Program profile · official sources
AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate
The AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate is an Associate-level certification targeting professionals with 2-3 years of data engineering experience and 1-2 years of hands-on AWS experience. The 130-minute exam contains 65 questions and costs USD 150 for a single attempt. No prior certification is required. Domains cover core AWS data services, ingesting and transforming data, orchestrating data pipelines, designing models, managing data life cycles, and ensuring data quality. The credential is valid for 3 years. Renew for 3 more years by passing the latest version of this exam or the AWS Certified Generative AI Developer - Professional exam (certification must be active).
Facts checked 2 Oct 2026
- Price
- USD 150 (USD 150 for one attempt; foreign-exchange rates, regional pricing, optional preparation and repeat attempts are separate.)
Official source · Checked
- Time
- 130 minutes for the exam assessment; not preparation time
- Level
- Associate
- Credential
- 3 years
Valid for 3 years. Renew for 3 more years by passing the latest version of this exam or the AWS Certified Generative AI Developer - Professional exam (certification must be active). Maintain for 1 more year via AWS Skill Builder (requires active certification within 90 days of expiration and an active Monthly, Annual, or Team paid subscription).
- Prerequisites
- No required prerequisites. Target profile: equivalent of 2-3 years of experience in data engineering or data architecture and a minimum of 1-2 years of hands-on experience with AWS services.
- Format
- Certification exam
Commercial status: no commercial relationship is documented for this page. The verification link goes directly to the official provider source.
Sources ↗
- Price : https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-data-engineer-associate/
- Duration : https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-data-engineer-associate/
- Official program page : https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-data-engineer-associate/
- Credential details : https://aws.amazon.com/certification/recertification/
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See the full registry price landscape. Prices retain their stated payment scope; they are not comparable completion costs.
What’s covered
- Core data-related AWS services
- Ingest and transform data
- Orchestrate data pipelines while applying programming concepts
- Design data models
- Manage data life cycles
- Ensure data quality
Prerequisites: No required prerequisites. Target profile: equivalent of 2-3 years of experience in data engineering or data architecture and a minimum of 1-2 years of hands-on experience with AWS services.
What the credential is
- Credential type
- Professional certification · aws.amazon.com / certified-data-engineer-associate
- Credential
- AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate · aws.amazon.com / certified-data-engineer-associate aws.amazon.com / recertification
- Issuer
- AWS Training and Certification · aws.amazon.com / certified-data-engineer-associate aws.amazon.com / recertification
- Expiry and renewal
- Valid for 3 years. Renew for 3 more years by passing the latest version of this exam or the AWS Certified Generative AI Developer - Professional exam (certification must be active). Maintain for 1 more year via AWS Skill Builder (requires active certification within 90 days of expiration and an active Monthly, Annual, or Team paid subscription). · aws.amazon.com / certified-data-engineer-associate aws.amazon.com / recertification
- Exam requirement
- Pass the AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate exam. · aws.amazon.com / certified-data-engineer-associate
Total cost to finish
Estimate for the stated payment scope: USD 150 × 1 = USD 150.
- One certification exam attempt: USD 150 × 1 = USD 150. One exam registration/attempt; not preparation cost or a guarantee of passing. · Source
Scope: USD 150 for one attempt; foreign-exchange rates, regional pricing, optional preparation and repeat attempts are separate. · Source
Retakes: Repeat-attempt cost is not established in the reviewed source. · Source
Who should skip it
Alternatives in the registry
Related by topic or level.
- AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer - Associate : USD 150 (USD 150 for one MLA-C01 attempt; English testing ends September 28, 2026. Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese continue until MLA-C02 general availability. Preparation is separate.); 130 minutes for the exam assessment; not preparation time.
- Databricks Certified Generative AI Engineer Associate : USD 200 (USD 200 for the stated exam registration scope. The official US page displays $200; USD is normalized under the accepted US-source rule, not quoted as a literal ISO label. Preparation and repeat-attempt costs are separate.); 90 minutes for the exam assessment; not preparation time.
- Databricks Certified Machine Learning Associate : USD 200 (As shown in the United States on 25 September 2026, the guide lists a $200 registration fee for one exam attempt. The existing F.1 US official-page dollar rule normalizes this to USD 200; the PDF does not print an ISO currency code. Preparation, repeat attempts and tax are not established as included.); 90 minutes for the exam assessment; not preparation time.
Change log
- : Initial recorded review of official exam, scope, price and credential facts. · Source