Brief

Courses

AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials (by AWS)

This takes only around six hours or less if you choose to read the transcripts. Enough for an overview of what AWS does but lacks detail to pass the exams.
Else, if you have time and want more in-depth explanations and hands-on examples, go for:

Ultimate AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (through Udemy by Stephane Maarek)

Fourteen hours of material. Save time, skip the hands-on labs, and do other labs and projects after.

Choose one or both depending on your comfort level!

Exams

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Practice Exams 2023 - Tutorials Dojo

Average around 90% in the practice, you can be confident with the actual. This is the only practice exam needed.

Details

As someone who has a CS background, I underestimated the effort it would take to prepare for the exam. It took me about 1 month of preparation with all of the resources mentioned above. Both courses took me longer to finish than the material time stated as I was not just trying to pass the exam, but was trying to build mastery in AWS. I spent the most time on the practice exams.

I'm quite sure that the exam could be prepared for in a much shorter time than I did as you'll find with a quick Google search! Some passed it in as quickly as 3 days.

AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials (by AWS) is a highly engaging course taught by folks from AWS. The explanations were concise and just right for anyone who's looking to get a quick overview of the major AWS services. It's not meant to be a full exam prep course but it is useful for those with or without an IT background.
Check out the Cloud Essentials Learning Plan which adds more detail to high-level concepts.

Ultimate AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (Udemy) has a lot more content and enough material to cover all technologies that may come up in the exam. It, however, does not have as many visualizations as I would have preferred. Also, the practice exam included in the course is not enough to be ready for the exam. The hands-on activities are useful for getting to know the management console but to save time, I suggest not doing them. Just pay close attention and look for hands-on labs and projects afterward.

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Practice Exams (Tutorials Dojo) is the only exam prep that's needed. All questions have answer explanations and their knowledge base (cheat sheets) come in handy from time to time. I've tried other exams such as those in Cloud Academy, a sample test from ExamPro (very similar), and various mobile apps. Make the most of your time and just focus on the questions from TD. Though taking other practice exams is a great way to be prepared for any differences in question/answer wording.
To make the most of TD's exams, take the time to read through the explanations. Get well acquainted with the interface because it can get confusing at first. I only discovered that I can filter exam results to show only incorrect answers and view my prior exam results when I was about to take the actual exam.

Other Suggestions

Keeping Costs at the Minimum

The exam costs USD 100 but can be reduced to USD 50 with a voucher. For 2023, there's only been one challenge that provided vouchers for the exam. But be on the lookout as AWS may have other events that will incentivize with vouchers.

Additionally, it may be worth exploring the free video course by ExamPro that comes with one practice exam before deciding to get the Udemy Course. That may save you USD 10-20 depending on what on the Udemy promo which at the lowest, sells the course for USD 10.

What's non-negotiable is taking practice exams which you can either purchase from Tutorial Dojo or the ones that are part of ExamPro's course. TD's exam can be bought at USD 10 with a promo or a bundle.

Do Labs and Projects After the Exam Instead

If there is an urgency to get the certification, doing the labs can be postponed. Doing them increases the time needed to finish course materials but aren't tested during the exam.

But surely, labs and projects solidify the learning and understanding of the technologies. They're necessary for mastery and are beneficial for a professional portfolio. So if there's enough time, do labs as much as possible!

For the Actual Exam

Wear a comfortable shirt and make sure to wear pants. Pearson (online) requires that the testing area be clear. Pictures of the area are taken and in my case, the area was shown to the proctor via video as well. Unexpectedly, I was asked to move my camera to show the whole table I was working on which coincidentally showed that I was only wearing boxers along with my nice polo. 🙈

System tests may take longer than usual so try to check in 15 minutes before exam time.

Lastly

This exam is only the start of a long road ahead! I hope the best for our journey to AWS mastery. I'd love to hear from you and how your AWS journey is going!

If you have questions about the exam, please reach out! I'll be very happy to help out where I can.

A special mention and thanks to my wife and parents as well who have been greatly supportive in every way during my preparation! ❤️