The developer-focused Kubernetes lab exam: designing and building application workloads, configuring them, exposing them through services, and observing and debugging what you deploy.
CNCF does not publish numeric exam codes — CKAD is the common abbreviation.
Certified Kubernetes Application Developer is CNCF's associate-level containers & kubernetes certification, referred to across the industry by the shorthand CKAD. The exam runs for 2 hours, with a pass mark of 66%. It costs US$445 at the standard rate.
CNCF publishes the syllabus as 5 weighted domains. Application Environment, Configuration and Security carries the most weight at 25%, and the three largest domains together account for roughly 65% of the scored content — worth knowing before you decide where study time goes.
Confirm these details on the official CNCF page before booking — vendors adjust format and pricing without notice.
Standard rate, before local taxes
The published exam guide for CKAD, in the vendor's own order.
01Application Design and Build
20%02Application Deployment
20%03Application Observability and Maintenance
15%04Application Environment, Configuration and Security
25%05Services and Networking
20%Container experience and comfort with the command line.
Associate level — Role-based credentials for practitioners with hands-on experience.
CKAD is assessed through work performed on live systems rather than a standard multiple-choice paper. Use the weighted domains above as a lab checklist and practise each task in a realistic environment.
The syllabus breakdown above is the most useful study plan available either way: work through the domains in weight order.
CKAD is part of CNCF Kubestronaut, which requires 5 exams.
The exam is scheduled for 2 hours. CNCF does not publish a fixed question count for this exam.
66%. Confirm the current figure on the official exam page before booking, as vendors adjust cut scores when an exam form is refreshed.
The standard price is US$445. Local pricing, taxes and any retake policy vary by region, so check the official page for the figure that applies to you.
Container experience and comfort with the command line.
The exam guide covers Application Design and Build, Application Deployment, Application Observability and Maintenance, Application Environment, Configuration and Security and Services and Networking. The full weighted breakdown is listed above.