Linux Foundation / CNCF Certifications
Informational only — not financial or career advice. Exam fees and certification requirements change, and the figures here are accurate only as of the listed verification date. Confirm the current fee and rules directly with the certifying body before you register or budget. We report the official-body exam fee for a single attempt; it excludes prep courses, materials and retakes, and is not the total cost of certifying.
The Linux Foundation and Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) issue industry-recognized certifications for cloud-native technologies and container orchestration. This resource covers one certification from this issuing body: the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA). Each certification carries an official exam fee charged by the issuing body, published prerequisite requirements, and a defined validity period with renewal or recertification procedures.
The exam fees stated in this resource represent the base cost for a single official attempt as charged by the Linux Foundation and CNCF, accurate as of June 2026 and subject to change without notice. These figures exclude the cost of third-party training materials, practice exams, and retake fees. Candidates should verify the current fee, eligibility requirements, exam format, and validity cycle directly on the Linux Foundation or CNCF official pages before registering, as this information may be updated by the issuing body at any time.
| Certification | Exam fee | Domain | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) | $445 | IT, cloud & cybersecurity | 2 years |