Microsoft · Professional Certification · Associate
Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate (AZ-204)
Crydd Score 56
Demand High
Career Value Strong
Recognition High
AZ-204 at a glance
- Provider
- Microsoft
- Credential type
- Professional Certification
- Exam required
- Yes
- Category
- Cloud
- Level
- Associate
- Cost
- About $165
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Time to earn
- 2–4 months
- Validity
- 1 year (free annual renewal)
- Format
- 40–60 questions, 120 minutes
- Prerequisites
- None required; Microsoft recommends 1–2 years of development experience
What is AZ-204?
The developer-facing Azure associate exam: building, deploying, and securing applications on Azure rather than administering the platform underneath them.
Skills it covers
- Azure compute
- Azure storage
- App Service
- Azure Functions
- Authentication
Is AZ-204 worth it? The Crydd Verdict
CS 56Choose it if
You write code and your employer runs on Azure — the common case in enterprise, finance, and government.
Consider alternatives if
You operate infrastructure rather than build on it; AZ-104 is the administrator's exam and a better fit.
Why we say so
Azure's enterprise footprint keeps demand high, and the annual free renewal makes it unusually cheap to keep current.
Market demand
Azure's share of large-enterprise and public-sector IT keeps this credential broadly requested, particularly in organisations already committed to Microsoft 365 and Active Directory.
Where AZ-204 takes you
- Cloud Engineer
- Backend Engineer
- Software Engineer
Career roadmaps show where this certification fits in each path. See the roadmaps.
Related certifications
Curated connections from the catalog — each labelled with how it relates to AZ-204, so you know why it’s here.
