AWS Developer Associate vs Solutions Architect: which should you take?
The AWS Developer Associate vs Solutions Architect choice comes down to build or design: take Developer – Associate to write code that runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Solutions Architect – Associate to design systems from AWS services. Both are $150 exams at AWS's middle (Associate) level. Non-coders should start with Solutions Architect.
In October 2026, Adzuna (a job-ad site) listed 7,726 US cloud-engineer ads. We searched them for two exact phrases: aws certified solutions architect turned up in 242, aws certified developer in 32. The job-ads section gives the limits of both counts.
Newcomers to cloud should start by reading the free exam guide for the exam they lean toward, before paying; the first-steps section says what else to do.
Jump to: the difference, DVA-C02 or DVA-C03, difficulty, job fit, first steps, cost.
Show the numbers
| Country | AWS Developer Associate | AWS Solutions Architect Associate |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 32 of 7,726 | 3.1% |
| India | 4 of 1,150 | 1.7% |
| Germany | 0 of 1,160 | 1.3% |
| United Kingdom | 0 of 475 | 1% |
| France | 0 of 340 | 1 of 340 |
| Poland | 0 of 332 | 0 of 332 |
| Italy | 0 of 121 | 0 of 121 |
AWS Developer Associate or AWS Solutions Architect Associate: which do employers name more?
Instant answer from October 2026 job ads. No email needed.
AWS Solutions Architect Associate is named in more job ads in the United States.
Source: Adzuna job ads, October 2026.
Get your full report
Two optional questions shape your first step. No email needed.
On this page
- What is the difference between Developer and Solutions Architect?
- Should you take DVA-C02 or wait for DVA-C03?
- What does each exam cover?
- AWS Developer Associate vs Solutions Architect difficulty: which is harder?
- Which one fits your job?
- What should you do first?
- Should you take both, and in which order?
- How much do both exams cost?
- Does one certification renew the other?
- What do job ads show for the two certifications?
- Related comparisons and next steps
- Sources
What is the difference between Developer and Solutions Architect?
The difference is building against designing. Developer – Associate asks how you write, deploy, debug and secure application code that calls AWS services; Solutions Architect – Associate asks which AWS services to choose, and how to combine them, to meet a security, resilience, performance or cost requirement.
The Developer exam guide (the exam's code is DVA-C02; the Solutions Architect exam is SAA-C03) makes the split explicit. It lists job tasks its target candidate is not expected to perform, and says the list is not complete. The list includes designing architectures (for example distributed systems, microservices and database schemas, meaning how a system is split into parts and how its data is laid out). It also includes designing and creating CI/CD pipelines (automated build-and-release processes) and designing AWS networking. The same guide does expect you to deploy code through a CI/CD pipeline; it leaves the design of that pipeline out.
Architecture design is the whole of the Solutions Architect exam: each of its four domains starts with "Design."
| Exam fact | Developer (DVA-C02) | Solutions Architect (SAA-C03) |
|---|---|---|
| Focus in AWS's words | Developing, testing, deploying and debugging AWS cloud-based applications | Designing solutions based on the Well-Architected Framework |
| Price, US list | $150 | $150 |
| Time and questions | 130 minutes, 65 questions (15 of them unscored) | 130 minutes, 65 questions (15 of them unscored) |
| Score needed | 720 on a 100 to 1,000 scale | 720 on a 100 to 1,000 scale |
| Languages | Six: English, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Simplified Chinese, Spanish (Latin America) | Ten |
| Background AWS recommends | A year or more developing and maintaining applications on AWS, and at least one high-level programming language | A year or more of hands-on design of cloud solutions on AWS |
| Prerequisites | None | None |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE (the testing company) test center, or online proctored (from home, watched over webcam) | Same as Developer |
| Certification lasts | Three years | Three years |
Source: AWS exam pages for Developer – Associate and Solutions Architect – Associate, plus both exam guides, read October 12, 2026.
Developer – Associate is short for AWS Certified Developer – Associate. Associate sits between AWS's Foundational (entry) and Professional (the level above) levels. The Well-Architected Framework is the set of design best practices AWS publishes. The score is scaled, so AWS converts your raw result to its 100 to 1,000 range; the 15 unscored questions leave it untouched. A high-level programming language is a general-purpose one such as Python or Java.
Should you take DVA-C02 or wait for DVA-C03?
AWS's advice, from its September 2026 Training and Certification blog post, has two halves. Take DVA-C02 by November 30 if you are already prepared and want the certification now. Wait for DVA-C03 if you want it to validate AI-assisted development skills (using AI tools to write and review code).
| Step | Date |
|---|---|
| Registration for DVA-C03 opens | October 27, 2026 |
| Last day to take DVA-C02 | November 30, 2026 |
| DVA-C03 delivery begins | December 1, 2026 |
Source: AWS Developer – Associate exam page and the September 2026 blog post.
The DVA-C03 exam guide was not published when we checked on October 12, 2026; AWS says the full guide will be available when registration opens. Until then, these are the changes AWS has announced, not the final exam content:
- AI-assisted development becomes a core part of the exam.
- A new task on AI security is added.
- AI services join the exam: Amazon Bedrock and Bedrock AgentCore (for building generative-AI applications and agents), plus Amazon Q and Kiro (AI tools that help with writing software).
- Two other services join too: Amazon Data Firehose (which streams data into storage) and AWS PrivateLink (private connections between networks and AWS services).
The blog post also says DVA-C03 will be available at launch in all languages the current exam offers. DVA-C02 already touches the topic: its guide added a skill on using Amazon Q Developer for development help in December 2024, and lists AI-assisted coding as an emerging topic whose questions do not count toward the score.
Can you still book DVA-C02 in December?
AWS's pages give November 30, 2026, as the last day for DVA-C02 and do not mention December appointments for it. On the AWS pages we checked, nothing explains why a December DVA-C02 slot would appear in the booking system. If you see one, ask Pearson VUE or AWS Certification support whether it stands before you book or study toward it.
What does each exam cover?
Each exam guide splits the scored questions into four domains, the topic areas AWS lists with their share of the scored content. The Developer domains follow the life of application code; the Solutions Architect domains are four qualities of a design.
| Domain | Developer – Associate (DVA-C02) | Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Development with AWS Services, 32% | Design Secure Architectures, 30% |
| 2 | Security, 26% | Design Resilient Architectures, 26% |
| 3 | Deployment, 24% | Design High-Performing Architectures, 24% |
| 4 | Troubleshooting and Optimization, 18% | Design Cost-Optimized Architectures, 20% |
Source: AWS DVA-C02 exam guide and SAA-C03 exam guide, read October 12, 2026. We do not show weights for DVA-C03 because its guide was not yet published.
The Developer guide expects you to build and secure applications with three kinds of tools. They are AWS service APIs (the interfaces a program uses to call a service), the AWS CLI (AWS's command-line tool) and SDKs (software development kits, code libraries for calling AWS from your own programs). Its tasks include optimizing application code, packaging and deploying it through CI/CD workflows, securing code and data, and finding and fixing application problems.
The Solutions Architect guide asks you to design architectures that are secure, resilient (they keep running when parts fail), high-performing and cost-optimized, and to review existing solutions and decide what to improve.
Show the numbers
| Item | AWS Developer Associate | AWS Solutions Architect Associate |
|---|---|---|
| Questions | 65 questions | 65 questions |
| Exam time | 130 minutes (2 h 10 min) | 130 minutes (2 h 10 min) |
| Format | Multiple choice | Multiple choice |
| Languages | 6 languages | 10 languages |
| Where you take it | test center · online, proctored | test center · online, proctored |
AWS Developer Associate vs Solutions Architect difficulty: which is harder?
Neither is harder on paper: AWS gives the two exams the same time limit, question count and passing score. The real gap is in what you are expected to know before you start.
The Developer guide asks for a year of hands-on work developing and maintaining applications on AWS and skill in at least one programming language. If you do not write code, the Development and Troubleshooting domains (half of the scored content between them) assume work you have not done. The Solutions Architect guide asks for a year of designing cloud solutions on AWS and names no programming language. Our reading: without coding experience, Developer takes more preparation; with experience designing or planning AWS setups, you start closer to Solutions Architect.
Both exams use compensatory scoring: you need 720 overall, not a pass in each domain. A weak domain can be made up by a strong one.
Which one fits your job?
Choose Developer – Associate when your days go into writing code for AWS, and Solutions Architect – Associate when they go into deciding how AWS systems fit together. We base this on the target candidates the two exam guides describe, not on job-ad counts.
- Software or back-end developers who ship to AWS: Developer – Associate. AWS wrote its guide for a developer role, and it assumes a programming language.
- Aspiring solutions architects, and cloud engineers who plan new systems: Solutions Architect – Associate, whose four domains are all about design.
- People heading toward DevOps (automating how software is built, tested and released): either one is a reasonable first step. Deploying through CI/CD pipelines is part of the Developer guide, and the design of systems is the Solutions Architect guide's whole subject. Our DevOps engineer page lists the tools in DevOps-engineer ads.
- No target job yet, and no coding: Solutions Architect – Associate first. Complete newcomers to cloud can begin one level lower with Cloud Practitioner, AWS's Foundational exam; our Cloud Practitioner vs Solutions Architect comparison weighs that step.
Show the numbers
| Item | Ads | Share of ads |
|---|---|---|
| Terraform | 1,519 | 20% |
| Kubernetes | 1,121 | 15% |
| AWS | 297 | 3.8% |
| AWS Solutions Architect Associate | 242 | 3.1% |
| Microsoft Azure certifications | 178 | 2.3% |
| Google Associate Cloud Engineer | 167 | 2.2% |
| AZ-305 | 117 | 1.5% |
| AZ-104 | 105 | 1.4% |
| AWS Developer Associate | 32 | 32 of 7,726 |
What should you do first?
Read the free exam guide for the exam you lean toward (linked in Sources) and check the background it asks for: coding for Developer, designing AWS setups for Solutions Architect. That costs nothing and helps settle the choice before you pay $150. For Developer, AWS says the DVA-C03 exam guide will be published when registration opens on October 27, 2026; when you cannot be ready by November 30, plan for DVA-C03 rather than DVA-C02.
Should you take both, and in which order?
Yes. Neither exam requires the other first, since AWS lists no prerequisites for either. Our reading: begin with the exam closest to your current work, because an interviewer can then ask about real examples.
The two exams test different skills: Developer – Associate leaves architecture design out by name, and Solutions Architect – Associate is built around it.
If you later aim for DevOps Engineer – Professional (a Professional-level exam, the level above Associate), AWS's rules allow it after either Associate or both: no certification is required first, and passing it renews Developer – Associate.
How much do both exams cost?
Passing both on the first try costs $225 at US list prices. The first exam is $150; the second drops to $75, because anyone who already holds an AWS certification gets 50% off the next exam. AWS hands out that half-price discount as a voucher, a code you enter when you pay. We did not confirm when or where the half-price voucher appears in your AWS Certification account, so check before budgeting $75.
| What you take | US list price |
|---|---|
| One exam (either) | $150 |
| Both, using the 50% voucher on the second | $225 ($150 plus $75) |
| Both at full price | $300 ($150 plus $150) |
Source: AWS exam pages and exam pricing policy, same check date as the exam guides. We added up the totals.
Failing means waiting 14 days and paying the whole fee again; AWS does not cap the number of attempts. Prices are reviewed at least once a year, in May, so confirm the fee when you book.
Show the numbers
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Fees to get certified: Exam | $150 |
| Fees to get certified: One retake (optional) | $150 |
Does one certification renew the other?
No. AWS's recertification page gives each Associate three ways to renew (its own current exam, one Professional exam, or maintenance on AWS Skill Builder, its online training platform), and passing the other Associate is not among them.
| Renewal route | Developer – Associate | Solutions Architect – Associate |
|---|---|---|
| Pass the current version again | Latest Developer exam | Latest Solutions Architect exam |
| Pass a Professional exam | DevOps Engineer – Professional | Solutions Architect – Professional |
| Training route | Skill Builder maintenance | Skill Builder maintenance |
Source: AWS recertification page, same check date.
To renew on Skill Builder, your certification must be active and within 90 days of expiration, and you need a paid Monthly, Annual or Team subscription. Once DVA-C03 replaces DVA-C02, a renewal by exam means taking the new version. Two Associates mean two separate renewals.
What do job ads show for the two certifications?
We search for both phrases in US cloud-engineer ads, the only job title in which we count both. We counted 7,726 US cloud-engineer ads on Adzuna in October 2026; the exact phrase aws certified solutions architect was found in 242 of them and aws certified developer in 32.
Each count has limits. Both are exact phrases, so each misses ads that omit the words "AWS Certified": an ad asking only for "Developer Associate" is missed by the Developer search, and one that says "AWS Solutions Architect" by the other. The Solutions Architect search also catches the Professional-level certification of that name. One ad with both phrases adds to both counts, and a phrase counts whether the ad marks it required or preferred. The counts are shown side by side and are not a ranking of the two certifications.
A separate figure for another job title, not comparable with the Developer count: aws certified solutions architect was found in 66 of 3,861 US DevOps-engineer ads on Adzuna in October 2026.
For the UK, India and Germany, each cell gives the count out of that country's cloud-engineer ads; it shows whether ads there use the phrase, not which certification employers prefer.
| Cloud-engineer ads, October 2026 (Adzuna) | aws certified solutions architect |
aws certified developer |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 6 of 475 ads | 0 of 475 ads |
| India | 19 of 1,150 ads | 4 of 1,150 ads |
| Germany | 15 of 1,160 ads | 0 of 1,160 ads |
Related comparisons and next steps
For the design exam on its own, read our Solutions Architect – Associate page; for the full ladder from Foundational to Professional, see the AWS certifications overview. Operations staff choosing between design and operations can turn to our Solutions Architect vs SysOps Administrator comparison, which covers the operations-focused Associate exam (SysOps Administrator, now renamed CloudOps Engineer).
What we did not check:
- how long the discount voucher stays valid;
- how often
aws certified developerappears in DevOps-engineer ads, which we do not count.
Sources
Every page listed here was read on October 12, 2026.
- Exam pages (AWS): Developer – Associate and Solutions Architect – Associate.
- Exam guides (AWS): DVA-C02, its revision history and SAA-C03.
- Pricing, retake and renewal rules (AWS): before testing, after testing and recertification.
- DVA-C03 dates and announced changes: AWS Training and Certification blog, September 2026 new offerings.
- Job ads: Adzuna API, US, UK, Indian and German cloud-engineer ads and US DevOps-engineer ads from October 2026.
Questions people ask
Which is harder, AWS Developer Associate or Solutions Architect Associate?
The exam guides give both exams the same time, question count and passing score. AWS Certified Developer – Associate (exam DVA-C02) and Solutions Architect – Associate (exam SAA-C03), both at AWS's middle (Associate) level, last 130 minutes, have 65 questions and need a scaled score of 720 on a 100 to 1,000 scale. The difference is the background AWS expects. The Developer exam guide asks for a year of developing and maintaining applications on AWS plus skill in at least one high-level programming language (a general-purpose language such as Python or Java). The Solutions Architect guide asks for a year of designing cloud solutions on AWS. Source: AWS exam guides, checked October 2026.
Should I take AWS Developer Associate or Solutions Architect first?
Take AWS Certified Developer – Associate (AWS's middle, Associate level) first if you write application code that runs on AWS, and Solutions Architect – Associate first if you do not code or want to plan how systems are built. AWS sets no prerequisite for either exam. This advice follows the audiences AWS describes in the two exam guides (checked October 2026). Once you hold one AWS certification, AWS gives 50% off your next exam, so the second Associate exam costs $75 instead of $150.
Should I take DVA-C02 or wait for DVA-C03?
AWS says the last day to take the current AWS Certified Developer – Associate exam, DVA-C02, is November 30, 2026. Registration for the updated exam, DVA-C03, opens October 27, 2026, and its delivery begins December 1, 2026. AWS advises taking DVA-C02 by the end of November if you are already prepared, and waiting for DVA-C03 if you want the certification to cover AI-assisted development (using AI tools to write code). The DVA-C03 exam guide was not published when we checked. If a December DVA-C02 slot shows up in the booking system, ask Pearson VUE (the testing company that delivers AWS exams) or AWS Certification support before you book. Source: AWS certification page and AWS Training and Certification blog, read October 2026.
Do job ads ask for AWS Developer Associate or Solutions Architect?
We counted 7,726 US cloud-engineer ads on Adzuna (a job-ad site) in October 2026. Among them, the exact phrase aws certified solutions architect appeared in 242 and the exact phrase aws certified developer in 32. Both counts have limits, such as the first phrase also matching the Professional (the level above Associate) Solutions Architect certification, and neither is a ranking of the two certifications.
How much do AWS Developer Associate and Solutions Architect cost together?
The two AWS Associate exams cost $225 together at US list prices if you pass each on the first try. That is $150 for the first, then $75 for the second with the 50% discount AWS gives on your next exam once you hold one AWS certification. Without that discount, the pair costs $300. Each failed attempt costs the full $150 again after a 14-day wait. Source: AWS certification and exam pricing pages, read October 2026.
Does AWS Solutions Architect Associate renew Developer Associate?
No. On AWS's recertification page, Developer – Associate renews through the latest Developer exam, the DevOps Engineer – Professional exam (Professional is the level above Associate) or maintenance on AWS Skill Builder (AWS's online training platform, paid subscription needed for this route). Solutions Architect – Associate renews through its own latest exam, Solutions Architect – Professional or Skill Builder. Neither Associate is listed as a renewal route for the other. Source: AWS recertification page, read October 2026.