Claude certification: the 4 exams, cost and rules
Anthropic offers four Claude certifications, but only people at Claude Partner Network organisations can sit them. Here is what each costs, how the exams run and what the free courses cover.
Short answer: Anthropic offers four Claude certifications, priced from US$99 to US$175 (about A$140 to A$249), sat as a proctored exam through Pearson VUE. Only people who work at an organisation in the Claude Partner Network can register, so most Australian businesses cannot sit one directly. Anthropic’s free courses are open to anyone.
Below are the four exams, what each costs and covers, the retake and renewal rules, and how to decide whether one is worth anyone’s time. We checked each detail on Anthropic and Pearson VUE pages on 31 October 2026.
The four Claude certifications
| Certification | Price, US$ | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Certified Associate: Foundations (CCAO-F) | $99 | Everyday practical use of Claude. Anthropic names consultants, project leads and business and technical staff. |
| Claude Certified Developer: Foundations (CCDV-F) | $125 | Engineers building applications with Claude: the API, tool use and agent development. |
| Claude Certified Architect: Foundations (CCAR-F) | $125 | Solution architects who design and build agent systems with Claude. |
| Claude Certified Architect: Professional (CCAR-P) | $175 | Architects designing and governing Claude solutions at enterprise scale: integration, governance and evaluation. |
Prices are in US dollars, before any partner discount. Anthropic says every path starts at a foundation-level exam and advances to professional. The Professional exam has no formal prerequisite, and holding a Foundations credential does not upgrade you to it automatically.
Anthropic and Pearson VUE have announced updated content for the Associate, Developer and Architect Professional exams from 7 December 2026, with updated exam guides due on 17 November 2026. If you are booking for December or later, study from the new guide.
Who can sit them
Anthropic restricts the exams to people who work at organisations in the Claude Partner Network. You register with a work email on a domain listed in your organisation’s partner record, and a personal address will not work. If your domain is missing, Anthropic says adding it usually takes 7 to 10 days. Customers and non-members are not currently eligible.
The network is free to join for organisations that deliver Claude to clients, which means consultancies, agencies and builders. A manufacturer or a retailer that only uses Claude internally is not who it is designed for. Candidates must also be 18 or older and hold a government-issued ID.
Format, length and scoring
- Delivery. You register and pay by credit card in Anthropic Partner Academy, then receive a Pearson link to book. You can sit online with OnVUE proctoring or at a Pearson test centre. Switching between the two means cancelling and rebooking.
- Questions. Multiple choice and scenario-based multiple response. Anthropic does not publish a question count on the pages we read.
- Length. 120 minutes of testing, and Anthropic suggests allowing about 135 minutes in the seat for check-in and a short survey.
- Rules. Closed book. Notes, documentation, translation tools and AI assistants are not permitted.
- Language. English and Japanese.
- Scoring. A scaled score from 100 to 1,000, with 720 to pass on all four. You see the result on screen, and a Credly badge email follows.
Retakes, cancellations and renewal
After a failed attempt you wait 14 days before the second try, 30 days before the third and 90 days before the fourth. The cap is four attempts per exam in any rolling 12 months. A retake costs the full fee.
Cancel or reschedule in Pearson at least 48 hours before the appointment. Inside that window, or if you do not show, the fee is forfeited. Your name on the Pearson profile has to match your ID exactly.
A certification is valid for 12 months. Renewing on time means reviewing what has changed and completing a free, non-proctored assessment in Academy. If it lapses, you retake the exam at the full fee. Anthropic notes that renewal details are still to come, so check the current policy before you plan around it.
The free route: Anthropic Academy
Anyone can take Anthropic Academy courses without paying, and you do not need a paid plan or a work account. Current courses include Claude 101, Claude Code 101, Building with the Claude API, Introduction to Model Context Protocol, Introduction to Agent Skills, AI Fluency for Small Businesses and Deploying Claude Enterprise with Confidence.
You earn a completion badge by passing every required quiz. Those badges do not expire, and they are separate from the proctored exams. Anthropic’s public Academy page does not say whether these courses prepare you for the exams. Exam preparation courses sit in the partner-only Anthropic Partner Academy, and each exam has an exam guide listing its domains, task statements and sample questions. Anthropic calls that guide the authoritative source for scope. It also retired its earlier practice exam when the exams moved to Pearson.
How a business should think about it
A certification belongs to a person. It is valid for 12 months, it sits on that person’s Credly badge, and it leaves with them if they move on. Anthropic issues no firm-level version, so nothing here gives your company a credential to put on a tender.
- Are you eligible at all? If your organisation is not in the Partner Network, the paid exams are closed to you. Start with the free courses.
- Match the exam to the job. Someone who uses Claude daily in operations or consulting maps to Associate. Someone wiring it into software maps to Developer or Architect.
- Budget for the renewal. One fee buys 12 months. Plan for the renewal assessment, and for a full retake if the date slips.
- Judge the person, not the badge. An exam shows someone has studied a defined body of knowledge. It does not show they can set Claude up well in your HubSpot, your policies and your data.
People on our team have sat these exams. We’re Certified in the Claude Partner Network, and we help Australian teams decide who needs training and what to build. Our Claude for business page covers the work, and AI consulting is where a rollout plan starts. If you are weighing outside help, read how to choose who builds Claude into your HubSpot, and for the program itself see what the Claude Partner Network is.
Not sure whether anyone on your team needs a certification?
Often the better first step is a short list of what Claude should do for you.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Claude certification cost? Anthropic lists US$99 for Associate, US$125 for Developer: Foundations and Architect: Foundations, and US$175 for Architect: Professional. Partner discounts apply at checkout for some network tiers.
Can anyone take the Claude Certified Architect exam? No. It is open to people who work at organisations in the Claude Partner Network, and you register with a work email on your organisation’s listed domain.
How long is a Claude certification valid? Twelve months from the date earned. Renewing on time is free through a non-proctored assessment, while a lapsed certification needs a full retake at the full fee.
Can you take the exam online? Yes. You can sit it with OnVUE online proctoring or at a Pearson test centre, and the exam is 120 minutes, closed book.
Are there free Claude courses? Yes. Anthropic Academy courses are free, and you earn a completion badge by passing the quizzes. These are separate from the paid, proctored certifications.
Sources
- FAQ: Certifications, Anthropic Partner Academy, checked 31 October 2026, for prices, format, scoring, retakes, cancellation and renewal.
- Who can take a Claude certification exam, Anthropic Partner Academy, checked 31 October 2026, for eligibility and the work email rule.
- Claude Certification Program, Pearson VUE, checked 31 October 2026, for the exam list, delivery options and the December 2026 content update.
- Four role-based certifications, Anthropic, checked 31 October 2026, for who each exam is for.
- Academy FAQ and Anthropic Academy, checked 31 October 2026, for free courses and completion badges.
- European Central Bank reference rate for 30 October 2026, A$1.4236 per US$1, rounded to A$1.42, for the Australian dollar figures.
Want Claude set up properly for your team?
Training helps, but the settings and the process decide the result.