Both certifications sit at the associate level, but they test different muscles. SAA-C03 is built around designing resilient, cost-aware, secure, and performant architectures on AWS using the Well-Architected Framework as a mental model.
AZ-104 is built around administering an existing Azure environment: identities, governance, storage, virtual networking, compute, and monitoring. If your job title says "administrator," "engineer," or "operations," AZ-104 usually matches better than a pure architecture exam.
At a glance
| Question | SAA-C03 | AZ-104 |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Engineers designing AWS architectures for resiliency, cost, and security | Engineers administering Azure identity, governance, storage, and compute day to day |
| Primary platform language | EC2, S3, VPC, IAM, Well-Architected trade-offs | Entra ID, Azure Policy, storage accounts, virtual networks, Azure Monitor |
| Hands-on center of gravity | Architecture decisions: resiliency, cost optimization, security, performance | Operational tasks: provisioning, governance, backup, monitoring, troubleshooting |
| Good prior background | AWS practitioner-level familiarity plus some hands-on service exposure | Azure fundamentals plus some hands-on portal or CLI exposure |
| Choose it when | Your target role is architecture-leaning on AWS | Your target role is administration-leaning on Azure |
| Do not choose it when | You have never touched core AWS services hands-on | You have never touched core Azure services hands-on |
When SAA-C03 fits better than AZ-104
SAA-C03 is the stronger choice when your work or target work involves designing AWS solutions, not just keeping an existing environment running. The official AWS exam guide centers on designing resilient, high-performing, secure, and cost-optimized architectures.
If you are expected to choose between compute options, design for multi-AZ resiliency, reason about IAM boundaries, or justify a cost trade-off to stakeholders, SAA-C03 tests exactly that kind of reasoning.
Why it wins for architecture-leaning roles
The scenario-based questions mirror real design reviews: trade-offs, not single correct facts.
What good preparation looks like
Practice justifying a design choice out loud: why this compute option, why this storage class, why this network layout.
What weak preparation looks like
Memorizing service limits without understanding when each service actually solves the stated problem.
When AZ-104 fits better than SAA-C03
AZ-104 makes more sense when your day-to-day responsibility is keeping an Azure environment running: managing identities and governance, configuring storage and networking, deploying and monitoring compute, and implementing backup and recovery. The official Microsoft Learn training frames it around administering, not designing from scratch.
Decision questions to ask before you choose
| If this is your reality... | Better first choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Your job title includes "administrator," "operations," or "support engineer" on Azure | AZ-104 | The exam objectives map directly onto governance, identity, storage, and monitoring tasks you already do. |
| Your job title includes "architect" or "solutions engineer" on AWS | SAA-C03 | The exam objectives map directly onto the design trade-offs you are expected to defend. |
| You want to move into cloud architecture from an operations background | Start with the platform-matching administrator or fundamentals exam first | Architecture reasoning is stronger once you understand day-2 operations reality. |
| You are multi-cloud and want both administration and architecture skills | Both, sequenced by which platform your current projects use first | They test different skills, so the overlap in study time is lower than expected. |
What portfolio evidence makes these certifications believable
Neither exam alone proves you can operate or design a real environment under constraints. Build one small project per platform that shows a documented decision trail, not just a working demo.
| Certification | High-value project pattern | Evidence that matters |
|---|---|---|
| SAA-C03 | A small multi-tier AWS architecture with a documented resiliency and cost trade-off | Architecture diagram, cost estimate, failure scenario, and the trade-off you chose and why |
| AZ-104 | A small Azure environment with governance, backup, and monitoring configured | Azure Policy assignment, backup configuration, alert rules, and an incident response note |
Common comparison mistakes
- Assuming SAA-C03 and AZ-104 test the same skill just on different vendors.
- Skipping hands-on practice and relying only on flashcards for either exam.
- Choosing the certification with the flashier title instead of the one matching your actual responsibilities.
- Not reviewing the current exam guide before studying, since objectives can shift between versions.
- Treating either associate certification as equivalent to years of production experience.
Frequently asked questions
Is SAA-C03 an architecture exam or a hands-on exam?
SAA-C03 tests architectural decision-making across AWS services: resiliency, cost, security, and performance trade-offs. It expects practical familiarity with services, but the exam format is scenario-based rather than a lab exam.
Is AZ-104 more operational than architectural?
Yes. AZ-104 centers on administering Azure identities, governance, storage, compute, virtual networking, and monitoring in production, which makes it closer to a day-2-operations role than a pure architecture exam.
Can I take both SAA-C03 and AZ-104?
Yes, and many multi-cloud engineers do. They test different things (architecture reasoning versus administration) so the overlap is lower than the vendor comparison might suggest.
First-party sources
- https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-solutions-architect-associate/
- https://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/framework/welcome.html
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/exams/az-104/
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/courses/az-104t00
Source status last checked 2026-09-21. Providers can update objectives, pricing, dates, and policies after publication.