AZ-204 Certification: Retired in 2026, and What to Take Instead (AI-200)

Last updated: October 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology.

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THE SHORT ANSWER

This page used to be our AZ-204 exam guide. Microsoft has since retired the exam, so it is now a guide to what happened, what it means if you hold the certification, and what Azure developers should take instead. The AZ-204 details are kept further down for reference.

See the AI-200 course on Udemy →

What happened to AZ-204

Microsoft retired the Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate certification and its exam, AZ-204, on July 31, 2026. Its training content was retired earlier, in May 2026, and the free annual renewal assessment went at the same time as the certification. The certification page on Microsoft Learn now reads: “This certification and the renewal assessment are retired.”

Microsoft explained the change in a Skills Hub announcement that it has updated several times (version 11 is dated May 28, 2026). Its retirement table lists the replacement for AZ-204 as Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate (Exam AI-200), and its advice to candidates who had not registered for AZ-204 was to prepare for AI-200 instead.

AZ-204 was not retired alone. The same announcement covers a wider rebuild of Microsoft’s certifications around AI work:

Source: Microsoft Skills Hub retirement table, read on 5 October 2026. The Windows Server date was still marked as planned.

If you already hold AZ-204

Nothing is taken away from you. Microsoft says retirement does not revoke or invalidate a certification you have earned. It stays on your Microsoft Learn transcript and keeps counting until it expires.

• It cannot be renewed. Associate certifications expire after a year unless you pass the free online renewal assessment, and that assessment retired with the exam. Your AZ-204 will lapse on its expiry date.
• It still meets the AZ-400 prerequisite. The DevOps Engineer Expert certification requires either the Azure Administrator Associate or the Azure Developer Associate. If you have AZ-204 now, you qualify.
• It is still worth listing on a CV. Employers read it as proof you could build on Azure. Add AI-200 before it lapses if you want a current Azure developer credential on your record.

AI-200 at a glance

AI-200 keeps the job AZ-204 described (a developer responsible for the back end of applications on Azure) and points it at AI workloads: containerized services, vector-enabled databases, event-driven pipelines, serverless functions, secret management and observability.

Checked on Microsoft Learn on 5 October 2026. The exam was in beta in May 2026 and Microsoft expected it to go live in July; it is now schedulable. Read Microsoft’s AI-200 certification page for the current price in your country before you book.

What AI-200 tests

Microsoft’s AI-200 study guide splits the exam into four skill areas. The weights are Microsoft’s; the bullets summarize what each area lists.

Develop containerized solutions on Azure (20–25%)

• Build, store and version images with Azure Container Registry, including ACR Tasks.
• Deploy containers to Azure App Service, with environment variables and secrets.
• Deploy to Azure Container Apps, including revisions and event-driven scaling with KEDA.
• Deploy and manage applications on Azure Kubernetes Service with manifest files, and troubleshoot AKS and Container Apps from logs and events.

Develop AI solutions by using Azure data management services (25–30%)

• Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL: SDK queries, indexing and consistency trade-offs, Request Unit costs, storing embeddings and running vector similarity search, and the change feed processor.
• Azure Database for PostgreSQL: schema and indexing design, tuning pgvector, sizing compute for vector workloads, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) with metadata filters.
• Azure Managed Redis: caching, expiration and invalidation, plus vector indexing for similarity search.

Connect to and consume Azure services (20–25%)

• Azure Service Bus queues, topics, subscriptions and dead-letter handling.
• Azure Event Grid workflows with filters, custom events and retries.
• Azure Functions: serverless APIs with triggers and bindings, then configuring and deploying function apps.

Secure, monitor and troubleshoot Azure solutions (20–25%)

• Azure Key Vault for secrets, including rotation, and Azure App Configuration for settings.
• Distributed tracing with OpenTelemetry SDKs, and KQL queries over logs and metrics.

The data-services area carries the most weight, and it is also where AI-200 differs most from AZ-204. A developer who knew AZ-204 well will recognize most of the rest.

AZ-204 vs AI-200: what carried over and what is new

This is our comparison of AZ-204’s final skills outline with Microsoft’s AI-200 study guide. It is meant to show where your existing AZ-204 knowledge still counts, not to stand in for the study guide.

Three practical consequences. If you are coming from C#, budget time for Python. Vector search and RAG patterns are now examinable rather than optional. And services AZ-204 covered, such as API Management and Event Hubs, no longer appear in the AI-200 skills list, so they deserve less of your study time.

Who should take AI-200, and who should not

AI-200 suits developers who build the services, data stores and pipelines behind AI features on Azure: the retrieval layer of a RAG application, an event-driven processing pipeline, an API running in Container Apps. If that describes your work or the job you want, it is the right Azure developer credential to hold in 2026.

Some readers who would once have taken AZ-204 now belong elsewhere:

• You build AI apps and agents rather than their back end: AI-103, Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate, which replaced AI-102. See our AI certification guide.
• You run Azure infrastructure or are heading to AZ-400: AZ-104 (Azure Administrator) is now the only open route to the DevOps Engineer Expert prerequisite. See our AZ-400 guide.
• You design systems rather than build them: AZ-305 (Azure Solutions Architect Expert).
• Your employer runs on AWS: the AWS Certified Developer exam is changing too. AWS says the last day to sit the current version (DVA-C02) is November 30, 2026, and registration for DVA-C03 opens on October 27, 2026 (AWS). Our AWS vs Azure comparison covers the choice of cloud.

How to prepare for AI-200

AI-200 is new, so the choice of study material is thinner than it was for AZ-204. Our ranking, by how well each option matches the exam as of October 2026:

1. Microsoft Learn: Develop AI cloud solutions on Azure (free)

Microsoft’s own course for AI-200 is seven learning paths totalling about 31 hours: container hosting, Azure Container Apps, AKS, Cosmos DB for NoSQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure Managed Redis and back-end integration. It maps directly onto the study guide and costs nothing, so it should be the core of your preparation whatever else you use. You will need an Azure subscription for the hands-on work; keep resources small and delete them when you finish each module.

2. Udemy: AI-200 Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate, Complete Course

Built for AI-200 and taught by Luke Ginn: 21.5 hours of video, rated 4.4 from 138 ratings with 1,756 students, last updated August 2026 (checked 5 October 2026). That is a short track record because the exam itself is new, so treat it as a structured companion to Microsoft Learn rather than a replacement. Udemy courses are often discounted and come with Udemy’s refund window.

View the AI-200 course →

3. Udacity: Cloud Developer using Microsoft Azure Nanodegree

Udacity’s Azure developer program goes deeper on building and deploying real applications than either option above, which makes it useful for a portfolio. It was not written for AI-200 and does not cover the exam’s vector search and pgvector material, so pair it with Microsoft Learn if the certification is the goal. It costs $249 a month or $846 for four months and is rated 4.3 from 45 reviews (checked 5 October 2026). Our Cloud Developer Nanodegree review has the detail.

See the Udacity Azure program →

4. Practice questions

Microsoft has not released its free AI-200 practice assessment yet. Until it does, use Microsoft’s exam sandbox to get used to the question formats; MeasureUp also lists AI-200 practice products. Be wary of AZ-204 practice tests: the outlines overlap, but AI-200’s heaviest area (data services and vector search, 25–30%) is largely missing from them.

The fastest route to AI-200 if you already know AZ-204

If you studied for or passed AZ-204, you do not need to start from zero. Roughly half of AI-200 (Functions, Service Bus, Event Grid, Key Vault, containers, KQL) is ground you have already covered, though often in more depth now. Spend your time in this order:

• Python first, if you came from C#. The SDK calls on the exam will be Python. You do not need advanced Python, but you should read and write SDK code comfortably.
• Vector search next. Embeddings, similarity queries and RAG retrieval across Cosmos DB for NoSQL, PostgreSQL with pgvector and Azure Managed Redis make up the heaviest-weighted area, and none of it was on AZ-204.
• Then containers in depth. AZ-204 touched containers; AI-200 expects you to deploy and debug on Container Apps and AKS, including KEDA scaling and manifest files.
• Finally, observability. OpenTelemetry tracing replaces much of what Application Insights covered on the old exam.

For most AZ-204 holders who already write Python, that is four to six weeks of part-time study rather than the eight in the plan below.

Booking and sitting the exam

• Where: AI-200 is a proctored exam scheduled through Pearson VUE, either online from home or at a test center. Microsoft recommends booking from a personal Microsoft account, so the certification stays with you if you change employers.
• Languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian and Spanish. If your language is not offered, you can request an extra 30 minutes.
• Retakes: if you fail, you can retake 24 hours after your first attempt; the wait for later attempts gets longer under Microsoft’s retake policy.
• Accommodations: extra time and assistive devices can be requested through Microsoft before you book.

Is AI-200 worth it?

For a developer working on Azure, yes, with one caveat. It is Microsoft’s named successor to the Azure Developer Associate, it covers the skills teams are hiring for as they add AI features, and renewal is free. The caveat is that it is new: recruiters and job descriptions will still say AZ-204 for a while, so mention on your CV that AI-200 replaced it. If you are not developing on Azure, or your work is front-end, the time is better spent elsewhere.

An 8-week AI-200 study plan

This assumes you already write Python and know the Azure portal. Add two to three weeks if either is new.

Pay and demand for Azure developers

Certification-specific salary figures are hard to verify, so we stick to the official numbers. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the 2025 median pay for software developers, quality assurance analysts and testers at $134,040, across about 1.9 million jobs, and projects 10% employment growth from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). A certification will not set your salary; what it does is give a hiring manager evidence that you can build on Azure specifically.

AZ-204 as it stood at retirement (reference)

For existing holders and anyone comparing the two exams, this is what AZ-204 looked like in its final form.

Frequently asked questions

Has AZ-204 been retired?

Yes. Microsoft retired the Azure Developer Associate certification, the AZ-204 exam and its free renewal assessment on July 31, 2026. Microsoft’s retirement table names AI-200 (Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate) as the replacement certification.

Can I still take the AZ-204 exam?

No. The exam can no longer be booked or retaken. Microsoft’s advice to anyone who had not registered before the retirement is to prepare for AI-200 instead.

Is my AZ-204 certification still valid?

Yes, until its expiry date. Retirement does not revoke a certification you earned; it stays on your Microsoft Learn transcript until it expires. What you lose is the free annual renewal, so it cannot be extended past that date.

What replaced AZ-204?

AI-200: Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate. It keeps the back-end Azure developer role but adds AI workloads: vector search in Azure Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL with pgvector and Azure Managed Redis, alongside containers, Azure Functions, messaging, Key Vault and monitoring.

How much does the AI-200 exam cost?

$165 in the United States when we checked on 5 October 2026. Microsoft prices exams by the country where you sit them, so the fee differs elsewhere. The exam lasts 120 minutes and you need 700 to pass.

Which programming language does AI-200 use?

Python. Microsoft lists Python programming among the skills a candidate should have, which is a change from AZ-204, where C# and .NET samples were common.

Does AZ-204 still count toward AZ-400 (DevOps Engineer Expert)?

Yes. AZ-400 requires either the Azure Administrator Associate or the Azure Developer Associate certification, so an AZ-204 you already hold still qualifies. New candidates have to take AZ-104 (Azure Administrator) to meet the prerequisite, because AI-200 is not on Microsoft’s list.

Should I take AI-200 or AI-103?

AI-200 if you build the back-end services, data stores and pipelines behind AI applications. AI-103 (Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate) if your work is building generative AI apps and agents in Microsoft Foundry.

Related guides

• Which cloud certification should you get?
• AZ-104: Azure Administrator
• AZ-305: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• AZ-400: DevOps Engineer Expert
• Best AI certifications
• Best Microsoft Azure courses
• AWS Certified Developer
• AWS vs Azure
• Best programming certifications

Written by Josh Hutcheson. See how we review.