Microsoft Azure Developer Associate (AZ-204)
The AZ-204 exam is designed for professionals who implement and configure Azure. It validates your ability to develop Azure compute solutions, develop for Azure storage, implement Azure security, monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize Azure solutions, and connect to and consume Azure and third-party services.
This certification has retired. New candidates should take AI-200.
Exam details
- Certification
- Microsoft Azure Developer Associate
- Application
- Azure
- Exam code
- AZ-204
- Level
- Associate
- Duration
- Approximately 100 minutes
- Questions
- Typically 40–60 questions
- Passing score
- 700 out of 1000
- Cost
- USD $165 — typical price; the exact fee varies by country/region and currency, and local taxes may apply.
- Prerequisites
- None required
- Languages
- English (also available in Japanese, German, French, Spanish and several other languages)
- Delivered by
- Pearson VUE
- Renewal
- Free online assessment, every 12 months
Skills measured
Develop Azure compute solutions (25–30%)
- Implement container images, Azure Container Registry, Container Instances, and Container Apps.
- Create App Service web apps with TLS, autoscaling, diagnostics, and deployment slots.
- Create Azure Functions with bindings and triggers from data, timers, and webhooks.
Develop for Azure storage (15–20%)
- Develop Cosmos DB solutions with SDKs, consistency levels, and change feed.
- Develop Blob Storage solutions with metadata, SDKs, policies, and lifecycle management.
Implement Azure security (15–20%)
- Authenticate and authorise users with Microsoft Identity platform, Entra ID, SAS, and Microsoft Graph.
- Secure configuration with App Configuration, Key Vault, and managed identities.
Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize Azure solutions (5–10%)
- Monitor metrics, logs, and traces with Application Insights.
- Implement availability tests, alerts, and instrumentation.
Connect to and consume Azure and third-party services (20–25%)
- Create and secure APIs with Azure API Management and policies.
- Implement event-based solutions with Event Grid and Event Hubs.
- Implement message-based solutions with Service Bus and Queue Storage.
Study Resources
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Frequently asked questions
Who should take AZ-204?
AZ-204 is for Azure developers, cloud software engineers, and back-end developers. Most work in product engineering, at digital agencies, or in enterprise application teams in technology, financial services, and retail. This exam has retired.
What is the average salary for an Azure Developer?
As of mid-2026, ZipRecruiter reports an average US Azure Developer salary of about $121,000, and Salary.com reports about $120,000. In the United Kingdom, IT Jobs Watch shows a median advertised salary of £67,500 for Azure Developer roles. In western Europe, comparable cloud developers often earn about €65,000 to €90,000 in Germany. This exam retired in July 2026.
Where do I find exam questions to practice?
You will find websites selling exam dumps or brain dumps that claim to be real AZ-204 questions. Those materials are not official. Microsoft treats using brain dumps as cheating. It can invalidate your score, revoke certifications you already hold, and ban you from future exams. MeasureUp also sells the official practice test linked in the study resources on this page. You can try the Microsoft exam sandbox to see the question types and timer, but it does not use real exam questions. Practise the skills measured in a real product environment rather than memorising leaked items.
Does the exam include official labs I can use to practice?
Microsoft does not publish a stable list of which certification exams include labs, and a lab can be dropped for a candidate if the live environment is unavailable. Role-based Azure and security exams such as AZ-204 may include performance-based labs in a live cloud environment. You only find out at the start of your sitting. For practice, Microsoft Learn modules for this exam often include a free Azure sandbox, and official instructor-led AZ-204T00 training delivered by a Microsoft Learning Partner includes labs. Those labs are for the course, not a copy of the exam. Applied Skills assessment labs are a separate Microsoft credential, not AZ-204 exam labs. The Microsoft exam sandbox shows traditional question types only. It does not give you the lab virtual machine.