CEH vs AWS ML Engineer Associate
Which certification is right for your career? Here's the full breakdown.
EC-Council
CEH
CEH v13
Certified Ethical Hacker — offensive security certification covering penetration testing methodologies and hacking tools.
Full guide →Amazon Web Services
AWS ML Engineer Associate
MLA-C01
Validates ability to build, train, tune, and deploy ML models on AWS using SageMaker and other AWS AI services.
Full guide →Side-by-side comparison
| Category | CEH | AWS ML Engineer Associate |
|---|---|---|
| Exam cost | $1199 USD | ✓$150 USD |
| Avg salary uplift | +$15,000/yr | ✓+$18,000/yr |
| Exam duration | 240 min | 130 min |
| Renewal period | Every 3 years | Every 3 years |
| Issued by | EC-Council | Amazon Web Services |
| Difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
CEH — Prerequisites
2 years IT security experience or EC-Council official training
AWS ML Engineer Associate — Prerequisites
AWS Cloud Practitioner or equivalent + basic ML knowledge recommended
Get CEH if…
- •You have 2–3 years of IT experience and want to specialise
- •You want a +$15,000/yr salary boost
- •You prefer credentials from EC-Council
Get AWS ML Engineer Associate if…
- •You have 2–3 years of IT experience and want to specialise
- •You want a +$18,000/yr salary boost
- •You prefer credentials from Amazon Web Services
Best CEH courses
Best AWS ML Engineer Associate courses
Frequently asked questions
Is CEH harder than AWS ML Engineer Associate?
Both CEH and AWS ML Engineer Associate are rated intermediate difficulty.
Which pays more — CEH or AWS ML Engineer Associate?
CEH has an average salary uplift of +$15,000/yr, while AWS ML Engineer Associate has +$18,000/yr. AWS ML Engineer Associate has the higher salary impact.
Which should I get first — CEH or AWS ML Engineer Associate?
CEH is the better starting point — it's rated intermediate and costs less. Use it as a stepping stone toward AWS ML Engineer Associate.