Free Guides
Free guides to every exam we cover — plus exam-change news and prep advice. Every fact is checked against the official documentation and linked to its source. No dumps, ever.
AZ-900
Microsoft Azure Fundamentals ExamAll AZ-900 guides →AZ-900 Updated July 2026: What Changed (and What Didn't)
Microsoft updated the AZ-900 exam on July 20, 2026. The honest summary: it's a minor update — same domains, weightings, and passing score. Here's exactly what changed.
AZ-900 Exam Guide: What It Covers, Costs, and How to Pass
A straight, source-checked guide to the AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals exam — the three domains, passing score, format, cost, and how to prepare.
AZ-900 Study Plan: How to Prepare (and How Long It Takes)
A realistic, week-by-week AZ-900 study plan built around the official skills outline and free Microsoft Learn resources — with honest timelines by background.
Is AZ-900 Hard? An Honest Look at the Azure Fundamentals Difficulty
Is the AZ-900 exam hard? A realistic, no-hype breakdown of what makes Azure Fundamentals easy, where people struggle, and how hard it really is.
AI-901
Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals ExamAll AI-901 guides →AI-900 Is Retired — AI-901 Replaced It. Here Is What That Means for You
AI-900 retired on June 30, 2026, and AI-901 replaced it. What changed, what happens to your certification, and how to prepare now.
AI-901 Exam Guide: What It Covers, Costs, and How to Pass
A source-checked guide to the AI-901 Azure AI Fundamentals exam — the two domains, the Microsoft Foundry focus, passing score, format, and how to prepare.
Microsoft Foundry for AI-901: A Plain-English Guide to the Exam's Biggest Topic
Microsoft Foundry is 55–60% of the AI-901 exam. A source-checked, plain-English primer on what Foundry is and the specific parts AI-901 actually tests.
AI-901 Study Plan: How to Prepare for Azure AI Fundamentals
A realistic AI-901 study plan weighted to Microsoft Foundry — with honest timelines, the hands-on habits AI-900 never needed, and the free official resources.
Is AI-901 Hard? How the New Azure AI Fundamentals Compares
Is AI-901 harder than AI-900? An honest breakdown of the new exam's technical step-up — the Microsoft Foundry half, the Python expectation, and how to close the gap.
AZ-104
Microsoft Azure Administrator ExamAll AZ-104 guides →AZ-104 Exam Guide: What It Covers, Costs, and How to Pass
A straight, source-checked guide to the AZ-104 Azure Administrator exam — the five domains, passing score, format, cost, renewal, and how to prepare for an exam that expects hands-on skill.
AZ-104 Question Types: What the Exam Actually Asks
A source-checked look at AZ-104 question types — multiple choice, drag-and-drop, hot area, build list, and case studies — how case studies work, and why the exam rewards hands-on skill over memorization.
AZ-104 Study Plan: A Realistic Path to Passing
A hands-on AZ-104 study plan built around the official skills outline and free Microsoft Learn material — how long it really takes, what to do each phase, and how to know you're ready.
Is AZ-104 Hard? An Honest Look at the Azure Administrator Exam
A realistic, source-checked take on AZ-104 difficulty — why it's a real step up from AZ-900, what actually makes it hard, and the truth about the 'pass rate' numbers you see online.
AZ-305
Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions ExamAll AZ-305 guides →AZ-305 Exam Domains and Weightings (Skills Measured as of April 17, 2026)
The four AZ-305 domains, their published weight ranges, and the twelve functional groups underneath them — read off Microsoft's current study guide, with what each area actually asks you to decide.
How to Read an Azure Design Question: Finding the Constraint That Decides It
Design questions hand you four workable options and one sentence that rules three of them out. A repeatable method for finding that sentence, built on the five Well-Architected pillars.
AZ-305 Is a Design Exam, Not an Implementation Exam — and That Changes How You Study
Every AZ-305 skill statement opens with Recommend, Specify or Evaluate. Here is what that means for how you prepare, what the prerequisite actually is, and why more service facts will not help you.
The Well-Architected and Cloud Adoption Frameworks: The Design Frame AZ-305 Assumes
Neither framework is a topic on the AZ-305 outline, and the audience profile names both. What each one is for, how they differ, and why the pillars are the vocabulary your answers are argued in.
SC-500
Implementing End-to-End Security Controls for Cloud and AI Workloads ExamAll SC-500 guides →AZ-500 Retires on 31 August 2026 — and Microsoft Names SC-500 as Its Replacement
AZ-500 and the Azure Security Engineer Associate certification retire on 31 August 2026. Microsoft names SC-500 in its own replacement column. Every official sentence, and what Microsoft does not say.
Is SC-500 Hard? Its Heaviest Domain Is Also Its Shortest
SC-500's heaviest domain has 16 bullets; a lighter one has 29. What Microsoft publishes about the difficulty, what it does not, and how to judge readiness.
SC-500 Exam Guide: What the Cloud and AI Security Engineer Exam Covers, Format, and How to Pass
A source-checked SC-500 guide: the four skill areas and their weightings, the 120-minute English-only format, the 700 passing score, the associate renewal cycle, and the one free Microsoft study aid that is missing.
SC-500 Study Plan: How Long It Takes and Where the Hours Should Go
Microsoft publishes 29 hours and 45 minutes of official SC-500 training across twelve learning paths — and gives the heaviest exam area the smallest share of it. Here is the schedule we would build instead, and how long we suggest it takes.
SC-900
Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals ExamAll SC-900 guides →Is SC-900 Hard? An Honest Difficulty and Value Read
Is SC-900 hard, and is it worth it? A source-checked read on why Microsoft's beginner-level security, compliance, and identity exam is approachable, where its breadth catches people out, and who gains the most from earning it.
SC-900 Exam Guide: What It Covers, Cost, Format, and How to Pass
A straight, source-checked SC-900 guide: the four domains and their weightings, the 45-minute format, the 700/1,000 passing score, cost, prerequisites, and why this Fundamentals certification never expires.
SC-900 Practice Questions: What the Questions Are Like and Where to Practise
A source-checked look at SC-900 question styles — mostly multiple choice and multiple response, no case studies — plus why a test player beats dumps, and how ciply builds its original, sourced SC-900 bank.
How to Study for SC-900: A Weighted Study Plan
A weighted SC-900 study plan built on Microsoft's own exam percentages and the four free official learning paths — where to put your hours, how to practise, and a realistic, no-hype timeline.
DP-900
Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals ExamAll DP-900 guides →DP-900 Exam Guide: What Azure Data Fundamentals Covers, Format, and How to Pass
A straight, source-checked DP-900 guide: the four skill areas and their weightings, the 45-minute format, the 700/1,000 passing score, cost, prerequisites, and why this Azure Data Fundamentals certification never expires.
DP-900 Practice Questions: Question Types, Examples, and Where to Practise
A source-checked look at DP-900 question styles — multiple choice, multiple response, and interactive drag-and-drop or dropdown items, with two original example questions — plus why a test player beats dumps and how ciply builds its original, sourced DP-900 bank.
How to Study for DP-900: A Weighted Study Plan
A weighted DP-900 study plan built on Microsoft's own exam percentages and the four free official learning paths — where to put your hours, how to practise, and a realistic, no-hype timeline.
Is DP-900 Hard? An Honest Difficulty and Value Read
Is DP-900 hard, and is it worth it? A source-checked read on why Microsoft's beginner-level Azure Data Fundamentals exam is approachable, where its breadth of Azure services catches people out, and who gains the most from earning it.
PL-900
Microsoft Power Platform Fundamentals ExamAll PL-900 guides →Is PL-900 Hard? An Honest Read on Power Platform Fundamentals
PL-900 is a beginner exam with no prerequisites and 45 minutes on the clock — but a fifth of it is now agents in Copilot Studio, a topic most candidates have never touched. Microsoft publishes no pass rate. Here is a realistic read on the difficulty.
PL-900 Changed on 24 July 2026: Power Pages Out, Copilot Studio Agents In
Microsoft revised the Power Platform Fundamentals skills outline on 24 July 2026. Power Pages lost its functional group, a new Copilot Studio agents domain arrived at 20-25%, and AI sub-bullets spread across Power Apps, Power Automate and Dataverse. Here is what changed and what to do if you were already studying.
PL-900 Exam Guide: What Power Platform Fundamentals Covers, Format, and How to Pass
A source-checked PL-900 guide for the outline dated 24 July 2026: the five skill areas and their weightings, the 45-minute format, the 700 passing score, cost, prerequisites, and why this Power Platform Fundamentals certification never expires.
A PL-900 Study Plan That Matches the July 2026 Weightings
How to study for PL-900 now that agents in Copilot Studio carry 20-25% of the exam and Power Pages does not. A weighted three-week plan built on the six official modules, the free practice assessment, and the exam sandbox.
AB-900
Microsoft 365 Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals ExamAll AB-900 guides →AB-900 Exam Guide: What Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals Covers, Format, and How to Pass
A source-checked AB-900 guide for the outline dated 22 July 2026: the three skill areas and their weightings, the 45-minute English-only format, the 700 passing score, cost, prerequisites, and why this Microsoft 365 Fundamentals-family certification does not expire.
AB-900 Study Plan: How Long It Takes and How to Weight It
A two-to-three week AB-900 study plan built on the two official learning paths. They hold six hours and 45 minutes of reading, but give the heaviest exam area only 62 minutes of it — here is how we would rebalance the schedule.
Is AB-900 Hard? An Honest Read on Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals
AB-900 is a Beginner-level, 45-minute Fundamentals exam. But Microsoft's own audience profile assumes you already use five admin centres, Entra identity and Purview — and that gap, not the depth, is the real difficulty.
MS-900 Is Retired. Microsoft Has Not Named a Replacement — Here Is What Exists Instead
MS-900 and the Microsoft 365 Certified: Fundamentals certification retired on 31 March 2026. Microsoft never designated a replacement. Here is what is confirmed, what is not, and where AB-900 fits.
AB-650
Administering Microsoft 365 and AI Services ExamAll AB-650 guides →AB-650 Exam Guide: What Administering Microsoft 365 and AI Services Covers, the Beta Format, and Who It Is For
A source-checked AB-650 guide for the outline last updated 27 July 2026: the three skill areas and their weightings, what beta changes about your score and your price, the 700 pass mark, and our own measurement of how far the free training reaches.
AB-650 Study Plan: 17 Modules, 1,388 Minutes, and the Order We Would Read Them In
AB-650 is in beta as of August 2026. Microsoft's official preparation is 17 modules across three learning paths, and we counted 1,388 minutes in them. Here is a seven-week plan that reads them in teaching order rather than blueprint order, plus what being a beta exam changes about your schedule.
AB-650 vs AB-900: Which Microsoft 365 Copilot and Agent Certification to Take, and in What Order
AB-900 is the fundamentals credential for Copilot and agent administration. AB-650, in beta as of August 2026, is the associate one. What each tests, where the two really overlap, and which one we would take first.
Microsoft Agent 365, Entra Agent ID and the Agent Registry: What Changes for a Microsoft 365 Admin
A source-checked, plain-English explanation of Microsoft Agent 365 for administrators. Why an AI agent is a security principal, how agents arrive in your tenant, what blocking really does, where Purview and Entra controls stop short of a non-human actor, and where the official pages disagree on licensing.
AI-200
Developing AI Cloud Solutions on Azure ExamAll AI-200 guides →AI-200 Exam Guide: The Four Skill Areas, the Format, and What the Official Learning Path Covers
The four AI-200 skill areas and weightings, the 120-minute English-only format, the 700 scaled pass mark, the nine learning paths, and two errors on Microsoft's own pages.
AI-200: Microsoft's New Azure AI Developer Certification, and What Is Not Available Yet
What Microsoft's own pages say about AI-200 as at 18 August 2026. Booking is open through Pearson VUE, the official practice assessment is not available, and one language is listed.
How to Prepare for AI-200: Check the Prerequisites, Then Plan the Weeks
Microsoft's audience profile names seven skills an AI-200 candidate should already hold, Python and containers among them. Here is how we would plan preparation around that list, the 32 hours of official reading in the nine learning paths, and the 24 hands-on exercises inside them.
AI-200 vs AI-103: Which Azure AI Developer Certification Fits You Now That AI-102 Is Retired
AI-102 is retired, and two associate credentials now cover its ground: AI-200 tests the Azure back end an AI application runs on, AI-103 tests the AI itself.
AZ-700
Designing and Implementing Microsoft Azure Networking Solutions ExamAll AZ-700 guides →AZ-700 Exam Guide: The Five Domains, the Format, and the Gap in the Official Learning Path
The five published AZ-700 skill areas and their weightings, the 100-minute proctored format and the 700 scaled pass mark — each cited to Microsoft — plus our own count of how much of the 136-bullet outline the official learning path actually teaches.
How to Study for AZ-700: Plan by Weighting, Not by Week Count
Five popular AZ-700 plans give five different durations, and none of them cites anything. So we built a plan from what Microsoft actually publishes — the five weightings, the 100-minute exam, the 700 pass mark — and from our own measurement that the free learning path teaches 36% of the outline.
Azure Load Balancing Options Explained: Load Balancer vs Application Gateway vs Front Door vs Traffic Manager
Two questions decide most Azure load balancing choices: protocol and reach. Here is the four-quadrant map Microsoft itself uses, the two cells it has already outgrown, and the decisions the map does not settle.
Is AZ-700 Hard? The Official Learning Path Teaches 49 of Its 136 Skills
Several sites quote a 65% AZ-700 pass rate. We could not find an official source for it. Here is what Microsoft does publish, and what we measured ourselves.