exam Strategy
Study Duration: 2-4 weeks. Understand ML pipeline (collect → train → evaluate → deploy), types of ML (supervised/unsupervised/reinforcement), and generative AI concepts (LLMs, transformers, prompting).
High-Yield Topics: Amazon Bedrock, SageMaker, foundation models, prompt engineering, RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation), model fine-tuning, responsible AI (bias, fairness, transparency).
Pro Tip: Domain 3 (Foundation Models) is 28% — focus on Amazon Bedrock, model selection criteria, prompt engineering techniques, and how to customize foundation models with your own data.
Prerequisites:
None required6 months AI/ML exposure recommended
Study Materials →
A

Associate Level

1+ year hands-on AWS experience. Core technical certifications.
Intermediate
SAA
C03
AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate
SAA-C03 · Associate · Valid 3 Years · Most Popular AWS Cert
Validates ability to design well-architected distributed systems on AWS. Covers resilient architectures, high-performing solutions, secure applications, and cost-optimized designs. The most sought-after AWS certification in the industry.
Questions
65 scored + 15 unscored
Duration
130 Minutes
Passing Score
720 / 1000
Exam Fee
$150 USD
Format
Multiple Choice / Multiple Response
Exam Domains & Weights
Domain 1: Design Secure Architectures
30%
Domain 2: Design Resilient Architectures
26%
Domain 3: Design High-Performing Architectures
24%
Domain 4: Design Cost-Optimized Architectures
20%
Exam Strategy
Study Duration: 4-8 weeks with hands-on labs. Deep dive into VPC networking, IAM policies, S3, RDS Multi-AZ vs Read Replicas, Lambda, CloudFront, and Auto Scaling architectures.
High-Yield Topics: VPC design (subnets/NACLs/SGs/endpoints), S3 storage classes & lifecycle, RDS vs DynamoDB vs Aurora, ELB types, CloudFront, SQS/SNS decoupling, disaster recovery strategies (Pilot Light/Warm Standby/Multi-Site).
Question Pattern: Scenario-based — "A company needs..." Pick the MOST cost-effective or MOST operationally efficient answer. Eliminate wrong answers first. Look for keywords: "serverless" → Lambda/Fargate, "decoupled" → SQS/SNS.
Pro Tip: Security is 30%. Master IAM roles for cross-account access, KMS encryption, VPC endpoints (Gateway vs Interface), S3 bucket policies, and CloudTrail/Config for compliance. Know when to use each.
Prerequisites:
None required1 year hands-on recommendedCLF-C02 helpful
Study Materials →
DVA
C02
AWS Certified Developer — Associate
DVA-C02 · Associate · Valid 3 Years
Validates ability to develop, deploy, and debug cloud-based applications. Heavy focus on serverless, APIs, CI/CD, DynamoDB, Lambda, API Gateway, SDK/CLI usage, and application security with IAM roles and Cognito.
Questions
65 scored + 15 unscored
Duration
130 Minutes
Passing Score
720 / 1000
Exam Fee
$150 USD
Format
Multiple Choice / Multiple Response
Exam Domains & Weights
Domain 1: Development with AWS Services
32%
Domain 2: Security
26%
Domain 3: Deployment
24%
Domain 4: Troubleshooting & Optimization
18%
Exam Strategy
Study Duration: 4-6 weeks. This is the most code-heavy AWS cert. Practice with AWS SDK, CLI, Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, and CI/CD tools (CodePipeline/CodeBuild/CodeDeploy).
High-Yield Topics: DynamoDB (partition keys, GSI/LSI, streams, DAX), Lambda (concurrency, layers, destinations, DLQ), API Gateway (stages, caching, throttling), Cognito, X-Ray, Elastic Beanstalk deployment policies.
Pro Tip: Know DynamoDB inside-out — capacity modes, query vs scan, GSI vs LSI, conditional writes, and TTL. Expect 8-12 DynamoDB questions. Also master Lambda environment variables, versioning/aliases, and error handling.
Prerequisites:
None required1 year AWS development recommended
Study Materials →
SOA
C02
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator — Associate
SOA-C02 · Associate · Valid 3 Years
Validates ability to deploy, manage, and operate workloads on AWS. Focuses on monitoring (CloudWatch), high availability, networking, security compliance, automation, and cost management. Considered the hardest Associate exam.
Questions
65 scored + 15 unscored
Duration
130 Minutes
Passing Score
720 / 1000
Exam Fee
$150 USD
Format
Multiple Choice / Multiple Response
Exam Domains & Weights
Domain 1: Monitoring, Logging & Remediation
20%
Domain 2: Reliability & Business Continuity
16%
Domain 3: Deployment, Provisioning & Automation
18%
Domain 4: Security & Compliance
16%
Domain 5: Networking & Content Delivery
18%
Domain 6: Cost & Performance Optimization
12%
Exam Strategy
Study Duration: 6-8 weeks. Most operational of the three Associates. Heavy focus on CloudWatch (metrics, alarms, logs, dashboards), Systems Manager, AWS Config, and troubleshooting scenarios.
High-Yield Topics: CloudWatch deep dive, EC2 instance troubleshooting, EBS performance, ASG lifecycle, S3 bucket policies, CloudFormation stack issues, VPC Flow Logs analysis, AWS Organizations/SCPs, Cost Explorer.
Pro Tip: This is the trickiest Associate exam. Many questions are troubleshooting scenarios — "an instance can't connect to..." Master VPC networking, security group vs NACL differences, and CloudWatch alarm actions.
Prerequisites:
None required1 year ops experience recommendedCLF-C02 or SAA-C03 helpful
Study Materials →
P

Professional Level

2+ years hands-on AWS experience. Advanced scenario-based exams.
Advanced
SAP
C02
AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Professional
SAP-C02 · Professional · Valid 3 Years · Hardest AWS Cert
Validates advanced technical skills in designing complex, multi-tier, multi-account AWS architectures. Covers migrations, hybrid architectures, cost control, organizational complexity, and disaster recovery at enterprise scale. Widely regarded as the hardest AWS exam.
Questions
75 scored + unscored
Duration
180 Minutes
Passing Score
750 / 1000
Exam Fee
$300 USD
Format
Multiple Choice / Multiple Response
Exam Domains & Weights
Domain 1: Design for Organizational Complexity
26%
Domain 2: Design for New Solutions
29%
Domain 3: Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions
25%
Domain 4: Accelerate Workload Migration & Modernization
20%
Exam Strategy
Study Duration: 8-12 weeks. Questions are long paragraphs with complex scenarios. Practice reading comprehension and time management — you get ~2.4 min per question.
High-Yield Topics: Multi-account strategy (Organizations, SCPs, Control Tower), hybrid networking (Direct Connect + VPN, Transit Gateway), migration strategies (6 R's), data migration (DMS, DataSync, Snow Family), serverless at scale.
Question Pattern: Very long scenarios (150-300 words). Multiple valid answers — pick the BEST one. Key differentiators: "MOST cost-effective", "LEAST operational overhead", "MINIMUM downtime". Read the last sentence first to know what they're asking.
Pro Tip: Time is your enemy. 75 questions in 180 min = 2.4 min each. Questions are paragraphs. Practice with timed exams. Read the question stem FIRST (last line), then scan the scenario for relevant details. Skip long ones and come back.
Prerequisites:
None required (SAA-C03 strongly recommended)2+ years hands-on
Study Materials →
DOP
C02
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer — Professional
DOP-C02 · Professional · Valid 3 Years
Validates expertise in provisioning, operating, and managing distributed applications on AWS. Combines development and operations with focus on CI/CD, monitoring, incident response, infrastructure as code, and compliance automation.
Questions
75 scored + unscored
Duration
180 Minutes
Passing Score
750 / 1000
Exam Fee
$300 USD
Format
Multiple Choice / Multiple Response
Exam Domains & Weights
Domain 1: SDLC Automation
22%
Domain 2: Configuration Management & IaC
17%
Domain 3: Resilient Cloud Solutions
15%
Domain 4: Monitoring & Logging
15%
Domain 5: Incident & Event Response
14%
Domain 6: Security & Compliance
17%
Exam Strategy
Study Duration: 8-10 weeks. Must have strong hands-on experience with CodePipeline, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy, CloudFormation, and CloudWatch. Practice building full CI/CD pipelines.
High-Yield Topics: CI/CD pipelines end-to-end, CloudFormation (nested stacks, drift detection, custom resources), blue/green & canary deployments, CloudWatch Events/alarms/dashboards, AWS Config rules, Systems Manager automation.
Pro Tip: Master deployment strategies — know when to use blue/green (Elastic Beanstalk, CodeDeploy, ECS), canary, rolling, and all-at-once. Expect 10+ questions on deployment strategies alone.
Prerequisites:
None required (DVA + SOA recommended)2+ years hands-on
Study Materials →
S

Specialty Certifications

Deep domain expertise. Targeted at specific roles and technologies.
Expert Domain
ANS
C01
AWS Certified Advanced Networking — Specialty
ANS-C01 · Specialty · Valid 3 Years
Validates expertise in designing, implementing, and troubleshooting AWS and hybrid networking architectures. Deep dive into VPC design, Direct Connect, Transit Gateway, Route 53, CloudFront, and network security.
Questions
65 scored + 15 unscored
Duration
170 Minutes
Passing Score
750 / 1000
Exam Fee
$300 USD
Format
Multiple Choice / Multiple Response
Exam Strategy
Key Focus: VPC architecture at scale, Direct Connect (LAG, connection types, virtual interfaces), Transit Gateway (peering, multicast), Route 53 (resolver, private hosted zones), Network Firewall, and PrivateLink.
Pro Tip: You MUST have deep networking knowledge — BGP, CIDR, DNS, TCP/IP. If you can't design a multi-VPC, multi-region, hybrid architecture with Direct Connect + VPN failover, you're not ready.
SCS
C02
AWS Certified Security — Specialty
SCS-C02 · Specialty · Valid 3 Years
Validates expertise in securing AWS workloads. Covers identity management, infrastructure protection, data protection, incident response, and compliance. Deep dive into KMS, IAM policies, GuardDuty, Security Hub, and encryption strategies.
Questions
65 scored + 15 unscored
Duration
170 Minutes
Passing Score
750 / 1000
Exam Fee
$300 USD
Format
Multiple Choice / Multiple Response
Exam Strategy
Key Focus: KMS (key policies, grants, cross-account), IAM (identity federation, SAML, Cognito), CloudTrail + Config + Security Hub integration, VPC security (NACLs, SGs, Flow Logs, Network Firewall), encryption everywhere (S3, EBS, RDS, DynamoDB).
Pro Tip: KMS is the single most important topic — key policies, CMK rotation, cross-account key sharing, envelope encryption, and KMS grants. Expect 15+ KMS-related questions. Also master incident response workflows.
MLS
C01
AWS Certified Machine Learning — Specialty
MLS-C01 · Specialty · Valid 3 Years
Validates expertise in building, training, tuning, and deploying ML models on AWS. Covers data engineering, exploratory data analysis, modeling, ML implementation with SageMaker, and ML operations. Requires both ML theory and AWS service knowledge.
Questions
65 scored + 15 unscored
Duration
180 Minutes
Passing Score
750 / 1000
Exam Fee
$300 USD
Format
Multiple Choice / Multiple Response
Exam Strategy
Key Focus: SageMaker (built-in algorithms, training, hyperparameter tuning, deployment), data preparation (Glue, Kinesis, S3), feature engineering, model evaluation (confusion matrix, precision/recall/F1), ML theory (overfitting, regularization, cross-validation).
Pro Tip: This is 50% ML theory + 50% AWS services. Know SageMaker built-in algorithms (XGBoost, Linear Learner, BlazingText, DeepAR, etc.) and when to use each. Also understand the entire ML pipeline from data ingestion to model deployment.
DAS
C01
AWS Certified Data Analytics — Specialty
DAS-C01 · Specialty · Valid 3 Years
Validates expertise in designing, building, and managing AWS data analytics solutions. Covers data collection (Kinesis, IoT), storage (S3, DynamoDB), processing (EMR, Glue), analysis (Athena, Redshift), and visualization (QuickSight).
Questions
65 scored + 15 unscored
Duration
170 Minutes
Passing Score
750 / 1000
Exam Fee
$300 USD
Format
Multiple Choice / Multiple Response
Exam Strategy
Key Focus: Kinesis (Data Streams vs Firehose vs Analytics), Redshift (distribution styles, sort keys, Spectrum), Glue (crawlers, ETL, Data Catalog), EMR (Hadoop/Spark/Hive), Athena (partitioning, optimization), and data pipeline architectures.
Pro Tip: Kinesis is the #1 topic — know Data Streams (shards, partition keys, KCL) vs Firehose (near real-time, transformations, destinations) vs Analytics (SQL on streams). Also master Redshift distribution and sort key strategies.
DBS
C01
AWS Certified Database — Specialty
DBS-C01 · Specialty · Valid 3 Years
Validates expertise in recommending, designing, and maintaining optimal AWS database solutions. Covers RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB, Redshift, ElastiCache, Neptune, DocumentDB, QLDB, and database migration strategies with DMS and SCT.
Questions
65 scored + 15 unscored
Duration
170 Minutes
Passing Score
750 / 1000
Exam Fee
$300 USD
Format
Multiple Choice / Multiple Response
Exam Strategy
Key Focus: Aurora (Global Database, Multi-Master, Serverless v2, cloning), DynamoDB (capacity planning, GSI/LSI, streams, transactions), RDS (Multi-AZ, Read Replicas, Performance Insights, proxy), DMS + SCT for migrations, ElastiCache strategies.
Pro Tip: Know how to choose the right database for the use case — relational vs NoSQL vs graph vs time-series vs ledger. DMS migration scenarios are heavily tested. Master Aurora and DynamoDB performance tuning.
SAP
on AWS
AWS Certified SAP on AWS — Specialty
PAS-C01 · Specialty · Valid 3 Years
Validates expertise in designing, implementing, migrating, and operating SAP workloads on AWS. Requires knowledge of both SAP HANA/NetWeaver systems and AWS infrastructure. Niche certification for SAP consultants and architects.
Questions
65 scored + 15 unscored
Duration
170 Minutes
Passing Score
750 / 1000
Exam Fee
$300 USD
Format
Multiple Choice / Multiple Response
Exam Strategy
Key Focus: SAP HANA on EC2 (instance sizing, EBS/instance store), SAP migration strategies, high availability for SAP (Pacemaker clusters), backup/recovery (AWS Backint), SAP Launch Wizard, and networking for SAP workloads.
Pro Tip: This cert requires deep SAP knowledge. If you don't work with SAP systems, skip this one. Focus on SAP-certified EC2 instances, HANA scale-up vs scale-out, and SAP-specific migration tools.

Quick Comparison — All AWS Certifications

Certification Code Level Questions Duration Pass Score Cost Difficulty
Cloud PractitionerCLF-C02Foundational6590 min700/1000$100Easy
AI PractitionerAIF-C01Foundational65120 min700/1000$100Easy-Medium
Solutions Architect AssociateSAA-C03Associate65130 min720/1000$150Medium
Developer AssociateDVA-C02Associate65130 min720/1000$150Medium
SysOps Admin AssociateSOA-C02Associate65130 min720/1000$150Medium-Hard
Solutions Architect ProfessionalSAP-C02Professional75180 min750/1000$300Very Hard
DevOps Engineer ProfessionalDOP-C02Professional75180 min750/1000$300Very Hard
Advanced Networking SpecialtyANS-C01Specialty65170 min750/1000$300Hard
Security SpecialtySCS-C02Specialty65170 min750/1000$300Hard
Machine Learning SpecialtyMLS-C01Specialty65180 min750/1000$300Hard
Data Analytics SpecialtyDAS-C01Specialty65170 min750/1000$300Hard
Database SpecialtyDBS-C01Specialty65170 min750/1000$300Hard
SAP on AWS SpecialtyPAS-C01Specialty65170 min750/1000$300Hard (Niche)

Recommended Certification Paths

Architect Path

CLF-C02 Cloud Practitioner
↓
SAA-C03 Solutions Architect Associate
↓
SAP-C02 Solutions Architect Professional
↓
ANS-C01 or SCS-C02 (Specialty)

Developer Path

CLF-C02 Cloud Practitioner
↓
DVA-C02 Developer Associate
↓
DOP-C02 DevOps Professional
↓
MLS-C01 or DBS-C01 (Specialty)

Operations Path

CLF-C02 Cloud Practitioner
↓
SOA-C02 SysOps Associate
↓
DOP-C02 DevOps Professional
↓
SCS-C02 Security Specialty

Data / AI Path

CLF-C02 + AIF-C01 Practitioners
↓
SAA-C03 Solutions Architect Associate
↓
DAS-C01 Data Analytics Specialty
↓
MLS-C01 Machine Learning Specialty

General Exam Tips & Strategies

Before the Exam

  • Register early — book your exam date to create a deadline
  • Take practice exams — aim for 80%+ consistently before sitting
  • Read the AWS exam guide — know every domain and its weight
  • Hands-on labs — Free Tier gives you 12 months of practice
  • AWS Skill Builder — free official practice questions

During the Exam

  • Read the LAST sentence first — it tells you what they're asking
  • Eliminate 2 wrong answers — then choose between remaining 2
  • Watch for keywords: "MOST cost-effective", "LEAST operational overhead", "MINIMUM downtime" — these are the differentiators
  • Flag and skip — don't spend 5 minutes on one question
  • Never leave blanks — no penalty for guessing

Scoring System

  • Scaled scoring: 100-1000 range, not a simple percentage
  • Unscored questions: 15 questions are experimental (not counted)
  • No negative marking — always answer every question
  • Pass/Fail only — no letter grades, just the score
  • Results: Immediate pass/fail on screen; detailed score in 1-5 business days

After Passing

  • 50% discount voucher — for your next AWS exam
  • Free practice exam — for any other AWS certification
  • Digital badge — via Credly, share on LinkedIn
  • Valid 3 years — recertify before expiration
  • Recertification: Pass the same exam again, or pass a higher-level cert in the same path

Exam Logistics

  • Testing center or online — both options available via Pearson VUE
  • ID required — two forms for testing center, one for online
  • Online proctoring: clean desk, webcam, no second monitor, quiet room
  • 30-minute ESL extension — request if English isn't your first language
  • Reschedule: free up to 24 hours before exam

Study Resources

  • AWS Skill Builder — free official courses and practice exams
  • AWS Whitepapers — Well-Architected Framework, Security Best Practices
  • AWS FAQs — read service FAQs for heavily tested services
  • Hands-on: AWS Free Tier, labs, and personal projects
  • Community: r/AWSCertifications, AWS re:Post, Exam Readiness courses
AWS Certifications Complete Guide · 12 Active Certifications · Updated 2024/2025
All exam details sourced from official AWS Certification pages. Verify at aws.amazon.com/certification before registering.

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