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Side-by-side comparison to help you choose the right certification for your career goals
| Certification | Difficulty | Time | Cost | Salary Range | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AI-103 Microsoft | Intermediate | 2-3 months | $165 | $110,000 - $140,000 | High |
AWS CCP Amazon Web Services | Beginner | 1-2 months | $100 | $75,000 - $95,000 | Medium |
Security+ CompTIA | Intermediate | 2-3 months | $392 | $85,000 - $110,000 | High |
PMP PMI | Advanced | 3-6 months | $555 (member) / $405 (non-member) | $115,000 - $145,000 | High |
Study Time
2-3 months
Exam Cost
$165
Avg Salary
$110,000 - $140,000
Validity
1 year
Study Time
1-2 months
Exam Cost
$100
Avg Salary
$75,000 - $95,000
Validity
3 years
Study Time
2-3 months
Exam Cost
$392
Avg Salary
$85,000 - $110,000
Validity
3 years
Study Time
3-6 months
Exam Cost
$555 (member) / $405 (non-member)
Avg Salary
$115,000 - $145,000
Validity
3 years
Exam format for every certification on CertStud — question count, time limit, passing score and number of domains. Click a code to see the full breakdown.
| Certification | Provider | Level | Questions | Time | Passing score | Domains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACTACT Exam | ACT, Inc. | high-school | 130 | 125 min | 0% | 4 |
| CCA-FClaude Architect (CCA-F) | Anthropic | foundational | 60 | 90 min | 720 scaled | 5 |
| AIF-C01AWS AI Practitioner | AWS | foundational | 65 | 90 min | 700 scaled | 5 |
| CLF-C02AWS Cloud Practitioner | AWS | foundational | 65 | 90 min | 700 scaled | 4 |
| DEA-C01AWS Data Engineer Associate | AWS | associate | 65 | 130 min | 720 scaled | 4 |
| DVA-C02AWS Developer Associate | AWS | associate | 65 | 130 min | 720 scaled | 4 |
| DOP-C02AWS DevOps Engineer Professional | AWS | professional | 75 | 180 min | 750 scaled | 4 |
| AIP-C01AWS Generative AI Developer Professional | AWS | professional | 65 | 180 min | 750 scaled | 5 |
| MLA-C01AWS Machine Learning Engineer - Associate | AWS | associate | 65 | 130 min | 720 scaled | 4 |
| MLS-C01AWS Machine Learning Specialty | AWS | professional | 65 | 180 min | 750 scaled | 4 |
| SCS-C02AWS Security Specialty | AWS | professional | 65 | 170 min | 750 scaled | 6 |
| SAA-C03AWS Solutions Architect Associate | AWS | associate | 65 | 130 min | 720 scaled | 4 |
| SAP-C02AWS Solutions Architect Professional | AWS | professional | 75 | 180 min | 750 scaled | 4 |
| SOA-C02AWS SysOps Administrator Associate | AWS | associate | 65 | 130 min | 720 scaled | 6 |
| ITIL 4 FoundationITIL 4 Foundation | AXELOS | foundational | 40 | 60 min | 65% | 5 |
| 200-301Cisco CCNA (200-301) | Cisco | associate | 120 | 120 min | 825 scaled | 6 |
| 350-401 ENCORCisco CCNP Enterprise (350-401 ENCOR) | Cisco | professional | 100 | 120 min | 0% | 6 |
| SATSAT | College Board | high-school | 98 | 134 min | 0% | 2 |
| 220-1201 & 220-1202CompTIA A+ | CompTIA | foundational | 90 | 90 min | 675 scaled | 5 |
| CV0-004CompTIA Cloud+ (CV0-004) | CompTIA | associate | 90 | 90 min | 750 scaled | 6 |
| CS0-003CompTIA CySA+ (CS0-003) | CompTIA | associate | 85 | 165 min | 750 scaled | 4 |
| N10-009CompTIA Network+ (N10-009) | CompTIA | foundational | 90 | 90 min | 720 scaled | 5 |
| PT0-003CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-003) | CompTIA | associate | 90 | 165 min | 750 scaled | 5 |
| SY0-701CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) | CompTIA | foundational | 90 | 90 min | 750 scaled | 5 |
| CAS-005CompTIA SecurityX (CAS-005) | CompTIA | expert | 90 | 165 min | 0% | 4 |
| Databricks-DE-AssociateDatabricks Data Engineer Associate | Databricks | associate | 60 | 90 min | 70% | 5 |
| CEH v12CEH | EC-Council | professional | 125 | 240 min | 70% | 9 |
| FOCPFinOps Certified Practitioner | FinOps Foundation | foundational | 100 | 90 min | 70% | 6 |
| GH-600Agentic AI Developer (GH-600) | GitHub | associate | 60 | 120 min | 70% | 6 |
| Professional ML EngineerGCP Professional ML Engineer | Google Cloud | professional | 60 | 120 min | 0% | 6 |
| GCP-GAILGenerative AI Leader | Google Cloud | foundational | 55 | 90 min | 70% | 4 |
| Associate Cloud EngineerGoogle Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer | Google Cloud | associate | 50 | 120 min | 0% | 5 |
| Professional Data EngineerGoogle Cloud Data Engineer | Google Cloud | professional | 50 | 120 min | 700 scaled | 5 |
| Cloud Digital LeaderGoogle Cloud Digital Leader | Google Cloud | foundational | 60 | 90 min | 70% | 6 |
| Professional Cloud ArchitectGoogle Cloud Professional Architect | Google Cloud | professional | 50 | 120 min | 700 scaled | 5 |
| 004Terraform Associate | HashiCorp | associate | 57 | 60 min | 70% | 6 |
| CBAPCBAP | IIBA | professional | 120 | 210 min | 70% | 6 |
| CGEITCGEIT | ISACA | expert | 150 | 240 min | 450 scaled | 4 |
| CISACISA | ISACA | professional | 150 | 240 min | 450 scaled | 5 |
| CISMCISM | ISACA | professional | 150 | 240 min | 450 scaled | 4 |
| CRISCCRISC | ISACA | professional | 150 | 240 min | 450 scaled | 4 |
| CCCC | ISC2 | foundational | 100 | 120 min | 700 scaled | 5 |
| CCSPCCSP | ISC2 | professional | 125 | 240 min | 700 scaled | 6 |
| CISSPCISSP | ISC2 | professional | 125 | 240 min | 700 scaled | 8 |
| SSCPSSCP | ISC2 | associate | 125 | 180 min | 700 scaled | 7 |
| CTFLISTQB CTFL | ISTQB | foundational | 40 | 60 min | 65% | 6 |
| CKACKA | Linux Foundation | professional | 17 | 120 min | 66% | 5 |
| CKADCKAD | Linux Foundation | professional | 17 | 120 min | 66% | 5 |
| CKSCKS | Linux Foundation | professional | 17 | 120 min | 67% | 6 |
| AB-100Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect (AB-100) | Microsoft | expert | 60 | 100 min | 700 scaled | 3 |
| AZ-104Azure Administrator (AZ-104) | Microsoft | associate | 50 | 120 min | 700 scaled | 5 |
| AI-103Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer (AI-103) | Microsoft | associate | 50 | 120 min | 700 scaled | 5 |
| DP-900Azure Data Fundamentals (DP-900) | Microsoft | foundational | 40 | 45 min | 700 scaled | 4 |
| AZ-204Azure Developer Associate (AZ-204) | Microsoft | associate | 50 | 120 min | 700 scaled | 5 |
| AZ-400Azure DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400) | Microsoft | expert | 60 | 150 min | 700 scaled | 5 |
| AZ-900Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) | Microsoft | foundational | 40 | 85 min | 700 scaled | 3 |
| AZ-500Azure Security Technologies (AZ-500) | Microsoft | associate | 50 | 150 min | 700 scaled | 4 |
| AZ-305Azure Solutions Architect (AZ-305) | Microsoft | expert | 50 | 120 min | 700 scaled | 4 |
| AB-900Copilot & Agent Admin Fundamentals (AB-900) | Microsoft | foundational | 50 | 45 min | 700 scaled | 3 |
| MB-310Dynamics 365 Finance (MB-310) | Microsoft | associate | 60 | 100 min | 700 scaled | 5 |
| MS-102Microsoft 365 Admin Expert (MS-102) | Microsoft | expert | 60 | 100 min | 700 scaled | 4 |
| PL-300Power BI Data Analyst (PL-300) | Microsoft | associate | 60 | 100 min | 700 scaled | 4 |
| PL-900Power Platform Fundamentals (PL-900) | Microsoft | foundational | 40 | 60 min | 700 scaled | 6 |
| SC-300SC-300 Identity and Access Administrator | Microsoft | associate | 60 | 120 min | 700 scaled | 4 |
| SC-200Security Operations Analyst (SC-200) | Microsoft | associate | 60 | 120 min | 700 scaled | 3 |
| SC-900Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals (SC-900) | Microsoft | foundational | 50 | 60 min | 700 scaled | 4 |
| 1Z0-1072-26OCI Architect Associate | Oracle | associate | 50 | 90 min | 68% | 4 |
| CAPMCAPM | PMI | foundational | 150 | 180 min | 70% | 4 |
| PMPPMP | PMI | professional | 180 | 230 min | 700 scaled | 3 |
| EX200RHCSA | Red Hat | associate | 60 | 180 min | 70% | 10 |
| PSM IPSM I | Scrum.org | foundational | 80 | 60 min | 85% | 5 |
| CIS-DFServiceNow CIS-DF | ServiceNow | professional | 60 | 90 min | 70% | 5 |
| CIS-ITSMServiceNow CIS-ITSM | ServiceNow | professional | 60 | 90 min | 70% | 6 |
| CSAServiceNow CSA | ServiceNow | associate | 60 | 90 min | 70% | 5 |
| COF-C03SnowPro Core | Snowflake | associate | 100 | 115 min | 750 scaled | 6 |
| TDS-C01Tableau Desktop Specialist (TDS-C01) | Tableau | foundational | 45 | 60 min | 70% | 4 |
| OGEA-101TOGAF 10 Foundation | The Open Group | foundational | 40 | 60 min | 60% | 6 |
| OGEA-102TOGAF 10 Practitioner | The Open Group | professional | 8 | 90 min | 60% | 8 |
| OGBA-101TOGAF BA Foundation (OGBA-101) | The Open Group | foundational | 40 | 60 min | 60% | 9 |
| OGEA-10BTOGAF Bridge (OGEA-10B) | The Open Group | professional | 14 | 60 min | 60% | 2 |
| OGEA-103TOGAF Combined (OGEA-103) | The Open Group | professional | 48 | 150 min | 60% | 2 |
| VCP-DCVVMware VCP | VMware | professional | 70 | 130 min | 300 scaled | 6 |
Beginners should start with foundational certs (AWS CCP, AZ-900). Experienced professionals can tackle advanced certs (PMP, AI-102).
Choose certifications aligned with your target role. Research job postings to see which certs employers value most.
Consider both exam costs and study time. Some certs require ongoing renewal fees and continuing education.
Research salary data and job postings in your area. Cloud and security certifications typically offer strong ROI.
Browse all certifications and start your preparation today
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