AI-103 Exam Cost: Price, Retakes and Renewal

The Microsoft AI-103 exam costs $165 in the United States as of September 2026. Microsoft sets the price by the country where the exam is proctored, so it’s lower in many countries, and tax is extra. Each retake costs the full fee again. Once you pass, keeping the certification costs nothing: you renew with a free online assessment every year.

AI-103 is the exam for the Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate certification. Below is every cost Microsoft publishes, the ones it doesn’t, and what a realistic budget looks like.

AI-103 cost at a glance

AI-103 price by country

Microsoft keeps a price list that its exam pages pull from. Here’s what it showed for AI-103 in a sample of countries:

These prices exclude tax and don’t include promotions or the reduced pricing Microsoft offers to Microsoft Certified Trainers and partner program members. To see your exact figure, choose your country next to the price on the AI-103 certification page, then confirm it at checkout.

What the fee buys

• 120 minutes of exam time. Microsoft says the exam may include interactive components, and its exam duration table pairs a 120-minute exam with 140 minutes of seat time to cover instructions and the candidate agreement.
• A passing score of 700.
• Delivery through Pearson VUE, online or at a test center.
• 10 languages: English, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, German, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish.
• An open reference. On associate exams you can open Microsoft Learn in a split screen. No extra time is added, so it’s for the odd lookup, not every question.

Microsoft doesn’t publish a question count for AI-103; its general guidance is that most exams have 40 to 60 questions. It also doesn’t list question types in advance, but its free exam sandbox, linked from the certification page, lets you try the interface before you pay.

What a retake costs

Microsoft’s retake policy for role-based exams:

• After a first failed attempt, wait 24 hours.
• After that, wait 14 days between attempts.
• No more than five attempts in the 12 months after your first try.
• You pay for each retake.

In the US, passing on the second attempt means $330 in total. Keep that number in mind if you’re tempted to book early “just to see what it’s like”.

Exam Replay: a bundled second chance

Microsoft and Pearson VUE sell a package called Exam Replay: one exam voucher plus one retake of the same exam. You have to take both within 12 months of buying it, and you can only schedule the retake after failing the first attempt. Microsoft’s offers page doesn’t list a price, so compare it with the single-exam price at checkout. If you’re unsure you’ll pass first time, it’s worth a look.

Discounts that can lower the price

• Students: Microsoft offers academic pricing in most countries, except India and China. Mark yourself as a student in your Microsoft Learn profile and verify your academic status before you register.
• Trainers and partners: Microsoft Certified Trainers and partner program members can get reduced pricing.
• Your employer: Ask your manager or training budget owner before paying yourself. If your company is a Microsoft partner, it may qualify for partner pricing.

Renewal: the cost after you pass

Associate certifications like this one expire every year, but renewing is free. You pass a short online assessment on Microsoft Learn. The details from Microsoft’s renewal pages:

• The renewal window opens six months before your certification expires.
• The assessment is unproctored and open book, and Microsoft says it takes about 45 minutes.
• There’s no limit on attempts. If you fail, you can try again right away; after the second try, you wait at least 24 hours between attempts.
• Passing extends your certification one year from its current expiration date.

The expensive mistake is missing the window. If the certification expires, Microsoft requires you to pass the exam again, which means paying the full fee. For how other AI certifications handle renewal, see do AI certifications expire?

Costs Microsoft doesn’t list

• Azure usage for practice. The skills outline is hands-on: deploying models in Microsoft Foundry, building agents, adding retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). New Azure customers get a $200 credit to use within 30 days plus free monthly amounts of some services. After that you pay for what you run, so delete resources when each lab is done.
• Instructor-led training. Microsoft lists a 4-day instructor-led course, AI-103T00. Its course page doesn’t show a price, and it’s optional: Microsoft also offers self-paced study for it on Microsoft Learn.
• Paid practice tests. Also optional, given the free options below.

Free ways to prepare

• Microsoft’s AI-103 study guide, with skills measured as of April 16, 2026.
• Microsoft’s free Practice Assessment for this certification, now on AI Skills Navigator (you need to sign in).
• Our free AI-103 practice questions, weighted to the official domains.
• Our AI-103 study guide and cheat sheet.

Realistic AI-103 budgets (US)

A prompt to plan your spend

Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and fill in the brackets:

You are a practical study-budget advisor. I'm preparing for Microsoft's AI-103 exam (Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate).

My situation:
- Country where I'll take the exam: [COUNTRY]
- Exam price there (from Microsoft's exam page): [PRICE]
- Weekly study time: [HOURS]
- My Python and Azure experience: [DESCRIBE BRIEFLY]
- Budget ceiling: [AMOUNT]

Task:
1. Rate my risk of needing a retake as low, medium or high, and explain why in two sentences.
2. Tell me whether a bundled exam-plus-retake offer is worth checking, given that rating.
3. Suggest a hands-on Azure practice plan that stays within free credits, with a reminder to delete resources after each lab.
4. Give me a total budget range in a small table: exam, possible retake, practice, training.

Only use the prices I give you. If you're unsure about anything, say so instead of guessing.

You are a practical study-budget advisor. I'm preparing for Microsoft's AI-103 exam (Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate).

My situation:
- Country where I'll take the exam: [COUNTRY]
- Exam price there (from Microsoft's exam page): [PRICE]
- Weekly study time: [HOURS]
- My Python and Azure experience: [DESCRIBE BRIEFLY]
- Budget ceiling: [AMOUNT]

Task:
1. Rate my risk of needing a retake as low, medium or high, and explain why in two sentences.
2. Tell me whether a bundled exam-plus-retake offer is worth checking, given that rating.
3. Suggest a hands-on Azure practice plan that stays within free credits, with a reminder to delete resources after each lab.
4. Give me a total budget range in a small table: exam, possible retake, practice, training.

Only use the prices I give you. If you're unsure about anything, say so instead of guessing.

Money mistakes to avoid

• Registering with a work account. Microsoft strongly recommends a personal Microsoft account. If you register with a work or school account and later leave, your exam records can be lost for good.
• Booking before the free practice assessment. It costs nothing and tells you whether you’re close.
• Forgetting to renew. A lapsed certification means paying the full exam fee again.
• Leaving Azure resources running after practice labs.
• Studying AI-102 material. AI-102 retired on June 30, 2026, and Microsoft says AI-103 replaced it. Old material misses the Foundry and agent content, so check what changed from AI-102 to AI-103.

Try it now

Look up your country’s price on Microsoft’s page, then take Microsoft’s free practice assessment and ten of our free sample questions before you pay anything. If you’re still deciding whether the certification is worth it at all, read our honest AI-103 review, and browse every exam we cover at the AI exam prep hub.

Related guides

• How to pass AI-103: a 3-week study plan
• AI-901 vs AI-103: which Azure AI cert?
• AI-103 dumps: why you don’t need them
• Free AI-103 Practice Questions (Azure AI Apps & Agents Developer)
• Is the AI-103 Certification Worth It? An Honest Look at Microsoft’s Newest AI Cert

HOW TO // AI is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft. AI-103, Azure and Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation, referenced descriptively. Prices and policies come from Microsoft’s official pages as of September 2026 and can change, so check the renewal page and the official AI-103 page before you book.