Find your certification in one question
Pick the line that sounds like you and we'll point you at the right Claude certification, its guide and the diagnostic.
Which Claude certification is right for you?
Anthropic's 4 Claude certifications map to 4 different roles, not 4 difficulty levels of the same test. The fastest way to pick correctly is to start from your role, not from the certification name.
Pick the line that sounds like you.
Start from your role
Read down the list below until one row matches how you actually use Claude today.
Audience and experience level, quoted from the exam guides
CCAR-F is the Claude Certified Architect - Foundations exam (the market also writes CCA-F and CCAF). Sixty scenario questions in 120 minutes, pass mark 720 of 1000, list price $125, valid twelve months. Below: the five domains with their weights, what each tests, and practice for each.
5 domains · 60 items · $125CCA-P is the short form people type for CCAR-P, the Claude Certified Architect - Professional exam. It is 63 questions in 120 minutes across seven domains, 720 of 1000 to pass, list price $175. Here are the domains, the format, and practice for each.
7 domains · 63 items · $175CCDV-F is the Claude Certified Developer - Foundations exam; people also type ccdvf and ccd-f. It has 53 questions in 120 minutes, eight weighted domains, a $125 list price and a 720/1000 pass mark (per the live exam guide). Below: the domains, the format, and practice.
8 domains · 53 items · $125CCAO-F - typed as ccao or ccaof - is the Claude Certified Associate - Foundations exam, Anthropic's entry-level certification for everyday Claude users. Sixty questions in 120 minutes across seven domains, list price $99, 720 of 1000 to pass. Here is what it covers, how it is scored, and practice.
7 domains · 60 items · $99Foundations vs Professional - and the CCA-F / CCAR-F name
Claude Certified Architect - Foundations (CCA-F, officially CCAR-F) is the original Claude certification and targets solution architects with 6+ months of practical experience building production Claude apps. Claude Certified Architect - Professional (CCA-P, officially CCAR-P) targets a more senior bar: 3+ years of systems-architecture experience plus 6+ months of Claude in production, and adds governance/safety/risk and stakeholder-communication domains on top of solution design.
Both names - "CCA-F" and "CCAR-F" - refer to the identical Architect - Foundations credential. CCAR-F is Anthropic's official exam code; CCA-F is the shorthand this site and most of the community have used since launch, and it carries the certification's search equity. Nothing about the credential changed between the two names.
Claude Certified Architect vs Developer
Choose CCA-F if you design Claude systems end to end. Choose CCD-F if you build and ship Claude applications, agents and workflows. CCA-F has 60 questions across five domains; CCD-F has 53 across eight. Both list a $125 exam fee.
Claude Certified Associate vs Architect
CCA-A is intended for non-technical client-facing and delivery roles. CCA-F is intended for solution architects building production Claude applications. Both have 60 questions; CCA-A covers seven domains at $99, while CCA-F covers five at $125.
Architect Foundations vs Professional
CCA-F targets solution architects with practical Claude experience. CCA-P targets more senior architects and AI/ML engineers with systems-architecture and production Claude experience. CCA-F has 60 questions across five domains at $125; CCA-P has 63 across seven at $175.
Decision FAQ
Every Q is phrased as a real Google search query. Answers cite the same evidence-tagged sources used elsewhere on the site.
Match the cert to your actual role. Non-technical client-facing roles fit Associate - Foundations. Engineers who build and ship Claude apps fit Developer - Foundations. Solution architects with 6+ months of hands-on Claude experience fit Architect - Foundations. Architects or AI/ML engineers with 3+ years of systems-architecture experience plus Claude production time fit Architect - Professional.