Is the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner worth it? What 81 job postings say
81 open job postings from 51 employers name AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner. 30% require it; the rest list it as a nice-to-have. It's asked for most in security jobs, where 0.3% of postings name it.
30% of the 81 postings that name it require it. It also appears in early-career postings: 32% are junior or intern roles.
- Employers name it
- 5129th of 40 we track
- Require it
- 30%of postings that name it
- Level
- Entry levelAWS: “Foundational”
- Exam fee
- $100official price
- Valid for
- 3 yearsthen renew
Who should take it?
Built from what the 81 postings ask for, not from opinions.
Take it if you…
- target employers that screen for it30% of the postings that name it require it
- are early in your career32% of the postings that name it are junior or intern roles
- lack a degree or some experience10% of postings accept it instead
Recognition: recognised by a narrower set of employers, 29th of 40 by the number of employers that name it (51). We can't yet measure whether AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner gets a particular person hired: that needs outcomes from people who earned it.
How much it counts in each kind of job
No job family names AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner in even 1% of its postings: the mentions are spread thinly across many kinds of job.
Job titles
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner shows up most in Software Engineer postings. Ranked by the number of different employers, so one big hirer can't fill the list.
| Job (level and location removed) | Employers | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | 3 | 3 |
Required or a plus?
How the 81 postings that name AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner ask for it.
Who it's for: seniority
Level stated in the job title, 44 postings.
Who asks for it
Employers with the most postings
- Saviynt · 8
- NeuraFlash, Part of Accenture · 5
- Dark Wolf Solutions · 4
- Riveron · 4
- Accenture Federal Services · 3
- Megazone Cloud US · 3
- AGE Solutions · 2
- Brillio · 2
- CI&T · 2
- Crusoe · 2
Where the jobs are
66% are fully remote (of 50 postings that say).
62% of the postings are in the United States: the job boards we read lean towards US tech companies, so other markets are under-represented.
What these jobs pay
Advertised US base pay in postings that name AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner and publish a salary range (31 postings).
Often asked for together
Other certifications named in the same postings as AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner.
Share of the postings that name AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner. Postings often list several certifications as alternatives (“CISSP, CISM or equivalent”).
Compared with similar certifications
AWS certification (any), Azure certification (any) and Google Cloud certification (any) are named by more employers.
| Certification | Level | Exam fee | Employers | Required | Senior or above | Junior or intern |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWS certification (any) | – | – | 428 | 27% | 94% | 3% |
| Azure certification (any) | – | – | 280 | 30% | 93% | 3% |
| Google Cloud certification (any) | – | – | 129 | 33% | 95% | 2% |
| AWS Security – Specialty | Professional | $300 | 122 | 23% | 95% | 1% |
| Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) | Expert | $165 (US) | 84 | 36% | 99% | 1% |
| AWS Solutions Architect – Professional | Professional | $300 | 72 | 24% | 100% | 0% |
| Azure Administrator (AZ-104) | Associate | $165 (US) | 67 | 34% | 81% | 5% |
| Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) | Entry level | – | 54 | 42% | 69% | 19% |
| AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner | Entry level | $100 | 51 | 30% | 61% | 32% |
| Google Professional Cloud Architect | Professional | $200 | 50 | 25% | 95% | 2% |
Exam and requirements
CLF-C02. From the official AWS pages, checked 14 November 2026. Formats change: confirm before you book.
What the exam covers
Share of the exam, from the official exam outline.
What it costs
- Exam
- $100
Official prices only. Courses, practice tests and retakes come on top; their prices vary too much between providers to average.
Sources: AWS: CLF-C02 exam guide, AWS: Cloud Practitioner.
How we count
- Source. 199,799 unique open postings from company job boards on Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, crawled November 2026.
- Named only. A posting counts when it names AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, not the bare word “certified”. Certifications offered as a benefit (“we pay for your exam”) don't count.
- Required or a plus. Read from the section and the sentence the mention sits in.
- Checked by hand. In 150 random matches the extractor had never seen, 148 named the right certification and 147 had the right type.
- Minimum sample. Seniority, locations and pay are shown only with at least 30 postings behind them.
- Limits. A posting is what an employer asks for, not who they hire. The boards lean towards tech companies and the US.
FAQ
Is AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner worth it in 2026?
It depends on the job you're aiming at. 51 employers name it in 81 open postings, most often in security (0.3% of that family's postings). 30% require it. For those jobs it can decide whether your application gets past the first screen.
Will AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner help me get an entry-level job?
It appears in early-career postings more than most certifications: 32% of the postings that state a level are junior or intern roles. Most still ask for experience alongside it.
How much do jobs that ask for AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner pay?
US postings that name it and publish a salary advertise a median base pay of $135K (middle half $100K–$180K, 31 postings). That's what the jobs pay, not what the certificate adds.
Which certifications are asked for together with AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner?
Most often AWS certification (any) (named in 61% of the same postings), Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) (named in 27% of the same postings) and CompTIA Security+ (named in 24% of the same postings).
What is on the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam, and what is the pass mark?
The official outline weights cloud technology and services (34%), security and compliance (30%) and cloud concepts (24%) most. Pass mark: 700 on a scale of 100–1,000.
Does AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner expire?
3 years.
How much does AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner cost?
CLF-C02: $100, according to the official page as of 14 November 2026. Prices change, so check before you pay.
Not sure a certification is your gap?
See all 40 certifications side by side, or check the skills employers in your target role ask for.