AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C01)

The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C01) is the foundational AWS certification, designed for individuals who want to demonstrate overall understanding of the AWS Cloud — regardless of their technical background. This exam validates basic knowledge of AWS services, pricing, billing, support structures, and security fundamentals, making it an ideal first step for professionals transitioning into cloud roles or business stakeholders who work with AWS teams.

The exam covers four domains: Cloud Concepts (26%), Technology (33%), Security and Compliance (25%), and Billing and Pricing (16%). You'll need to understand core AWS services across compute (EC2, Lambda), storage (S3, EBS), database (RDS, DynamoDB), networking (VPC, Route 53), and management services (CloudWatch, IAM). The AWS Shared Responsibility Model, the AWS Well-Architected Framework, and the AWS pricing calculator are also key topics.

The CLF-C01 exam consists of 65 questions with a 90-minute time limit and a passing score of 700/1000. No technical experience is required. After passing, many candidates progress to associate-level certifications like the AWS Solutions Architect Associate or AWS Developer Associate to validate deeper technical skills.