GnoseedGnoseed
Certifications guide

AI-901 vs AWS AI Practitioner (AIF-C01): Which AI Certification Should You Take?

Both are entry-level AI certifications from a major cloud. They are not interchangeable: one expects you to build something, the other expects you to choose well. This guide compares them on the things that actually differ.

certifications compared
2
certifications compared
read
10 min read
read
last updated
September 2026
last updated
Overview

Two foundational AI certifications, two different bets

If you want a first AI certification from a cloud provider, the realistic shortlist is Microsoft AI-901 (Azure AI Fundamentals) and AWS AIF-C01 (AWS Certified AI Practitioner). Both sit at the foundational tier, both cover generative AI, and both are aimed at people early in their AI career.

The structural difference is the one worth deciding on. AI-901 devotes 55–60% of its marks to implementing AI solutions on Microsoft Foundry — you are expected to have deployed a model, written prompts and built an agent. AIF-C01 explicitly puts developing and coding AI/ML models out of scope and targets someone who uses rather than builds AI solutions on AWS. One rewards portal time; the other rewards conceptual breadth and service knowledge.

A second, more practical point: AI-901 is new. It replaced AI-900 on 30 June 2026, so most existing prep material still targets the retired exam — a problem if you want current content, an advantage if you want an exam few people have crammed for. Below is a side-by-side, then a straight recommendation by situation. Gnoseed does not sell, proctor or guarantee either exam; verify every figure at the official exam guide before booking, since both vendors change them without notice. If you are specifically wondering what happened to AI-900, see AI-900 vs AI-901.

Side by side

How the two compare

Aspect AI-901Microsoft Certified: Azure AI FundamentalsAIF-C01AWS Certified AI Practitioner
Focus Concepts plus hands-on implementation on Microsoft FoundryBroad AI, ML and generative AI concepts applied to AWS services
Level FundamentalsFoundational
Format Multiple choice · 700 to pass · format not publishedMultiple choice, multiple response, ordering, matching · 65 questions (50 scored) · 90 min · 700 to pass
Prerequisite NoneNone
Best for People at the beginning of a career in AI solution developmentPeople with up to six months of exposure to AI/ML on AWS who use rather than build AI solutions
Breakdown

The two exams side by side

Domains, weights and format come from each vendor’s current official exam guide. Confirm them at the source before you book.

AI-901

Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals

FundamentalsMultiple choice · 700 to pass · format not publishedPrereq: None

AI-901 replaced AI-900 on 30 June 2026 and publishes just two domains: identify AI concepts and capabilities (40–45%) and implement AI solutions by using Microsoft Foundry (55–60%). The first covers the six responsible AI principles, model components and configuration, and the workload families. The second is hands-on: deploying a model and prompting it in the Foundry portal, building a chat client with the Foundry SDK, creating a single-agent solution, and working with Azure Speech, multimodal vision and Content Understanding. Microsoft states the candidate should know Python syntax and be familiar with Azure resources.

Choose this if…

  • You work in the Microsoft ecosystem, or your employer does
  • You are willing to spend time in a portal and an SDK, not only reading
  • You want a syllabus written around agents and Foundry rather than per-service tours

Study with Gnoseed

Azure AI Fundamentals (AI-901) · 112 cards
AIF-C01

AWS Certified AI Practitioner

FoundationalMultiple choice, multiple response, ordering, matching · 65 questions (50 scored) · 90 min · 700 to passPrereq: None

AIF-C01 spreads its marks across five domains: fundamentals of AI and ML (20%), fundamentals of generative AI (24%), applications of foundation models (28%), guidelines for responsible AI (14%) and security, compliance and governance for AI solutions (14%). AWS states that developing or coding models, data and feature engineering, hyperparameter tuning and building AI/ML pipelines are all out of scope. Familiarity with core AWS services, the shared responsibility model, IAM and pricing models is assumed. The exam costs $100 USD and the certification is valid for three years.

Choose this if…

  • You already work on AWS and want the vocabulary to match
  • You want a published price, format and validity period before committing
  • Your role is to choose and govern AI solutions rather than build them

Study with Gnoseed

AI & LLM Fundamentals · 90 cards
Decision guide

Which one should you take?

The honest answer is usually "the cloud your employer runs". Where that is genuinely open, these are the situations that change the recommendation.

  • If you are

    Your organisation runs on Azure

    Take AI-901. The implementation half maps directly onto tools you will actually open, and the Foundry vocabulary is what your colleagues use.

    Start with Azure AI Fundamentals (AI-901)
  • If you are

    Your organisation runs on AWS

    Take AIF-C01. Its assumed knowledge — core services, shared responsibility, IAM, pricing — is knowledge you already have, which makes it the cheaper certification in effort as well as money.

  • If you are

    You are cloud-agnostic and want to build

    Lean AI-901. More than half its marks require you to have built something, so the certification evidences hands-on work rather than recall.

    Start with Azure AI Fundamentals (AI-901)
  • If you are

    You are in a non-engineering role — product, ops, compliance

    Lean AIF-C01. It is explicitly aimed at people who use rather than build AI solutions, and it gives a quarter of its marks to responsible AI, security and governance.

  • If you are

    You want the concepts before choosing a vendor at all

    Learn how models, prompting, retrieval and evaluation work without a cloud attached, then pick the certification your job actually rewards.

    Start with AI & LLM Fundamentals
Logistics

Cost, validity and where to check

AIF-C01 publishes its numbers plainly: $100 USD, 90 minutes, 65 questions of which 50 are scored and 15 are unscored trial items, a scaled score of 100–1,000 with 700 to pass, and a three-year validity. Question types include multiple choice, multiple response, ordering and matching.

AI-901 publishes a passing score of 700 but not a single price: Microsoft sets exam fees by the country or region in which the exam is proctored, so you have to check the exam page for your own region. Microsoft associate, expert and specialty certifications expire annually and are renewed by a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn.

Both vendors revise exam guides without notice — AI-901’s skills measured are stated as of 15 April 2026, and AWS publishes revisions to the AIF-C01 guide separately. Treat every figure on this page as a starting point and confirm it on Microsoft Learn or the AWS certification site before you book or budget.

FAQ

Common questions

Which is easier, AI-901 or AWS AI Practitioner? +

AIF-C01 is easier to pass by reading alone, because AWS puts building and coding out of scope. AI-901 gives 55–60% of its marks to implementing solutions on Microsoft Foundry, so it is harder without hands-on time but evidences more.

How much does each exam cost? +

AWS publishes $100 USD for AIF-C01. Microsoft does not publish a single price for AI-901 — it is set by the country or region where the exam is proctored, so check the exam page for your region.

Do either of them expire? +

AIF-C01 is valid for three years. Microsoft certifications at associate level and above expire annually and are renewed with a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn rather than a paid re-sit.

Can I take both? +

Yes, and there is real overlap — responsible AI, generative AI concepts and workload identification appear on both. Doing the second after the first is substantially less work than doing it cold.

Is AI-901 the same as AI-900? +

No. AI-900 retired on 30 June 2026 and AI-901 replaced it with a different syllabus built around responsible AI and Microsoft Foundry. Prep material written for AI-900 is out of date.

Do I need to know Python for either exam? +

Microsoft lists Python syntax and programming techniques in the AI-901 audience profile. AWS puts coding out of scope for AIF-C01, though familiarity with core AWS services is assumed.

Decided on Azure?

Plant your first seed today. The AI-901 deck follows the published skills measured at their real weights.

Start learning free