We analyzed 63 certification exams: the state of cloud & tech certs in 2026
Original data from our catalog of 63 active certification exams across 9 providers — question counts, exam formats, passing scores, domain weightings, and how often exams actually change.
To build CertLabPro we read the official exam guide for every certification we cover, then wrote practice questions against it. That left us with something useful: a structured, apples-to-apples view of 63 active certification exams across 9 providers. This post is what that data says about cloud, AI, security, Kubernetes, and Terraform certifications in 2026.
Every number here is computed live from our own catalog — you can see the always-current version on the State of Cloud & Tech Certifications report. Nothing below is estimated or scraped.
The shape of the average exam
Across all 63 exams, the "typical" certification looks like this:
- 55 scored questions (range: 40–75)
- 109 minutes to complete (range: 45–180)
- ~71% to pass, normalized from each exam's scaled or percentage score (range: 65–75%)
- 5 weighted domains per exam (up to 10)
The spread matters more than the average. A 40-question, 45-minute foundational exam and a 75-question, 180-minute professional exam are completely different tests, and treating them the same is a common way people under-prepare for the long ones.
Coverage by provider
Our catalog holds 15,201 practice questions spread across nine providers:
| Provider | Certs |
|---|---|
| Azure | 16 |
| GCP | 13 |
| AWS | 12 |
| Kubernetes | 7 |
| NVIDIA | 6 |
| Microsoft | 3 |
| IBM | 3 |
| HashiCorp | 2 |
| Anthropic | 1 |
Two things stand out. First, the big three clouds (AWS, Azure, GCP) still account for the bulk of the certification market — 41 of 63 exams. Second, the AI-model providers are now their own category: Anthropic, NVIDIA, and IBM together add ten certifications that didn't meaningfully exist a couple of years ago. The certification landscape is widening from "which cloud" to "which cloud and which AI stack."
Where the exams sit on the difficulty ladder
| Level | Count |
|---|---|
| Foundational | 12 |
| Associate | 25 |
| Professional | 19 |
| Specialty | 4 |
| Expert | 3 |
The center of gravity is the Associate tier (25 exams) — the credentials hiring managers most often ask for. Foundational exams are the on-ramp; the Professional and Expert tiers (22 combined) are where the time investment climbs steeply. If you're planning a path, the data suggests the highest-leverage move is usually one strong Associate cert in your primary platform, not three foundational ones.
Exams change more than you think
This is the part most study resources quietly ignore. Certification exams are revised constantly, and preparing against a retired blueprint is a fast way to waste a month. We track 116 exam versions across the catalog so our questions follow the current objectives — not last year's.
Recent examples from our tracking:
- Azure AI-901 replaced AI-900 in April 2026, re-centering the outline on Microsoft Foundry, generative-AI apps, and agents.
- HashiCorp Terraform moved from the
003to the004exam objectives in early 2026. - Google Cloud migrated its exam delivery from Kryterion to Pearson VUE, changing the logistics of sitting the test.
If a practice set hasn't been updated for changes like these, it's testing the wrong material. Keeping pace with version churn is exactly the kind of work that doesn't show up in a question count but determines whether practice actually prepares you.
How we compiled this
Every figure above comes directly from CertLabPro's certification catalog and per-exam editorial notes. Exam metadata — question counts, time limits, passing scores, and domain weightings — is recorded from each provider's official, publicly published exam guide. The version history comes from our editorial tracking of provider announcements. Because the data report reads the live catalog, it updates itself as we add certifications or as providers revise their exams.
Figures reflect the catalog as of mid-2026. Passing thresholds are normalized to a percentage for comparison; some providers use scaled scoring such as 700 / 1000. Provider and product names are trademarks of their respective owners; CertLabPro is an independent study platform and isn't affiliated with or endorsed by them.
The takeaway
The certification market in 2026 is bigger, more AI-heavy, and faster-moving than the "get your AWS cert" advice from a few years ago suggests. Pick the tier that matches your goal (Associate for most hiring), budget time for the long professional exams, and — above all — make sure whatever you study from is built against the current exam version. That last point is why we rebuild our questions against each official guide and track every version change.
Want to put the data to work? Browse the certifications and start a practice exam built against the current official guide, or read the always-current State of Cloud & Tech Certifications report.