AZ-104 Exam Guide: Azure Administrator Skills, Cost, Plan

The AZ-104 exam is the test you pass to earn Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate. You get 100 minutes, you need a score of 700 or higher, and our voucher costs $44.99 against a $165.00 list price.

This guide covers what the exam tests, how it works, what it costs and how to prepare without wasting weeks.

What AZ-104 proves and who should take it

Microsoft describes the credential as proof that you can configure, manage, secure and administer key functions in Azure. The official certification page lists the level as Intermediate and the role as Administrator.

It fits you if you run, or want to run, an organization's Azure environment. That means virtual networks, storage, compute, identity, security and governance. Azure administrators often work in a larger team and coordinate with networking, security, database, development and DevOps roles.

Microsoft expects you to be familiar with operating systems, networking, servers and virtualization. It also expects experience with:

• PowerShell

• Azure CLI

• The Azure portal

• Azure Resource Manager templates or Bicep files

• Microsoft Entra ID

If cloud basics are new to you, start with our AZ-900 exam guide first. It is optional, but it makes the vocabulary easier.

Skills measured and where the points are

The official study guide lists the skills measured as of April 17, 2026. Five areas make up the exam.

Identity and compute together can reach half the exam. Spend your time there first.

A few details from the guide show how deep it goes:

• Identity and governance: Entra users and groups, self-service password reset (SSPR), built-in roles at different scopes, Azure Policy, resource locks, tags, management groups and cost alerts and budgets.

• Storage: firewalls and virtual networks, shared access signature (SAS) tokens, stored access policies, redundancy, object replication, blob tiers, lifecycle management and versioning.

• Compute: reading and modifying ARM templates and Bicep files, virtual machines, Virtual Machine Scale Sets, Azure Container Registry, Container Instances, Container Apps and App Service.

• Networking: virtual networks, subnets, peering and public IP addresses.

Microsoft notes that the bullets illustrate each skill, and related topics may appear. It also says most questions cover generally available features, though commonly used preview features can show up.

Exam format at a glance

The exam sandbox lets you try the real interface and question types before test day. Use it once. Surprises with the interface cost time you do not have.

Price: list price vs. our voucher

Microsoft publishes the price by country or region where you take the exam. The USD list price is $165.00 (Microsoft official exam price, as published by the vendor, checked October 29, 2026). Our voucher for the AZ-104 exam is $44.99.

Here is how the voucher works:

• Delivery: the code is emailed within 12 hours of payment and also shown in your account.

• Validity: 12 months.

• Redemption: through Pearson VUE.

• Cancellation: you can cancel for a full refund before delivery.

• After delivery: a code is non-refundable unless the test provider rejects it as invalid, already used or expired on first use. Then contact support within 14 days with your order number and a screenshot, and we replace or refund the code.

Full terms are on the refund page and the delivery page. Not sure how redemption goes? Read how exam vouchers work.

Book your date inside the 12-month window. Do not buy the voucher months before you can study.

A 7-week study plan with weekly hours

This plan is our suggestion, not a Microsoft requirement. It totals about 55 hours. Working Azure admins commonly need less. Newcomers often need more.

Split each week into about 30% reading and 70% hands-on work. A free Azure account and a resource group you delete at the end of each week are enough.

Microsoft says the practice assessment now runs on AI Skills Navigator. You must be signed in to launch it.

Lab example: one scenario, five commands

Try this in week 2. It ties together scopes, roles and locks, which the exam loves to mix.

Scenario: a contractor needs read-only access to one resource group. Nobody should be able to delete that group by accident, not even an Owner.

az group create --name rg-lab --location eastus
az role assignment create --assignee <object-id> --role Reader --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id>/resourceGroups/rg-lab
az lock create --name nodelete --lock-type CanNotDelete --resource-group rg-lab
az storage account create --name <unique-name> --resource-group rg-lab --sku Standard_GRS
az group delete --name rg-lab

The last command fails while the lock exists. Remove the lock first with az lock delete. That behavior is the point: a lock applies regardless of role, so it overrides permissions.

Now change Standard_GRS to Standard_LRS and compare what each redundancy option protects against. Then rewrite the storage step as a Bicep file and deploy it with az deployment group create.

Common mistakes

• Reading without building. Interactive components and scenario questions reward people who have done the task.

• Memorizing portal clicks. The portal changes. Learn the concepts, then practice the same task in the portal, Azure CLI and PowerShell.

• Skipping Bicep and ARM. Interpreting and modifying templates sits inside the 20–25% compute area.

• Treating governance as boring. Policy, locks, tags and role scopes sit in the heaviest area.

• Ignoring cost tools. Alerts, budgets and Azure Advisor recommendations are listed skills.

• Skipping the sandbox. Learn the interface before the clock is running.

• Cramming the last night. Stop heavy study the day before. Check your ID and your test setup instead.

After you pass: keep the credential active

The certification renews every 12 months. Microsoft says you renew at no cost by passing an online assessment on Microsoft Learn. Put a reminder in your calendar, because an expired credential costs you the title.

Next steps depend on your job. If you manage networks and security day to day, browse our cloud certification category for the next credential. Ready to book? The AZ-104 voucher is $44.99.

Sources

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (official exam page)

• Study guide for Exam AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator