AWS · Azure · Google Cloud · fees read at source
The cloud certification ladder, priced from the source
Foundational
$100 per exam
2 exams · 90 min · 65 questions
Associate
$150 per exam
5 exams · 130 min · 65 questions
Professional
$300 per exam
3 exams · 180 min · 75 questions
Specialty
$300 per exam
2 exams · 170 min · 65 questions
Fees, lengths and question counts as printed on AWS’s own exam pages, read 24 September 2026. AWS states the USD price; other currencies and tax are settled at registration.
Four levels, thirteen bookable AWS exams, three standard fees. Stackrung reads every figure off AWS, Microsoft and Google’s own certification pages, dates it, and refuses to print the numbers they don’t publish.
Chapter two
The exam bill is four numbers long
AWS prints one price per level: $100 at foundational, $150 at associate, $300 at professional and specialty. A failed attempt costs the same again, after a 14-day wait, and there is no cap on attempts.
Everything else — courses, labs, practice exams, bootcamps — is optional spending on top, and it is where every “AWS certification cost” article quietly adds a zero.
See the full cost breakdownChapter three
Nothing here is a prerequisite for anything
AWS lists recommended experience on every exam page, not required qualifications. You can book the associate exam without the foundational one. Whether you should is a different question, and it depends on how much of the platform you have actually touched.
Foundational
$100
Associate
$150
Professional
$300
Chapter four
Three clouds, three entry exams, one missing price
AWS
$100
Google Cloud
$99
Microsoft Azure
not published
Google prints $99 for Cloud Digital Leader and $125 for Associate Cloud Engineer. Microsoft’s AZ-900 page prints no dollar figure at all — it says the price depends on the country the exam is proctored in — so this site does not invent one.
AWS against Azure, honestlyChapter five
Exams retire. Here are the dates AWS has published
- 31 Mar 2026Machine Learning – Specialty: last day to take the exam
- 28 Sep 2026Machine Learning Engineer – Associate MLA-C01 retires in English
- 27 Oct 2026Registration opens for SAP-C03 and DVA-C03
- 16 Nov 2026Solutions Architect – Professional SAP-C02 retires
- 30 Nov 2026Developer – Associate DVA-C02 retires
From AWS exam pages and the AWS Training and Certification blog, read 24 September 2026. Dates after today are AWS’s announcements, not our forecast.
Exam by exam
All guides →AWS AI Practitioner: The $100 Way Into AWS’s AI Ladder
AIF-C01 costs $100 for 90 minutes and sits at the bottom of four AI-related AWS credentials. What it covers, who it is for, and what AWS wants you to do first.
What AWS Certification Costs, Line by Line
Three exam prices, one retake rule, and a training market that can multiply the bill by twenty. Every figure here comes from AWS’s own pages.
AWS Certification Renewal: Every Route, and What It Costs
Three years, then a decision. Retake at full price, pass something higher, use the free Cloud Practitioner route, or pay for maintenance — with the rules from AWS’s own pages.
AWS Data Engineer – Associate: The Newest Associate Exam
DEA-C01 costs $150, runs 130 minutes and asks the most specific experience of any associate exam. Who it fits, and who is being sold it by mistake.
AWS DevOps Engineer – Professional: $300 and Three Hours
DOP-C02 is one of three professional exams, all priced at $300 for 180 minutes and 75 questions. What AWS expects, and why this one is rarely a first certification.
AWS Security – Specialty: The Last Specialty Standing
SCS-C03 costs $300 for 170 minutes and asks for five years of security experience. With Advanced Networking closing in December, it is the specialty AWS is keeping.
Why this site prints so few numbers
Most pages about cloud certification are generous with figures and thin on sources. This one goes the other way. Every fee, time limit and question count here was read off the certifying body’s own exam page on 24 September 2026, and it says so next to the number.
That discipline cuts both ways. Microsoft does not publish a dollar price for the AZ-900 exam — its page says the price depends on the country the exam is proctored in — so you will not find an Azure exam price here, in any currency. Google does publish its fees, and they are quoted exactly as Google prints them. AWS publishes the most of the three, which is why the AWS certification path is the spine of this site.
Three things you will not read here
No pass rates: AWS does not publish them, so nobody outside AWS knows them. No salary figures: the cloud-certification salary surveys that circulate every year are published by training companies with something to sell, not by the certifying bodies or by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. And no exam questions, from any source — AWS says plainly that accessing that material violates the agreement you sign when you register, and its own published sanctions include revoking certifications you have already earned.
What is left is smaller, duller and true: what the exam costs, how long it runs, how many questions it asks, what experience AWS suggests you bring, how long the certification lasts, and which version of it is about to be replaced.
Start where you actually are
If you have never opened a cloud console, the Cloud Practitioner exam is the cheapest way to find out whether any of this interests you — $100, ninety minutes, and a large amount of free preparation from AWS itself. If you already build on AWS at work, you can book an associate exam tomorrow; no AWS exam page read on 24 September 2026 lists a certification you must hold first.