Meta Certified Digital Marketing Associate
Unlike the other marketing credentials in this group, Meta's Digital Marketing Associate exam is not free. The preparation on Meta Blueprint costs nothing, but the exam is paid, proctored, and sat either online under observation or at a Pearson VUE centre.
Sixty questions and ninety minutes, 700 needed on a 1,000 scale, two years of validity, and an audience of newcomers to buying ads on Meta's apps.
Exam facts
- Exam code
- 100-101
- Level
- Foundational
- Field
- Marketing platforms
- Access
- Paid
- Assessment
- Proctored exam
- Duration
- 90 minutes
- Questions
- 60
- Passing score
- 700 of 1,000
- Languages
- English, Chinese, French, German, Korean, Portuguese, SpanishMeta names Traditional Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese and Latin American Spanish specifically.
- Price
- 99 USD (read 26 September 2026)
- Validity
- 2 years, renewable
- Exam delivery
- Pearson VUE, online proctored or at a test centre; registration through Meta Blueprint (CertMetrics)
Prerequisites: None. Meta aims it at entry-level marketers, students, jobseekers and career changers; no training is mandatory.
Renewal: Lasts 24 months after you pass. To renew, you schedule and pass the same exam again; Meta names no separate renewal price or discount.
Source: exam page at Meta · Price: Associate exam voucher price on Meta's US Pearson VUE marketplace (read 2026-09-26). Meta states its exams cost the equivalent of 99 to 150 US dollars depending on the exam, and that the local price varies by country and appears at checkout
How to prepare
1. The vendor's free learning path
Meta publishes the exam objectives and a learning path free of charge — the authoritative source for scope and weighting. Open the learning path (opens in a new tab)
2. The programme
The certificate is earned inside this programme. Its facts, price and the provider's own page are on the course page; the link there carries no commission.
Book the exam
Delivered by Pearson VUE, online proctored or at a test centre; registration through Meta Blueprint (CertMetrics). Schedule with Meta (opens in a new tab)
Affiliate disclosure: the course link above is an affiliate link — buying through them may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. The vendor's learning path and booking links carry no commission.
Free to learn, paid to prove
It is worth being precise, because the distinction is often blurred online. Meta Blueprint's courses, study guide, webinars and a thirty-question practice test are free. The certification exam is not. On Meta's US marketplace the associate voucher costs the amount shown in the price field on this page, and Meta says its exams range across a band that depends on the exam and the country. Fail, and you wait five days and pay again; there is no cap on attempts, but every attempt is charged in full. Renewal after two years means booking the same exam again, and Meta mentions no discount for it.
That cost buys something the free certificates cannot offer. The exam is proctored: you sit it on your own computer while being observed, with identity checks and a secure browser, or at a test centre. An employer reading this certificate knows the person named on it answered the questions. None of the Google, HubSpot or Semrush certificates in this group can say that.
What the 60 questions weigh
| Section | Weight | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| Value of Meta's technologies | 8 % | Which apps and tools exist, and why a business would use them |
| Establishing a business presence | 15 % | Pages, profiles and business tools across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp; Ads Manager settings; mobile creative |
| Advertising fundamentals | 23 % | Objectives, the pixel and Conversions API, how billing and placements work, privacy and ad policy |
| Creating and managing ads | 44 % | Boosting versus Ads Manager, campaign structure, targeting, placements, formats, budgets and schedules |
| Reporting | 10 % | Reading results and judging success |
Nearly half the paper is about building campaigns in Ads Manager. Candidates who have only ever boosted posts from a phone find this section the hardest, because it asks about settings at three levels of a campaign that the boost button hides.
Before you pay
- Take the free practice test first. Meta built it to show whether you are ready, and at the price of a sitting it is foolish to skip.
- Check your language. The exam runs in English, Traditional Chinese, French, German, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese and Latin American Spanish.
- Schedule at least a day ahead, and check your computer meets the online proctoring requirements if you sit at home.
- Mind the voucher's clock. A voucher bought on the marketplace expires twelve months after purchase and must be used in the country where it was bought.
Not a free certificate
Some lists of free marketing certifications include this one. The learning is free; the credential is not. Budget for the exam, and for a possible retake.
How it compares with the free certificates
Put this exam beside Google's Search certificate and HubSpot's Inbound Marketing certificate and the differences are stark. Google's and HubSpot's are free, unproctored and quick to repeat; Meta's costs money, is supervised and makes you wait five days after a failure. Google's lasts one year, HubSpot's two, Meta's two. Google's and Meta's test one company's advertising platform; HubSpot's tests a method. A marketer starting out can reasonably hold all three, and each tells an employer something different: that you can buy search traffic, that you understand how organic marketing fits together, and that you passed a supervised test on social advertising.
If you can afford only one paid credential early in a marketing career, this is a sensible choice, because it is inexpensive by certification standards and proctoring gives it credibility. If you cannot, the free certificates plus a small, well-documented campaign of your own are a respectable alternative.
What a question looks like
Written by us in the exam's style. It is not a real question from any question bank, and we do not publish those.
A bakery wants more online orders from people within ten kilometres, has a small daily budget, and has installed the Meta pixel on its checkout page. Which campaign objective, audience approach and placement choice best fit the goal?
Awareness and traffic objectives both sound sensible for a local business. The goal is orders, the conversion is already tracked, and the audience is geographic, so the question tests whether you match the objective to the measured outcome and let placements follow rather than leading with a format you like.
What it costs to get and to keep
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Exam voucher | 99 USD | US Pearson VUE marketplace price for the associate voucher; local prices differ and Meta shows yours at checkout (read 26 September 2026) |
| Retake | 99 USD | each retake is charged in full, after a five-day wait; the US figure is shown (read 26 September 2026) |
| Renewal every two years | 99 USD | renewal means booking and passing the exam again; Meta states no separate renewal price, so the US exam price is shown (read 26 September 2026) |
| Preparation | 0 USD | Blueprint courses, study guide, webinars and practice test are free (read 26 September 2026) |
How much preparation, from where you are
- You have only boosted posts
- Work through Ads Manager in a real ad account, even without spending. The largest section of the exam lives there.
- You run Meta campaigns for clients
- Short. Revise policy, the pixel and Conversions API, and the reporting section, then take the practice test.
- You are new to marketing
- Start with the free Blueprint courses and a broader free certificate such as HubSpot's Inbound Marketing; pay for this exam once the practice test is comfortable.
What passing this does not prove
- Creative that stops the scroll; formats are tested, quality is not.
- Profitable campaign management over weeks of learning and adjustment.
- Organic community building, which Meta certifies separately.
- Advertising on any platform other than Meta's.
Against the alternatives
- Google Ads Search Certification
- Google's Search certificate is free and unproctored, and covers intent-based advertising. Meta's is paid and proctored, and covers interest- and audience-based advertising. The Meta credential is harder to fake; the Google one is more often requested.
- HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification
- HubSpot's certificate covers the whole organic marketing method for free. Meta's covers paid social on one company's platforms for a fee. Many career changers do Inbound first, Meta second.
- HubSpot Social Media Marketing Certification
- HubSpot's social certificate is free, organic and cross-platform. This exam is the paid, advertising-focused, single-vendor counterpart.
100-101 — quick answers
Is the Meta Digital Marketing Associate certification free?
No. The Blueprint learning materials and practice test are free, but the exam is paid. The price field shows the US voucher price; Meta says local prices vary by country.
Is the exam proctored?
Yes. A proctor watches you online at home or at work, or you book a seat at a Pearson VUE centre.
What is the pass mark?
700 on a scale of 1,000, across 60 questions in 90 minutes.
How long is it valid?
Twenty-four months after passing. Renewal means taking the exam again.
What if I fail?
You can retake after five days, as many times as you like, but each attempt is charged at the full fee.
Where this exam sits in the field
What comes next
Concepts this exam draws on
Glossary entries with the reason each one matters for 100-101.
- Digital Marketing
Advertising on Meta's platforms is the entire exam.
- Data Analysis
The reporting section tests reading campaign results.
Last reviewed 26 September 2026 · Getting Digital