AZ-900 is Microsoft's entry point to Azure: a foundational exam with no prerequisites, three skills domains, and a passing score of 700. This guide covers the format, what is tested, who it is for, and how to prepare.
Last updated July 2026.
AZ-900 is a fundamentals-level certification. It is designed for people who want to prove they understand cloud concepts and core Azure services without needing hands-on engineering experience. That makes it useful for sales, finance, project management, and students, as well as a first step for anyone heading toward a role-based Azure certification later.
Because it is a fundamentals exam, there are no prerequisites. You do not need another certification or any prior Azure work to sit it. Microsoft also does not expire fundamentals certifications, so once you pass, the credential does not need annual renewal the way the associate and expert role-based certifications do.
| AZ-900 | |
|---|---|
| Level | Fundamentals (beginner) |
| Prerequisites | None |
| Passing score | 700 (on a 1 to 1,000 scale) |
| Cost | $99 USD (price varies by country) |
| Question types | Mostly multiple choice and multiple response |
| Renewal | Does not expire |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE testing center or online proctored |
Passing score, price, and level are from the official Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals page and the AZ-900 study guide. Microsoft does not publish a fixed number of questions or a set duration for the exam, so treat any specific count you see elsewhere as an estimate, not an official figure.
The AZ-900 study guide organizes everything the exam can test into three domains, each with a published weight range. Knowing the proportions tells you where to spend your study time.
The vocabulary of cloud computing, independent of Azure specifics. This covers the benefits of cloud (high availability, scalability, elasticity, reliability), the difference between capital and operating expenditure, the consumption-based model, and the three main cloud service models: infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, and software as a service. It also covers cloud deployment models: public, private, and hybrid.
The largest domain, and the one that is genuinely Azure-specific. It covers the core architectural components (regions, region pairs, availability zones, resource groups, subscriptions, and management groups) and the main service categories: compute (virtual machines, App Service, Azure Functions, containers), networking (virtual networks, VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute), storage (blob, disk, file, and storage tiers), and identity (Microsoft Entra ID, formerly Azure Active Directory). This is where most of your study hours should go.
How you manage cost, stay compliant, and keep resources organized. This covers cost management tools (the pricing calculator, the total cost of ownership calculator, and Microsoft Cost Management), governance features (Azure Policy, resource locks, and tags), and the tools you use to deploy and monitor resources (the Azure portal, Azure CLI, Azure Cloud Shell, Azure Advisor, and Azure Monitor). Service level agreements and service lifecycle concepts sit here too.
The most efficient path for a fundamentals exam is short and focused:
Most candidates with some general tech familiarity prepare in a few focused sessions rather than weeks. If you are completely new to cloud, budget more time for the cloud-concepts and architecture domains, since that is where the unfamiliar vocabulary lives.
AZ-900 will not by itself qualify you for an Azure engineering role. What it does well is prove baseline fluency: it is a credible signal on a resume for non-engineering roles that touch the cloud, and it is a low-risk way to confirm you enjoy the material before committing to a role-based path like Azure Administrator (AZ-104) or a developer or data track. As a first cloud certification, the combination of no prerequisites, a modest fee, and a credential that does not expire makes it an easy yes for most people weighing it.
You need a score of 700 or higher on a scale that runs from 1 to 1,000. The scaled score is not a straight percentage, so 700 does not mean 70% of questions correct.
In the United States the exam is $99 USD. The price is set per country, so it varies by region. Check the official certification page for your local price before booking.
No. AZ-900 is a fundamentals-level exam with no prerequisites. It is designed as a starting point, so no prior Azure experience or certification is required.
No. Microsoft fundamentals certifications do not expire, unlike the role-based associate and expert certifications, which require annual renewal.
Microsoft does not publish a fixed number of questions or a set time limit for AZ-900 in the official study guide. Any specific count you see on third-party sites is an estimate rather than an official figure.
The AZ-900 study guide lists every task statement, the domain weights, and links to the free Microsoft Learn paths and practice assessment. It is the primary prep document and it is free.
Open the AZ-900 study guide →