The exam facts and the services people mix up, on one page — then 8 quick questions to test recall. CLF-C02, 2026 edition.
Skim the cheat sheet, then try 8 free rapid-fire questions in the exam's own style — every answer explained, no sign-up.
Straight to the 8 free questions ↓A cheat sheet is a last-mile tool: the facts on one page, so the night before the exam you are refreshing, not learning. It will not build the reasoning skill the exam tests — that comes from working through questions — but it is the fastest way to firm up the names and numbers. Skim it, then try the eight quick questions below.
65 questions · 90 minutes · pass 700 of 1000 · $100 · valid 3 years. Domain weights 24 / 30 / 34 / 12 (Concepts / Security / Technology / Billing). 15 of the 65 are unscored trial questions; no penalty for a wrong answer; multiple-response is all-or-nothing. Full detail is on the exam guide.
The exam confuses these on purpose — one sentence each keeps them apart:
Answer each one before you reveal the explanation, and when you miss, read past the correct letter to why the other three fail. The eight below are deliberately rapid, covering services people revise last. If a name is unfamiliar, add it to your sheet — and then close the gap with the topic page, because recognising a name is not the same as knowing what it is for.
Which AWS service is used to send bulk and transactional email?
Amazon SES is the service for sending email — marketing campaigns and transactional messages alike. Why not the others: SNS is publish/subscribe notifications, not an email platform. Connect is a cloud contact center. Pinpoint is for targeted customer engagement campaigns. For plain 'send email', it is SES.
Which service provides managed virtual desktops (Desktop-as-a-Service) in the cloud?
Amazon WorkSpaces delivers managed virtual desktops your users connect to. Why not the others: EC2 gives you virtual servers, not managed desktops. Lightsail is simple virtual private servers. Outposts brings AWS hardware on-premises. Managed cloud desktops is WorkSpaces.
Which service lets you run AWS infrastructure and services on-premises, in your own data center?
AWS Outposts places AWS-managed hardware and services in your own data center for a consistent hybrid experience. Why not the others: Direct Connect is a private network link to AWS, not on-premises compute. Storage Gateway bridges on-premises to AWS storage. CloudFront is content delivery. AWS hardware running on-premises is Outposts.
Which service automates a continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) release pipeline?
AWS CodePipeline models and automates the stages of a software release — build, test, deploy. Why not the others: CloudFormation provisions infrastructure from templates. Config records resource configuration. Step Functions orchestrates application workflows, not release pipelines. CI/CD release automation is CodePipeline.
Which service turns text into lifelike speech?
Amazon Polly converts text into natural-sounding speech (text-to-speech). Why not the others: Transcribe does the reverse, converting speech to text. Comprehend analyses text for meaning. Lex builds conversational chatbots. Text to speech is Polly.
Which service is a cloud-based contact (call) center?
Amazon Connect is a cloud contact center for handling customer calls and chats. Why not the others: SES sends email. Chime is for meetings and video calls within a company. Pinpoint runs marketing engagement campaigns. A customer contact center is Connect.
Which service provides a managed Kubernetes cluster on AWS?
Amazon EKS runs managed Kubernetes on AWS. Why not the others: ECS is AWS's own container orchestrator (not Kubernetes). Lambda runs functions, not container clusters. Lightsail is simple virtual servers. Managed Kubernetes specifically is EKS; ECS is the AWS-native alternative.
Which service analyses your resources and recommends right-sizing to optimise cost and performance?
AWS Compute Optimizer recommends optimal resource configurations — right-sizing instances — using your usage data. Why not the others: Budgets alerts on spend against a threshold. CloudFormation provisions infrastructure. Inspector scans for vulnerabilities. Right-sizing recommendations are Compute Optimizer.
That is exactly how every question in the course works — answer, explanation, why-not. The real set continues in the practice player: 10 free questions, no sign-up.
Continue with the 10 free questions →The exam does not test whether you recognise a term — it tests whether you can rule out three plausible answers under time pressure. That is what the explanations above are for, and there are 390 more questions built exactly like them.
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Updated for CLF-C02 (July 2026). The sample questions above are our own work in the style of the exam — not real exam items. The exam itself is set and marked by the certification body.