AWS certifications: which exam to take first, and what comes after it
As of November 2026, AWS charges $100 in the US for its two entry exams, $150 for each associate exam and $300 for the Solutions Architect Professional and Security Specialty exams. AWS lists no formal prerequisite for any of them, and every certification lasts three years. Its Skill Builder exam prep plans are free with an account, so a first attempt can cost only the exam fee. Two exams change version this month and next: Solutions Architect Professional moves to SAP-C03 on November 17, 2026 and Developer Associate to DVA-C03 on December 1, 2026.
The AWS exams we cover, side by side
| Certification and exam | Level | US exam fee | Formal prerequisite | Validity | Our page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud Practitioner, CLF-C02 | Entry | $100 | No; AWS says no IT or cloud experience is needed | 3 years | Cloud Practitioner guide |
| AI Practitioner, AIF-C01 | Entry | $100 | No; up to 6 months of AI exposure on AWS described | 3 years | AI Practitioner guide |
| Solutions Architect – Associate, SAA-C03 | Associate | $150 | No; 1 year of hands-on design recommended | 3 years | Solutions Architect – Associate guide |
| Developer – Associate, DVA-C02, DVA-C03 from December 1, 2026 | Associate | $150 | No; 1 year developing on AWS recommended | 3 years | Developer – Associate guide |
| CloudOps Engineer – Associate (formerly SysOps Administrator), SOA-C03 | Associate | $150 | No; about 1 year operating workloads recommended | 3 years | CloudOps Engineer – Associate (formerly SysOps Administrator) guide |
| Solutions Architect – Professional, SAP-C02, SAP-C03 from November 17, 2026 | Professional | $300 | No; 2 or more years designing on AWS recommended | 3 years | Solutions Architect – Professional guide |
| Security – Specialty, SCS-C03 | Specialty | $300 | No; 5 years of IT security and 2 securing AWS described | 3 years | Security – Specialty guide |
The experience figures are AWS's recommendations, not booking rules: anyone can register for any of these exams. The bar rises with the level, though. The associate and professional exams pass at 720 out of 1,000, Security Specialty at 750, and the two entry exams at 700.
What a first attempt costs at each AWS level
| Certification | Cheapest route | With a class | Class length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud Practitioner | $100 | $775 to $995 | One day |
| AI Practitioner | $100 | $795 | One day |
| Solutions Architect – Associate | $150 | $2,175 to $2,935 | Three days |
| Developer – Associate | $150 | $2,175 to $2,935 | Three days |
| CloudOps Engineer – Associate | $150 | $2,175 to $2,245 | Three days |
| Solutions Architect – Professional | $300 | $2,325 to $3,085 | Three days |
| Security – Specialty | $300 | $2,325 to $3,085 | Three days |
AWS paths from three starting points
New to IT. Take Cloud Practitioner first; AWS itself advises people without IT work experience to earn it before Solutions Architect Associate. If your interest is AI and you will use it rather than build it, AI Practitioner is the other $100 option, taken after AWS's free Cloud Practitioner Essentials course if you have never used AWS. Next comes Solutions Architect Associate, once you have built things in your own account.
Already in IT support or administration. Skip the entry tier. If you keep systems running, take CloudOps Engineer Associate; if you design or migrate workloads, take Solutions Architect Associate. Developers who call AWS services from code take Developer Associate, studying for DVA-C03 unless they can sit DVA-C02 by November 30.
Experienced specialist. After two or more years of AWS design work, Solutions Architect Professional on SAP-C03 is the next step; passing it also renews the Associate. Security engineers with years of AWS work behind them take Security Specialty, whose 750 pass mark is the highest on this page.
AWS version changes and renames since late 2025
- September 30, 2025: SOA-C03 replaced SOA-C02, and SysOps Administrator Associate became CloudOps Engineer Associate. Existing SysOps holders keep that title for its three years.
- December 2, 2025: SCS-C03 replaced SCS-C02 for Security Specialty, adding generative AI guardrails among other topics.
- November 17, 2026: SAP-C03 replaces SAP-C02, whose last day is November 16. It adds AI integration, data lakes and post-quantum key management.
- December 1, 2026: DVA-C03 replaces DVA-C02, whose last day is November 30; registration for DVA-C03 opened on October 27, 2026.
- Exam languages: CloudOps Engineer drops Korean and Simplified Chinese after November 19, 2026. After December 31, 2026, Cloud Practitioner drops Italian and German, Solutions Architect Associate drops Italian, and Security Specialty drops Simplified Chinese, Spanish (Latin America) and Portuguese (Brazil).
- New for business roles: AWS added the AI Business Strategist exam (AIB-C01), in beta at $50, which tests AI strategy and governance and does not test knowledge of AWS services.
AWS makes you wait 14 days between attempts, so a failed SAP-C02 or DVA-C02 attempt late in November puts the retake on the new version.
AWS Skill Builder, free and paid
Each exam on this page has a free Skill Builder exam prep plan, from 16 hours for SAP-C03 to about 32 hours for Cloud Practitioner. The official practice exams and pretests sit behind a Skill Builder subscription listed at $29 a month, and third-party practice sets such as Tutorials Dojo's cost $14.99 to $17.99 at list price. Labs in your own AWS account are billed by AWS, so set a budget alert before you build.
Booking AWS exams: quick answers
- Do I need Cloud Practitioner before an associate exam?
- No. AWS lists no prerequisite for any of its exams; it recommends Cloud Practitioner only to people without IT work experience.
- Is SysOps Administrator still offered?
- Under a new name: CloudOps Engineer Associate, exam SOA-C03, since September 30, 2025.
- How do AWS certifications renew?
- Every three years, by passing the current version of the exam or a related higher exam that AWS names. Cloud Practitioner also accepts AWS Cloud Quest: Recertify Cloud Practitioner. Developer Associate, CloudOps Engineer, Solutions Architect Professional and Security Specialty also have a Skill Builder maintenance route that adds one year and needs a paid subscription.
Next step
Ask which AWS exam fits your next role
Sources
- AWS: Certified Cloud Practitioner (price, audience, language retirements), checked November 5, 2026
- AWS: Certified AI Practitioner (fee, format, validity), checked November 5, 2026
- AWS: Certified AI Business Strategist (beta price, audience), checked November 5, 2026
- AWS: Certified Solutions Architect Associate (price, no listed prerequisite, Cloud Practitioner advice), checked November 5, 2026
- AWS: Certified Developer Associate (fee, experience, validity), checked November 5, 2026
- AWS: comparison of DVA-C02 and DVA-C03 (dates), checked November 5, 2026
- AWS: Certified CloudOps Engineer - Associate (fee, languages, rename, validity), checked November 5, 2026
- AWS: comparison of SOA-C02 and SOA-C03 (dates and content changes), checked November 5, 2026
- AWS: Certified Solutions Architect Professional (fee, experience, validity), checked November 5, 2026
- AWS: comparison of SAP-C02 and SAP-C03, checked November 5, 2026
- AWS: Certified Security - Specialty (fee, languages, experience, validity), checked November 5, 2026
- AWS: comparison of SCS-C02 and SCS-C03 (dates and content changes), checked November 5, 2026
- AWS: exam guide list (current exam codes and announced version changes), checked November 5, 2026
- AWS: recertification, checked November 5, 2026
- AWS: certification FAQs (retakes), checked November 5, 2026
- AWS Skill Builder: subscriptions, checked November 5, 2026
Prices are published list prices we recorded on the dates shown, not quotes. How we research.
Class prices come from the named providers, as listed and dated on the certification pages linked above.