AWS Solutions Architect Associate Cheat Sheet (SAA-C03)
Every key service, comparison table, and exam tip you need for the SAA-C03 — organised by architecture domain, not alphabetically
About This Cheat Sheet
A densely packed reference covering every major AWS service and concept tested on the SAA-C03 exam. Organised by architecture domain — Networking, Security, Compute, Storage, Database, HA/DR, Integration, Analytics, Migration, Management, Cost Optimisation, and a quick-reference of additional services — so you build mental models rather than just memorise isolated facts. Includes comparison tables, exam tips in highlighted boxes, and clearly marked call-outs for services AWS has retired or closed to new customers (Snow Family, QLDB, S3 Select) so you can still recognise them on older exam items without recommending them in new designs.
What's Inside
Networking & Content Delivery
VPC components (subnets, security groups vs. NACLs, route tables, VPC endpoints, Flow Logs), Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB/GWLB comparison), CloudFront with OAC, Lambda@Edge vs. CloudFront Functions, Route 53 routing policies, Direct Connect vs. VPN, Transit Gateway, PrivateLink, and Global Accelerator.
Security, Identity & Compliance
IAM users, groups, roles, policies, permission boundaries, and STS. KMS key types and encryption patterns. Secrets Manager vs. Parameter Store. GuardDuty, Inspector, Macie, WAF, Shield, Firewall Manager, Security Hub. Cognito User Pools vs. Identity Pools. Directory Service, RAM.
Compute
EC2 instance families, purchasing options (On-Demand, Reserved, Spot, Savings Plans, Dedicated), placement groups, instance store vs. EBS. Auto Scaling policies and warm pools. Lambda limits, triggers, provisioned concurrency, layers, and Lambda@Edge. ECS vs. EKS vs. Fargate. Elastic Beanstalk. AWS Batch.
Storage
S3 storage classes, versioning, lifecycle policies, replication, Object Lock, pre-signed URLs, event notifications. EBS volume types (gp3 vs. io2 vs. st1 vs. sc1), multi-attach. EFS performance and throughput modes. FSx variants. Storage Gateway types. Snow Family. AWS Backup and Vault Lock.
Database
RDS Multi-AZ vs. Multi-AZ Cluster vs. Read Replicas, RDS Proxy, RDS Custom. Aurora Serverless v2, Global Database, Cloning, Backtrack. DynamoDB capacity modes, GSI vs. LSI, DAX, Global Tables, Streams, PartiQL. ElastiCache Redis vs. Memcached with caching strategies. Redshift, DocumentDB, Neptune, Keyspaces, Timestream, QLDB, MemoryDB for Redis.
High Availability & Disaster Recovery
Four DR strategies (Backup & Restore, Pilot Light, Warm Standby, Active-Active) with RPO/RTO comparisons. Multi-AZ patterns across all major services. Cross-Region patterns including Aurora Global DB, DynamoDB Global Tables, S3 CRR, CloudFormation StackSets.
Application Integration & Serverless
SQS Standard vs. FIFO, SNS fan-out, EventBridge rules and replay, Amazon MQ for legacy migration. API Gateway REST vs. HTTP API. Step Functions Standard vs. Express workflows. AWS AppSync for GraphQL and real-time sync.
Analytics & Data
Athena, Kinesis Data Streams, Data Firehose, Glue (ETL + Data Catalog), EMR, Lake Formation, OpenSearch, MSK, QuickSight, Amazon Managed Flink for real-time stream analytics.
Migration & Transfer
DMS, Application Migration Service (MGN), DataSync, Transfer Family, Snow Family, Application Discovery Service, Migration Hub. The 7 Rs migration strategies.
Management, Monitoring & Governance
CloudWatch (metrics, logs, alarms, Logs Insights), CloudTrail, Config with conformance packs, CloudFormation with StackSets. Organizations, Control Tower, Systems Manager. X-Ray for distributed tracing. CodeBuild, CodeDeploy, CodePipeline for CI/CD.
Cost Optimisation
Cost Explorer, Budgets, Cost and Usage Report, cost allocation tags. Right-sizing, purchasing options, S3 lifecycle, serverless, data transfer optimisation, Graviton instances.
Well-Architected Framework & Additional Services
Six pillars quick reference. Additional services: Amplify, AppFlow, SES, Pinpoint, Wavelength, Outposts, Local Zones, and key AI/ML services (SageMaker, Bedrock, Rekognition, Textract, Comprehend, Lex, Kendra).
Why This Cheat Sheet Helps
The SAA-C03 exam covers a vast surface area — over 100 AWS services across four domains. Questions frequently require you to pick the RIGHT service for a scenario, distinguish between similar options (ALB vs. NLB, SQS vs. SNS, Multi-AZ vs. Read Replicas), or identify the most cost-effective architecture. This cheat sheet puts those comparisons side by side with highlighted exam tips that call out the exact patterns examiners test.
It assumes you have already studied the core concepts. Use it as a final-week review tool to reinforce what you know, fill gaps exposed by practice exams, and build the pattern-matching instinct you need on test day.
How to Use It
Start by skimming the entire cheat sheet to see which sections feel solid and which feel weak. Then use CloudNinja's free SAA-C03 practice exam to identify your real knowledge gaps. When you get a question wrong, find the relevant section in the cheat sheet and study the table or tip that covers that topic.
In the final three days before your exam, go through each section methodically and make sure every comparison table makes sense. Pay special attention to the exam tip boxes — they highlight the exact patterns that appear most often on the real test.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this AWS Solutions Architect Associate cheat sheet free?
Yes, completely free with no signup required. Download the PDF directly from CloudNinja and use it as a study reference for the SAA-C03 exam.
How is this cheat sheet different from other SAA-C03 references?
This cheat sheet is organised by architecture domain rather than alphabetically, so related services are grouped together. It includes highlighted exam tip boxes that call out the exact patterns examiners test, plus comparison tables for commonly confused services.
Is this cheat sheet enough to pass the SAA-C03 exam?
No single resource is enough on its own. This cheat sheet is designed as a final review tool — it assumes you have already studied the core concepts through courses, documentation, or hands-on practice. Pair it with CloudNinja practice exams to identify and close knowledge gaps.
Is this cheat sheet updated for the current SAA-C03 exam?
Yes, it covers all four exam domains (Secure, Resilient, High-Performing, Cost-Optimised) and the in-scope services listed in the official SAA-C03 exam guide. AWS may update exam content over time, so always check the official exam guide before your test date.
What topics are on the AWS Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03) exam?
The SAA-C03 exam covers four domains: Design Secure Architectures (30%), Design Resilient Architectures (26%), Design High-Performing Architectures (24%), and Design Cost-Optimised Architectures (20%). Key services include VPC, EC2, S3, RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB, Lambda, CloudFront, Route 53, IAM, KMS, and many more. This cheat sheet covers every in-scope service.
How many questions are on the SAA-C03 exam and what score do I need to pass?
The AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam has 65 questions (50 scored + 15 unscored) with a 130-minute time limit. You need a scaled score of 720 out of 1,000 to pass. All questions are either multiple-choice (one correct answer) or multiple-response (two or more correct answers).
What is the best way to prepare for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam?
Start with a structured video course (Stephane Maarek or Adrian Cantrill are popular choices), then do hands-on labs in a free-tier AWS account. Use practice exams to identify your weak areas — this is where most people see the biggest score improvement. Use this cheat sheet as a final review tool in the last 3-5 days before your exam to reinforce key comparisons and patterns.
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