Which exam?
AWS Solutions Architect vs AWS Developer
Both Associate level, both roughly the same difficulty, and they overlap by perhaps half. The split is architecture breadth against application depth.
Amazon
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate SAA-C03
10 free questions
Choose this if you design systems or want the most transferable AWS credential. Solutions Architect Associate is by a wide margin the most held and most requested AWS certification, and it covers more services at less depth.
Practise AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate SAA-C03Amazon
AWS Certified Developer - Associate DVA-C02
10 free questions
Choose this if you write the code that runs on AWS. Developer Associate goes deeper on Lambda, DynamoDB, API Gateway, SDKs, CI/CD and IAM as a developer meets it, and lighter on networking and resilience design.
Practise AWS Certified Developer - Associate DVA-C02
Our recommendation
Solutions Architect Associate first, unless you are specifically a developer and know it. It is the one job adverts name, it is the broader foundation, and much of what it teaches carries directly into Developer Associate afterwards.
What each exam covers
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate SAA-C03
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) is the exam AWS sets for people who design systems on its cloud. It runs 130 minutes, asks 65 multiple-choice and multiple-response questions, and is scored from 100 to 1000 with 720 to pass — compensatory scoring, so a weak domain can be carried by a strong one. Four domains are weighted: secure architectures 30%, resilient architectures 26%, high-performing architectures 24%, cost-optimised architectures 20%. There is no formal prerequisite, though AWS recommends about a year of hands-on design work. Security carries the most marks and repays the most study.
AWS Certified Developer - Associate DVA-C02
AWS Certified Developer – Associate (DVA-C02) tests writing, deploying and debugging applications that run on AWS, rather than designing the architecture underneath them. It runs 130 minutes, asks 65 multiple-choice and multiple-response questions, and is scored from 100 to 1000 with 720 to pass. Development with AWS services carries 32% of the marks, security 26%, deployment 24% and troubleshooting and optimisation 18%. AWS recommends a year of building on the platform but sets no formal prerequisite. Recent sittings also include unscored pretest questions on AI-assisted development, which do not count toward your result.
Common questions
- AWS Solutions Architect vs AWS Developer — which is harder?
- Solutions Architect Associate first, unless you are specifically a developer and know it. It is the one job adverts name, it is the broader foundation, and much of what it teaches carries directly into Developer Associate afterwards.
- Can I practise both AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate SAA-C03 and AWS Certified Developer - Associate DVA-C02?
- Yes. Each opens with 10 free questions. A single exam is a one-time $19.99 for 30 days, and full access at $39.99 a month covers both and every other exam in the catalogue.
- Is there a timed practice test for each?
- Yes — 65 questions in 130 minutes on both, scored the moment you finish, so you can compare how ready you are for each before committing to one.
Practise both before you decide
10 free questions on each, no card and no account. Full access at $39.99 a month covers both and everything else.