CNCF certifications

Every CNCF certification at a glance

The exams we cover for CNCF, with the figures each certification publishes. Levels are guidance rather than gates — CNCF sets no prerequisites, so you can book any of these directly.

Compare these with every other exam we cover, including recent and upcoming exam changes.

The full CNCF certification family

CNCF runs fifteen certifications through the Linux Foundation. Five of them cover Kubernetes itself — two multiple-choice associate exams and three hands-on, performance-based exams — and the rest certify individual cloud-native projects.

The split that matters most is format. KCNA and KCSA are multiple-choice: they test whether you understand Kubernetes and the cloud-native ecosystem. CKA, CKAD and CKS are performance-based: you are given a terminal and a running cluster and must actually fix, build or secure things within two hours. Studying for the second kind means hours at a command line, not reading.

That is why SaveMyCert covers KCNA and not the hands-on three. A question bank and timed multiple-choice mocks rehearse a multiple-choice exam faithfully; they cannot rehearse a live-cluster exam, and pretending otherwise would waste your preparation time. For CKA, CKAD and CKS, practise on a real cluster.

Beyond the five Kubernetes exams, CNCF certifies individual projects: Prometheus (PCA), Istio (ICA), Cilium (CCA), Argo (CAPA), GitOps (CGOA), Backstage (CBA), OpenTelemetry (OTCA) and Kyverno (KCA), plus two platform-engineering credentials (CNPA and the hands-on CNPE). These suit people who already run that project in production.

Holding all five Kubernetes certifications — KCNA, KCSA, CKA, CKAD and CKS — at the same time earns the Kubestronaut title. Every one must be active simultaneously; an expired certification does not count.

Source: CNCF certification overview.

Where to start with CNCF

Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA) is the CNCF exam we cover, and it is a foundational one: no prerequisites, and no hands-on experience assumed. That makes it a genuine entry point rather than something to work up to.

Pair it with hands-on work rather than a second certification: what you have actually built carries an interview further than a second credential does.

How CNCF certifications are renewed

Renewal is the cost people forget, and it varies more between vendors than the exam fees do.

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.

The Linux Foundation lists CNCF exam fees in US dollars and runs frequent promotions, so the price you pay may be lower than the list price shown here. See Cloud Native Computing Foundation’s own certification page for the current terms.

Compare these exams side by side

Deciding between two of them, or weighing this platform against another? These break the choice down.

Reading for CNCF candidates

Which exam to take first, what each one costs you in time and money, and how the certifications fit together.