Table of contents
- Introduction
- What changed in the Salesforce certification catalog in 2026
- How Salesforce certifications are structured
- The best Salesforce certifications in 2026 at a glance
- Best certification for beginners: Platform Administrator
- Best AI certification: Agentforce Specialist
- Best data certification: Data 360 Consultant
- Best certifications for developers
- Best consultant certifications for experienced professionals
- Which certifications to avoid starting now
- How to choose the right Salesforce certification
- How much Salesforce certifications cost
- Key takeaways
- Conclusion
- FAQ
Introduction
Ask ten Salesforce professionals which certification to take next and most of them will say “it depends.” Fair enough. But that answer doesn’t help much when someone is about to spend $200 and several weeks of evenings on an exam.
So here is the short version. Anyone new to Salesforce should start with Platform Foundations and Platform Administrator. Anyone already working on the platform will probably get more out of the Agentforce Specialist or the Data 360 Consultant, because that’s where Salesforce is putting its weight right now.
The decision got messier this year, though. Salesforce retired the AI Associate in February, renamed 16 certifications in July, and stopped running the exams for 24 others that officially retire on February 1, 2027. Below is what actually changed, which certifications are worth the effort in 2026, and how to pick one that fits a specific job rather than a generic career path.
What changed in the Salesforce certification catalog in 2026
Three things happened this year, and each one changes the answer to “which certification should I get?”
The first came in February. Salesforce retired the AI Associate on February 2, 2026, which left the Agentforce Specialist as the main AI credential on the platform.
Then, on July 24, 16 certifications got new names. Most of them simply gained the word “Agentforce.” Sales Cloud Consultant is now Agentforce Sales Consultant, Service Cloud Consultant is now Agentforce Service Consultant, and Revenue Cloud Consultant became Revenue Management Consultant. Salesforce has confirmed the exams and maintenance requirements stayed the same, so nobody has to retake anything.
The bigger change is the retirement list. Twenty-four certifications retire on February 1, 2027, including CPQ Administrator, B2B Solution Architect, Nonprofit Success Pack Consultant, Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Consultant and a long tail of Accredited Professional credentials. The last chance to sit any of those exams was August 31, 2026.
Read together, the renames and retirements say a lot about where Salesforce is going. The company now organizes its products around agents and data rather than separate clouds, and the certifications it keeps investing in follow the same line: Agentforce, Data 360 and the core platform.
One reassuring detail: the core platform certifications weren’t touched. Platform Administrator, Platform App Builder, Platform Developer I and Business Analyst are still the standard way into a Salesforce career.
How Salesforce certifications are structured
It helps to know the levels before booking anything, mainly to avoid paying for an exam that’s two steps ahead of current experience.
At the bottom are the Foundations exams, such as Platform Foundations and Agentforce Sales Foundations. They’re designed for people with little or no hands-on time in Salesforce. Next come the Administrator and Platform App Builder certifications, for people who configure orgs, manage users and data, and build things without code. Developer certifications cover Apex, Lightning Web Components and integrations.
Above that sit the consultant and specialist certifications, each tied to a product: Agentforce, Data 360, Sales, Service, Revenue Management and so on. The architect track is for senior people designing large, multi-system solutions, with the Certified Technical Architect at the very top. Accredited Professional credentials are narrower and often aimed at partners working in a specific industry.
Most Salesforce certifications require annual maintenance through free Trailhead modules. Foundations certifications do not expire, while Accredited Professional credentials follow separate maintenance rules.
The best Salesforce certifications in 2026 at a glance
These are the certifications most professionals should be choosing between in 2026. Fees are standard US prices before tax, and they do change from time to time.
| Certification | Best for | Experience level | Exam fee (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform Foundations | Complete beginners | No experience required | $75 |
| Platform Administrator | New admins and career changers | Beginner to intermediate, hands-on experience recommended | $200 |
| Platform App Builder | Admins who build declarative apps | Entry to mid level | $200 |
| Agentforce Specialist | Anyone implementing AI agents | Mid level | $200 |
| Data 360 Consultant | Data and integration focused roles | Mid to senior level | $200 |
| Platform Developer I | Developers new to Salesforce | Mid level | $200 |
| Agentforce Sales or Service Consultant | Implementation consultants | Mid to senior level | $200 |
| Platform Administrator II | Experienced admins | Senior level | $200 |
Some advanced certifications have formal prerequisites. Check the official Salesforce exam guide before registering.
Best certification for beginners: Platform Administrator
For most people starting out, the Platform Administrator is still the right first exam. It covers the work nearly every Salesforce job leans on: users and security, data management, reports and dashboards, and automation with Flow.
Expect 60 scored questions, a mix of multiple choice and multiple select, plus up to five unscored ones, with 105 minutes on the clock. Registration is $200, and a retake is $100.
It’s worth taking seriously. Plenty of people who now hold several certifications say the Administrator exam was one of the harder ones, mostly because it covers so much ground. It’s also the baseline many hiring managers look for, and it’s on the recommended background list for the Agentforce Specialist, so it keeps paying off later.
Someone who has never logged into Salesforce might be better off with Platform Foundations first. At $75 with free retakes, it’s a low-risk way to learn the vocabulary before tackling the bigger exam.
Best AI certification: Agentforce Specialist
If one certification sums up where Salesforce is in 2026, it’s the Agentforce Specialist. It shows that a person can actually build, test and deploy AI agents in Agentforce, write and ground prompt templates, and connect those agents to the right data.
Salesforce’s exam guide breaks the exam down this way: AI agents make up 35%, prompt engineering 20%, and Data Cloud for Agentforce another 20%. It’s a 105-minute exam with a $200 registration fee.
It makes the most sense for admins and app builders who have just been asked to get an agent working in their org, for consultants on Agentforce projects, and for anyone who held the now-retired AI Associate and wants a current AI credential.
A word of warning: this is not an exam to pass from reading alone. The questions are built around real scenarios, and people without time in an Agentforce-enabled org tend to find it harder than they expected. Use an Agentforce-enabled practice environment and Salesforce’s official hands-on Trailhead exercises to gain experience with agents, actions and prompt templates.
Best data certification: Data 360 Consultant
The Data 360 Consultant covers the platform most people still call Data Cloud: bringing data in, modeling it, resolving identities, building segments and activating them.
The reason it ranks so high this year is simple. Agentforce depends on it. An agent is only as good as the customer data behind it, and Data 360 is how Salesforce gets that data unified and trusted. On real projects, the two skill sets now tend to show up together.
This isn’t a first certification. It suits people who already have some Salesforce experience and work with data integration, marketing data or customer profiles.
Best certifications for developers
Developers new to Salesforce should start with Platform Developer I, which covers Apex, SOQL, triggers, testing and Lightning Web Components. Platform Developer II comes later, once advanced patterns, asynchronous processing and integrations are part of the day job.
Developers on AI projects have a good reason to add the Agentforce Specialist too. Custom agent actions are often built in Apex and Flow, so the two certifications complement each other well.
Best consultant certifications for experienced professionals
For consultants, the honest answer is to follow the products clients actually run.
Agentforce Sales Consultant and Agentforce Service Consultant are the old Sales Cloud and Service Cloud Consultant exams under new names, and they’re still two of the most broadly useful consultant credentials. Revenue Management Consultant, formerly Revenue Cloud Consultant, is the natural next step for anyone holding the retiring CPQ Administrator, since quoting, pricing and billing carry over. Marketing consultants working on Salesforce’s newer marketing platform, built on Data 360, should look at the Marketing Cloud Next Consultant. And senior admins handling complex security, automation and troubleshooting will find Platform Administrator II a better fit than another consultant exam.
Which certifications to avoid starting now
This one’s easy: don’t start studying for anything on the retirement list. Those exams closed on August 31, 2026, so there’s no way to sit them anymore.
People who already hold one keep it. A retired certification stays on the Trailblazer profile, but over time it reads as past experience rather than current skill. The better move is toward the named successor, such as Revenue Management Consultant for CPQ holders or Agentforce Nonprofit Consultant for Nonprofit Success Pack holders.
How to choose the right Salesforce certification
A few questions usually settle it.
- Where is the starting point? Someone new to Salesforce belongs in Foundations or Administrator. A working admin is ready for App Builder, Agentforce Specialist or Administrator II.
- What’s the next job? Developers need Platform Developer I. Consultants need the exam for the products on their projects. Anyone heading into AI work needs the Agentforce Specialist.
- What does the employer or client actually use? Studying for a product that’s open on screen every day is faster, and the certification is more useful afterward.
- Is there a real org to practice in? Every exam on this list is scenario-based, and preparation takes much longer without hands-on time.
- Is the certification still active? It takes two minutes to check the retirement list, and it can save months of wasted study.
For a lot of people, the 2026 path ends up looking something like this: Platform Administrator first, then App Builder or Agentforce Specialist, then Data 360 Consultant or a product consultant exam.
How much Salesforce certifications cost
Most Salesforce exams cost $200, and a retake is $100. Foundations exams are $75 with free retakes, Accredited Professional exams are $150, and domain architect exams are $400. Local taxes are added on top at registration.
Maintenance is free and done through Trailhead. Just don’t let the deadline slip, because an expired certification means sitting the full exam again.
Key takeaways
- Newcomers still can’t go far wrong with Platform Administrator as a first certification.
- With the AI Associate gone, the Agentforce Specialist is the credential that shows current AI skills on Salesforce.
- Data 360 Consultant and Agentforce Specialist work best as a pair, since agents run on unified data.
- The July renames were cosmetic. Same exams, same maintenance, new titles.
- The 24 retiring exams are closed to new candidates, so study time is better spent on their successors.
Conclusion
The right Salesforce certification depends on your current experience, the products you work with and your next career goal. Choose a certification that builds on your existing skills and supports the work you want to do.
The next step is a small one. Choose a certification from this list, download its official exam guide from Trailhead Academy, and spin up a free Developer Edition org to practice in before booking a date.
Studying for the Platform Administrator, Agentforce Specialist or Data 360 Consultant? K2U’s Exam-Ready Bundles combine scenario-based practice exams with study guides aligned with the official exam objectives, which makes it easier to spot weak areas well before exam day.
FAQ
Which Salesforce certification should a beginner get first?
For most people, the Platform Administrator. Anyone who has never used Salesforce might want Platform Foundations first; it’s $75 and retakes are free.
Is the Agentforce Specialist certification worth it in 2026?
For anyone working on AI projects in Salesforce, or expecting to soon, yes. Since the AI Associate retired in February 2026, it’s the main AI certification on the platform.
Do renamed Salesforce certifications need to be retaken?
No. Salesforce has confirmed the 16 certifications renamed on July 24, 2026 kept the same exam content and maintenance requirements. The new name shows up on Trailblazer profiles automatically.
Is a retired Salesforce certification still valid?
It stays on the Trailblazer profile as proof the holder passed the exam. What it no longer shows is current product knowledge, so it’s worth planning a move to the successor credential.
How much does a Salesforce certification cost?
Most exams are $200, with a $100 retake. Foundations exams are $75, Accredited Professional exams $150, and domain architect exams $400, plus local taxes at registration.
How long does it take to prepare for a Salesforce certification?
It varies a lot. Someone using Salesforce every day will usually be ready sooner than someone learning it from scratch. The official exam guide is the best place to gauge the scope before setting a date.
Do Salesforce certifications expire?
Most Salesforce certifications remain active as long as the holder completes the required annual Trailhead maintenance. Foundations certifications do not expire, and Accredited Professional credentials follow separate rules.
