Validates foundational knowledge of cloud concepts, core AWS services, security and compliance, and AWS pricing, billing and support.
100EntryNo prerequisites
Best AWS Certifications in 2026
AWS is Amazon's cloud platform, whose certifications cover cloud fundamentals, architecture, development, data engineering, security, machine learning and AI.
Validates knowledge of designing secure, resilient, high-performing and cost-effective cloud solutions using AWS services.
150IntermediateNo prerequisites
Validates foundational knowledge of AI and generative AI concepts, foundation models, responsible AI and AWS AI services.
100EntryNo prerequisites
Validates knowledge of developing, securing, deploying, troubleshooting and optimizing cloud applications using AWS services.
150IntermediateNo prerequisites
Validates knowledge of data ingestion, transformation, store management, pipeline operations, and data security and governance using AWS services.
150IntermediateNo prerequisites
Validates knowledge of securing AWS workloads, including threat detection, incident response, infrastructure security, identity, data protection and governance.
300AdvancedNo prerequisites
Validates knowledge of designing complex multi-account solutions, improving existing workloads, and migrating and modernizing applications using AWS services.
300AdvancedNo prerequisites
Validates skills in preparing data, building and tuning models, and deploying and securing machine learning workloads on AWS.
75IntermediateNo prerequisites
Validates knowledge of AI fundamentals, business value creation, responsible AI governance and leading organizational AI transformation.
50IntermediateNo prerequisites
How AWS certifications work
- Exam fees
- $100 Foundational and AI Business Strategist · $150 Associate · $300 Professional and Specialty. Current betas cost $75 for the English Machine Learning Engineer Associate exam and $50 for AI Business Strategist.
- Validity
- Certifications are valid for 3 years.
- Renewal
- Passing the latest exam, or a qualifying higher exam, adds 3 years. Cloud Practitioner can also renew free through AWS Cloud Quest. Most Associate, Professional and Specialty certifications can add 1 year through Skill Builder Maintain, which requires a paid subscription within 90 days of expiry.
- Discount
- Passing an AWS exam gives you a 50% discount voucher for another exam.
- Retakes
- Wait 14 days after a failed attempt and pay for the next attempt. A beta exam can be taken only once; after a failed beta, wait for the standard exam.
- Delivery
- Pearson VUE test centre or online proctoring.
AWS certifications by level
Choosing the right AWS certification
Where to start
- Cloud basics: AWS Cloud Practitioner. Covers core AWS and cloud concepts for technical and non-technical roles. AWS says candidates with no IT work experience would benefit from earning it before an Associate exam.
- AI foundations: AWS AI Practitioner. Covers AI, machine learning and generative AI concepts for people who use AI on AWS without building models. For data and AI careers, AWS recommends Data Engineer Associate and/or Machine Learning Engineer Associate next.
- Cloud architecture: AWS Solutions Architect Associate. Covers designing secure, resilient and cost-effective systems on AWS; AWS recommends one year of experience. Solutions Architect Professional builds on it, and AWS's roadmap places it before Data Engineer Associate.
- Application development: AWS Developer Associate. Covers building, deploying and debugging applications on services such as Lambda, DynamoDB and API Gateway; AWS recommends one year of experience. AWS suggests Cloud Practitioner first if you have no IT work experience.
- Data pipelines: AWS Data Engineer Associate. Covers data ingestion, transformation, storage and pipeline operations on AWS. AWS recommends 2–3 years of data engineering and 1–2 years of hands-on AWS experience.
- Cloud security: AWS Security Specialty. Covers threat detection, incident response, identity, data protection and governance on AWS. AWS recommends 3–5 years securing cloud solutions.