Comparison

Claude certifications side by side

All four Anthropic Claude certifications on one table. Official facts come from the exam guides; the verification date is shown in the last row.

Criterion	Associate – Foundations	Developer – Foundations	Architect – Foundations	Architect – Professional
Exam code	CCAO-F	CCDV-F	CCAR-F	CCAR-P
Level	Foundations	Foundations	Foundations	Professional
Track	Associate (Practitioner)	Developer	Architect	Architect
Official fee	$99	$125	$125	$175
Questions	60	53	60 (scenario-based)	63
Duration	120 min	120 min	120 min	120 min
Passing score	720 / 1,000	720 / 1,000	720 / 1,000	720 / 1,000
Validity	12 months	12 months	12 months	12 months
Domains	7	8	5	7
Heaviest domain	Output Evaluation and Validation (21%)	Applications and Integration (33.1%)	Agentic Architecture & Orchestration (27%)	Integration (19%)
Prerequisites	None	None mandatory	No formal prerequisites listed	None mandatory
Recommended experience	Regular hands-on professional use of Claude Foundation in structured problem-solving and workflow design Experience in roles such as business analyst, project manager, operations lead, or marketing/communications/HR/education professional Practical understanding of AI limitations (hallucinations, context constraints, data sensitivity)	1–5 years of software engineering experience At least 6 months of hands-on experience with Claude or comparable LLM-based systems Proficiency in Python and/or TypeScript Fluency with REST APIs and CLI tools Working understanding of LLM fundamentals, agents, context management and MCP	6+ months of practical experience with the Claude APIs, Agent SDK, Claude Code and MCP	Software engineering best practices (modular design, separation of concerns, scalability) 3+ years in systems architecture or platform engineering 6+ months of hands-on experience with Claude or comparable LLM systems in production Experience delivering end-to-end systems from discovery through operationalisation
Intended for	Professionals who use Claude as a productivity tool and build Claude Projects in functions such as operations, marketing, project management, education, communications and general knowledge work. Internal staff and external consultants both qualify.	AI/ML engineers, technical leads and senior software engineers working between business requirements and technical implementation.	Solution architects who design and implement production applications with Claude.	Mid- to senior-level technical professionals who design, build and deliver production-grade AI solutions with Claude: solution architects, AI/ML engineers, technical leads and senior software engineers.
Partner tier eligibility	Does not count	Counts	Counts	Counts
Content update	Updated content from 7 Dec 2026	Updated content from 7 Dec 2026	No update announced	Updated content from 7 Dec 2026
Exam guide version	1.0 (effective July 2026)	1.0 (effective July 2026)	1.0 (effective July 2026)	1.0 (initial publication July 2026)
Last verified by AI7x7	4 November 2026	4 November 2026	4 November 2026	4 November 2026

Domain weights compared

Associate – Foundations CCAO-F

1. Prompting and Task Execution14%
2. Output Evaluation and Validation21%
3. Product and Model Selection12%
4. Workflow Integration and Solution Design16%
5. Configuration and Knowledge Management12%
6. Governance, Risk, and Responsible Use15%
7. Troubleshooting and Optimization10%

Developer – Foundations CCDV-F

1. Agents and Workflows14.7%
2. Applications and Integration33.1%
3. Claude Code3.1%
4. Eval, Testing, and Debugging2.6%
5. Model Selection and Optimization16.8%
6. Prompt and Context Engineering11%
7. Security and Safety8.1%
8. Tools and MCPs10.6%

Architect – Foundations CCAR-F

1. Agentic Architecture & Orchestration27%
2. Tool Design & MCP Integration18%
3. Claude Code Configuration & Workflows20%
4. Prompt Engineering & Structured Output20%
5. Context Management & Reliability15%

Architect – Professional CCAR-P

1. Solution Design & Architecture17%
2. Claude Models, Prompting & Context Engineering13%
3. Integration19%
4. Evaluation, Testing & Optimization16%
5. Governance, Safety & Risk Management14%
6. Stakeholder Communication & Lifecycle Management14%
7. Developer Productivity & Operational Enablement7%

How to read this comparison

The four exams share a format (120 minutes, multiple choice and multiple response, 720 scaled to pass) but differ sharply in what they assume. Associate – Foundations assumes daily professional use and no code. Developer – Foundations assumes you build against the API and with Claude Code. Architect – Foundations assumes you design agent systems and is the only scenario-structured exam. Architect – Professional assumes you own the whole lifecycle and puts roughly half its weight on evaluation, governance and stakeholder work.

Fees are official Anthropic exam fees and are separate from AI7x7's preparation materials. Registration goes through the Anthropic Partner Academy and is described by Anthropic as available to Claude Partner Network members.

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