Compare certifications
Deciding which exam to take — or which to take first? Side-by-side breakdowns of level, difficulty, format and career value.
How to decide between two certifications
Most certification comparisons come down to three questions, in this order: which platform your work actually uses, what level matches your hands-on experience, and which role the exam is written for. Platform is a constraint rather than a preference — certify in what your employer runs or what your target job listings name, because a credential in a cloud nobody near you uses is a talking point rather than a qualification. Level is set by experience, not ambition: foundational exams assume nothing, associate exams assume you have genuinely worked with the platform, and specialist exams assume years of it. Only once those two are settled does the choice between, say, a developer and an operations exam actually matter — and by then it is usually obvious, because one of them describes your job.
Four questions that settle almost every comparison
Work through these in order. Most people find the answer before they reach the fourth.
Which platform does the work you want actually run on?
Search listings for the role you want in the place you want to work, and count which platform appears more. Ten minutes of this beats any general argument about market share, because hiring is local and sector-specific in ways that global figures hide. If your employer has already made the choice, it is made.
What does your hands-on experience actually support?
Foundational exams assume nothing and are designed to be your first. Associate exams assume you have used the platform properly — reading about it is not the same, and underestimating this is the most common reason people fail one. Specialist and professional exams assume years, and are quickly exposed in an interview if you take them without the background.
Which one describes what you do all day?
Within a platform and level, the exams differ by emphasis rather than difficulty: design, development, operations, data, security. The exam feels easiest when its scenarios match your daily work, so this is less a strategic choice than a description of your job. When nothing points clearly, the architecture exam is usually the broadest and most-requested.
What will keeping it cost you?
Renewal varies far more between vendors than exam fees do. Some certifications expire after two or three years and you pay the full fee again; Microsoft role-based certifications expire annually but renew free through an online assessment; some foundational certifications never expire at all. Over five years this matters more than the sticker price, and almost nobody factors it in.