AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner and Microsoft Azure Fundamentals are the two most popular entry doors into cloud certification. Both are foundational, both need no prerequisites, and both prove you understand cloud concepts and one provider's core services. The honest answer to which you should take is simple: pick the cloud your employer, or your target employer, actually uses. The exams are close in difficulty; the platform choice is what matters.

What each one is

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (exam code CLF-C02) is AWS's foundational credential. It validates a broad understanding of the AWS Cloud, its core services, security, pricing and support, without requiring hands-on engineering.

Azure Fundamentals (exam code AZ-900) is Microsoft's equivalent entry point. It validates foundational knowledge of cloud concepts and core Azure services, architecture, management and governance.

Both are stepping stones. From Cloud Practitioner you can move towards associate credentials such as Solutions Architect or the newer AWS Machine Learning Engineer Associate, or the conceptual AWS AI Practitioner. If Google Cloud is on your radar too, see our note on the Cloud Digital Leader.

The exams, side by side

Taken from the providers:

  • AWS Cloud Practitioner: 65 questions, multiple choice or multiple response, 90 minutes, 100 US dollars, foundational level, no prerequisite. Its content spans four areas: Cloud Concepts, Security and Compliance, Cloud Technology and Services, and Billing, Pricing and Support.
  • Azure Fundamentals: 45 minutes, no prerequisite, priced by region, and covering three areas: describe cloud concepts, describe Azure architecture and services, and describe Azure management and governance. Microsoft does not fix a public question count, and it sets a scaled pass mark of 700 out of 1000.

Two practical notes. AWS certifications are valid for three years, whereas Microsoft's fundamentals certifications do not expire, though you should confirm the current renewal terms on each provider's site before relying on that. And Azure's exam can include interactive question types beyond simple multiple choice, so practise the format, not just the facts.

Which should you take?

Start from the platform, not the exam.

Choose AWS Cloud Practitioner if your workplace runs on AWS, if the roles you want list AWS by name, or if you are heading towards AWS associate and specialty certifications. AWS still holds the largest share of the cloud market, so its credentials are widely requested.

Choose Azure Fundamentals if your organisation is a Microsoft shop, which many enterprises and public-sector bodies are, or if you already work with Microsoft 365, Windows Server or Active Directory and want the cloud credential that sits alongside them. Azure is especially common where Microsoft licensing is already in place.

If you have no constraint either way, look at job adverts in your target market and count which platform appears more often. That is a better guide than any exam-difficulty comparison.

How to prepare for either

Both exams reward genuine familiarity with the platform's core services and pricing model over rote memorisation. Spend time in the provider's free tier, read the official exam guide or skills outline, and learn the shared-responsibility model cold, since both providers test it. Do not study one platform's services and assume they map one to one onto the other; the naming and boundaries differ.

Practise under real exam conditions

For a short exam, pacing still trips people up, and Azure's interactive questions surprise the unprepared. Full, timed mock exams fix both. On CandidatesPrep you can sit complete simulations that mirror each exam's format and clock, scored by topic so you can see whether it is security, core services or billing that is costing you, and repeat until every area is solid. Trainers onboarding a cohort onto either cloud can track readiness centrally and get everyone certified together.

Exam-day tactics

  • Read multiple-response questions carefully; they tell you how many options to pick.
  • Do not overthink foundational questions; these exams test breadth, not depth.
  • Answer everything, since there is no penalty for a wrong answer over a blank.

The bottom line

AWS Cloud Practitioner and Azure Fundamentals are near-equivalent entry credentials, so the decision is really about which cloud you will work with. Match the certification to your platform, confirm the current exam and renewal details on the provider's site, and then practise the exact format before you book.

Want to know if you are ready? Sit a full timed simulation, or book a demo if you train cloud candidates.