PL-900 Certification Guide 2026: Cost, Practice Test, Free Training

PL-900, Microsoft Power Platform Fundamentals, is the standard entry certification for the Power Platform: Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Pages, and Dataverse, with Copilot features now tested inside each product area. It was not retired in Microsoft’s 2025-2026 retirement wave, which makes it the safe first certification in a 2026 Power Platform study plan.

This guide covers what the exam tests since its June 2025 update (including what was removed, which much of the older study material still gets wrong), what it costs, where the free training and practice test live, and how to prepare.

Updated June 2026 against the official PL-900 study guide and certification page.

What is the PL-900 exam?

PL-900 is the beginner-level Microsoft certification exam for people starting to build solutions with the Power Platform: makers, analysts, citizen developers, and anyone whose job is growing an automation-and-apps layer. Passing it earns Microsoft Certified: Power Platform Fundamentals. The headline facts, from the official study guide:

• A score of 700 or greater is required to pass.
• No prerequisites, and the certification is useful preparation for role-based exams without being required by any of them.
• A fundamentals certification: Microsoft’s annual renewal requirement applies to associate, expert, and specialty certifications, not this tier.
• Exam pricing is published on the Microsoft Learn exam page for your country or region when you schedule.
• If the exam is not offered in your preferred language, Microsoft lets you request an additional 30 minutes on top of the standard exam time shown when you schedule, per the study guide; localized versions update about eight weeks after the English exam.

PL-900 is also verifiably alive. Microsoft retired MS-900, MB-910, and MB-920, and is retiring PL-500, PL-600, and PL-200 through mid-2026, per its retired certifications list. PL-900 carries no retirement notice as of the June 2026 check; we verify that before recommending any exam.

What is on the PL-900 exam? Skills measured since June 2025

The exam was updated on June 20, 2025, and the change matters more than most updates, per the study guide’s change log: Power BI was removed from PL-900 entirely, the standalone Copilot Studio and AI Builder sections were removed with Copilot features now tested inside each product area instead, and Power Pages site creation was added. Study material that still drills you on Power BI dashboards is teaching you the old exam.

The current skill areas, with Microsoft’s published weights:

Skills measured change over time; this table was checked against the official study guide in June 2026.

In practice:

• Power Apps is the heaviest area: canvas apps, model-driven apps, and their Copilot controls.
• Power Automate covers cloud and desktop flows, plus building and monitoring them. The exam stays at the describe-and-build level; this is where real-world skills like trigger conditions and expressions live.
• Dataverse anchors the environment area: tables, columns, relationships, and governance.
• Power Pages now includes actually creating a site, not just describing one.

PL-900 exam questions and practice test

Three official, free resources answer the “what do the questions look like” question better than any dump site, and without the exam-agreement risk:

1. The free official practice assessment: real question style, scored against the current skill areas. Take it before you study to find your gaps, and again before you schedule.
2. The exam sandbox: a walkthrough of the exam interface itself, so question mechanics are not a surprise on test day.
3. The study guide: the bullet-level list of every skill the questions can draw from.

A caution that applies to every Microsoft exam: avoid “dumps” sites promising real exam questions. They violate the exam agreement and can cost you the certification.

PL-900 certification cost

Two costs to plan for, honestly separated:

• The exam fee is set by Microsoft per country or region and shown on the exam page when you schedule. Microsoft localizes the fee and adjusts it over time, so any fixed number printed on a training site goes stale; the exam page always shows your current price. The certification itself, once earned, does not expire and has no renewal fee at this tier.
• The training cost is whatever you choose it to be. Microsoft Learn’s self-paced PL-900 path is free. Our 2-hour introduction to the Power Platform is free. Instructor-led training is the paid option: our 16-hour live PL-900 course uses official Microsoft courseware with Microsoft Certified Trainers, quoted when you enquire.

How to pass PL-900: the plan that works

The pattern we teach, whether you study solo or with us:

1. Take the free practice assessment cold. Your gap list is your study plan; in our cohorts, people typically test stronger on business value and weaker on the environment area (Dataverse, connectors, security) than they expect.
2. Work the Microsoft Learn PL-900 path for your gap areas, and actually build along: one canvas app, one cloud flow, one Dataverse table. The exam’s June 2025 update moved further toward build-style skills.
3. Re-take the practice assessment until you clear the passing line with margin; practice assessments tend to run easier than the live exam, so treat margin as scoring well above 700, not just over the line. Then walk the exam sandbox once so the interface is familiar.
4. Schedule while it is fresh. The fundamentals tier rewards momentum; a long gap between study and exam is the most common pattern we see behind failed attempts in our cohorts.

If self-study stalls, or you want the material connected to real scenarios and a trainer to ask, that is what the live course is for.

PL-900 free training, honestly

The free tier is genuinely good, and we say so. Microsoft Learn’s self-paced path is built to track the study guide at zero cost, and the practice assessment is free. Our own free 2-hour introduction gives you the guided overview of what the Power Platform is before you commit study hours to certifying on it.

What the free tier does not give you: a live instructor who has seen where people actually fail, official courseware worked through end to end, and a cohort schedule that makes you finish. That is the honest difference between free and the 16-hour live course, and for self-directed learners the free tier alone can absolutely be enough.

The live PL-900 course

For everyone else, the structured path: Course PL-900T00, Microsoft Power Platform Fundamentals, 16 hours, live online, official Microsoft courseware, taught by Microsoft Certified Trainers from a Microsoft Learning Partner.

• The module arc follows the exam’s product areas: Power Apps, Power Automate, Dataverse and the environment, and Power Pages.
• Live cohort format: you ask the questions where you are stuck, and the schedule makes you finish.
• Built for candidates who stalled self-studying and for teams standardizing on the platform together.

See the course and enquire

After PL-900: where the path goes

• Building deeper on the maker path: the 80-hour Power Automate course for the automation layer, or PL-400 for professional development (PL-400 carries no retirement notice as of the June 2026 check).
• Toward Copilot administration: the new AB-900, Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals, if your role includes managing Copilot rather than building apps.
• A caution on older role exams: PL-500 and PL-600 retire June 30, 2026, and PL-200 retires August 31, 2026; do not start a study plan that ends at a retiring exam. Our certification guide maps the wider landscape (it is being updated for the 2026 retirements).

One scope note: PL-900 proves platform literacy, not delivery experience. It opens the role-based path rather than replacing hands-on practice.

Built by a Microsoft Learning Partner

Citizen Development Academy is a Microsoft Learning Partner: our certification-track courses use official Microsoft courseware and are delivered by Microsoft Certified Trainers. Partner status governs those standards; it does not mean Microsoft endorses or reviews this guide.

PL-900 FAQ

How hard is the PL-900 exam?

It is a beginner-level exam with no prerequisites, but not a giveaway: a score of 700 or greater is required, and the June 2025 update shifted weight toward hands-on Power Apps and Power Automate skills. The free practice assessment is the fastest way to calibrate how ready you are.

Does PL-900 expire?

No annual renewal applies. Microsoft’s renewal requirement covers associate, expert, and specialty certifications; PL-900 is a fundamentals certification.

Is PL-900 being retired?

No retirement notice exists for PL-900 as of the June 2026 check, while several neighboring exams (MS-900, MB-910, MB-920, PL-500, PL-600, PL-200) retired or are retiring. It is the safe entry point to the Power Platform track in the current catalog.

How much does the PL-900 exam cost?

Exam pricing varies by country or region and is published on the Microsoft Learn exam page when you schedule. Training on top of that ranges from free (Microsoft Learn, our 2-hour intro) to instructor-led (our 16-hour live course, quoted on enquiry).

Is there still Power BI on the PL-900?

No. The June 20, 2025 update removed the Power BI section entirely, along with the standalone Copilot Studio and AI Builder sections. Copilot did not leave the exam, though: it moved from standalone sections into each product area, so Copilot features still get tested. If your study material covers Power BI dashboards for PL-900, it is outdated.

Is there a free PL-900 practice test?

Yes. Microsoft publishes a free official practice assessment plus an exam sandbox that demos the test interface.