Certification cost calculator
Pick the certifications you’re aiming for — across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and the rest — and see the total exam-fee cost at each vendor’s published price. Where a vendor discounts your next exam, toggle it on for the discounted path or off for the full-price floor. Free, no account needed.
Vendors’ published fees, USD, before local tax. Assumes a first-time pass on each exam.
AWS: AWS publishes its exam fees in US dollars before local tax. Confirm the exact price for your country in your AWS Certification Account. Official page
What every certification costs
The exam fee is the only unavoidable cost of getting certified, and it is set by the vendor, not by us. Pick the certifications you are aiming for above and this calculator totals their published fees, using each certification’s own price rather than an average — foundational exams are the cheapest across every vendor, and specialist and professional exams the most expensive. Where a vendor gives you a discount toward your next exam, you can toggle that on to see the discounted path or off to see the full-price floor. Fees are quoted in US dollars before local tax and can change or vary by country, so confirm the exact price with the vendor before booking. The study itself is free here, so the exam fee is close to the whole cost.
| Certification | Vendor | Level | Exam fee | Valid for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terraform 004 — HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate (004) | HashiCorp | Associate | $70.50 | 2 years |
| AZ-900 — Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals | Microsoft Azure | Foundational | $99 | Does not expire |
| GenAI Leader — Google Cloud Generative AI Leader | Google Cloud | Foundational | $99 | 3 years |
| AIF-C01 — AWS Certified AI Practitioner | AWS | Foundational | $100 | 3 years |
| CLF-C02 — AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner | AWS | Foundational | $100 | 3 years |
| ACE — Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer | Google Cloud | Associate | $125 | 3 years |
| DVA-C02 — AWS Certified Developer – Associate | AWS | Associate | $150 | 3 years |
| SAA-C03 — AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate | AWS | Associate | $150 | 3 years |
| SOA-C03 — AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer – Associate | AWS | Associate | $150 | 3 years |
| DEA-C01 — AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate | AWS | Associate | $150 | 3 years |
| AZ-104 — Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate | Microsoft Azure | Associate | $165 | 1 year (free renewal) |
| DP-700 — Microsoft Certified: Fabric Data Engineer Associate | Microsoft Azure | Associate | $165 | 1 year (free renewal) |
| CC — ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC) | ISC2 | Foundational | $199 | 3 years |
| KCNA — Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA) | CNCF | Foundational | $250 | 2 years |
| SCS-C03 — AWS Certified Security – Specialty | AWS | Specialty | $300 | 3 years |
Vouchers and renewal, vendor by vendor
The sticker price is only half the picture. What a certification costs over five years depends on whether passing earns you a discount on the next exam, and on what keeping it current involves — and those differ more between vendors than the fees do.
| Vendor | Next-exam discount | How you stay certified |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | Yes — see below | AWS certifications are valid for three years. You recertify by passing the current version of the exam, or a higher-level one, and you pay the fee again. |
| Microsoft Azure | No | Microsoft role-based and specialty certifications expire after one year, but renewing is free: you take a shorter unproctored assessment on Microsoft Learn within the six months before expiry. Fundamentals certifications do not expire at all. |
| Google Cloud | No | Google Cloud certifications are valid for a fixed term — most for three years — and you recertify by retaking the current exam and paying the fee again. |
| HashiCorp | No | HashiCorp certifications are valid for two years. You renew by retaking the current version of the exam. |
| ISC2 | No | ISC2 certifications run on a three-year cycle that you maintain with continuing-education credits and an annual maintenance fee, rather than by retaking the exam. |
| CNCF | No | CNCF certifications are valid for two years, and you renew by retaking the exam. The exam fee normally includes one free retake if you do not pass first time. |
What getting certified actually costs
The exam fee is more predictable, and usually lower, than the course-and-bootcamp noise around it suggests. Four things decide what you pay.
The vendor sets the fee, and each one prices differently
There is no single "cloud certification price". Every vendor publishes its own fee per exam, and the spread is wide — an entry-level exam from one vendor can cost a third of an entry-level exam from another. This calculator uses each certification’s published fee rather than a tier average, so the total reflects the exams you actually chose.
Some vendors discount your next exam, most do not
AWS has a long-standing benefit that gives you a discount voucher toward your next exam when you pass one, so on a multi-exam AWS path only the first is full price. No other vendor in this catalogue publishes an equivalent, and the benefit never crosses vendors — passing an AWS exam does not make an Azure exam cheaper. The toggle above applies a discount only where the vendor actually offers one.
Renewal is a recurring cost, and it varies enormously
A certification is not a one-off purchase. Some expire after two or three years and you pay the full fee again to recertify; Microsoft’s role-based certifications expire after a year but renew free through an online assessment; some foundational certifications never expire at all. Before you commit to a path, check what keeping it current costs — the renewal model matters more over five years than the sticker price does.
Retakes cost the full fee again
This calculator assumes you pass first time. A failed attempt usually means paying the full fee again after a waiting period, which makes the cheapest strategy also the best-prepared one — book only when your mock scores are consistently comfortable. One exception worth knowing: some certifications include a free retake in the exam price.