Validate your ability to design and implement distributed systems on AWS. This exam covers designing resilient architectures, high-performing architectures, secure applications, and cost-optimized architectures.
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Every key service, comparison table, and exam tip you need for the SAA-C03 — organised by architecture domain, not alphabetically
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03) is the most popular AWS certification and the one most employers ask for. It validates your ability to design distributed systems on AWS that are resilient, high-performing, secure, and cost-optimized. The SAA-C03 version was updated in 2022 and remains the current exam.
This exam is for anyone in a solutions architect role, or aspiring to one. Cloud engineers, DevOps engineers, and backend developers also benefit from this certification. You should have at least one year of hands-on experience designing cloud architectures on AWS before attempting this exam.
The SAA-C03 exam has 65 questions (50 scored, 15 unscored) in multiple-choice and multiple-response format. You get 130 minutes, and the passing score is 720/1000 (approximately 72%). Available at Pearson VUE and online proctored. The cost is $150 USD.
Recommended experience: One year of hands-on experience designing available, cost-efficient, fault-tolerant, and scalable systems on AWS.
With one year of AWS experience, most people need 4-8 weeks of dedicated study. If you're coming from the Cloud Practitioner with no hands-on experience, plan for 2-3 months. Focus on core services like VPC, EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, and CloudFront, and learn how they work together.
AWS doesn't publish official pass rates, but industry estimates suggest around 70-75% of well-prepared candidates pass. The key differentiator is hands-on experience — people who only study theory without building anything tend to struggle with scenario-based questions.
It depends on your experience level. If you already have a year of AWS or cloud experience, the SAA is an excellent first cert and carries the most weight with employers. If you're brand new to cloud, start with the Cloud Practitioner to build your foundation first.
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