Certified Kubernetes Application Developer

IntermediateCloudPaid

Kubernetes certification for developers deploying and managing applications on Kubernetes. Focuses on application design, configuration, deployment, and debugging rather than cluster administration. Performance-based, live environment exam.

What you'll prove

  • Design and deploy application workloads on Kubernetes
  • Configure environment variables, ConfigMaps, and Secrets
  • Implement health checks, resource limits, and pod disruption budgets
  • Expose applications using Services and configure Ingress resources
  • Debug application issues in running Kubernetes pods
  • Implement Jobs, CronJobs, and Init Containers
  • Configure network policies for application security

Frequently asked

How much does CKAD cost?

$445 USD as of February 2025. Includes one free retake.

CKA vs CKAD — what is the difference?

CKA focuses on cluster administration (installing, managing, troubleshooting clusters). CKAD focuses on deploying and managing applications on an existing cluster. DevOps engineers often hold both.

Where this fits

Roadmaps featuring this cert