Are Superbadges Still Required for Salesforce Platform Developer II?

No. As of October 1, 2025, Salesforce retired the superbadge requirement for Platform Developer II, so you now earn the credential by passing the proctored multiple choice exam alone. The Apex Specialist, Data Integration Specialist, and Advanced Apex Specialist superbadges are still strong practice for the content, but they are no longer a gate. If a course or trailmix tells you to finish superbadges first, it predates the change and is out of date.

This is the single most important thing to know before you plan your Platform Developer II study, because the old path added weeks of hands-on Trailhead work that the credential no longer requires. Here is exactly what changed, what PDII requires now, and how to prepare for the version of the exam that exists today.

What changed on October 1, 2025

For years, earning Platform Developer II meant two separate things: passing the multiple choice exam and completing a set of superbadges. The most recent required set was Apex Specialist, Data Integration Specialist, and Advanced Apex Specialist. On October 1, 2025, Salesforce retired the Advanced Apex Specialist superbadge and removed the superbadge requirement from the PDII credential entirely. The exam became the whole path.

Salesforce documented this in its Superbadge Retirement for Certifications FAQ, which states plainly that the affected superbadges are no longer required to earn Platform Developer II or JavaScript Developer I. The change was part of a broader cleanup of how superbadges map to credentials, not a one-off.

What Platform Developer II requires now

Today the requirements are simple and there are only two of them.

• Hold an active Platform Developer I credential. PD1 is a hard prerequisite. You must already have it, and it must be current, before Salesforce lets you earn PDII.
• Pass the Platform Developer II proctored exam. That is 60 scored questions plus up to 5 unscored, 120 minutes, and a passing score of 70%. It costs US$200 to register and US$100 to retake.

That is the entire path. No superbadges, no programming assignment, no separate project submission. Just the prerequisite and the exam.

A short history of why superbadges were there

Superbadges arrived on the PDII path around June 2017, replacing an older programming assignment. The idea was sound: a multiple choice exam alone cannot prove you can actually build, so Salesforce bolted on hands-on challenges that made you write working code in a real org. For a while the required set was four superbadges, including Aura Components Specialist, before it narrowed to three. That history is why so much older advice, and even some current-looking trailmixes, still lists superbadges as mandatory. They were, for eight years. They are not now.

One point of confusion worth clearing up: Lightning Web Components Specialist was never a Platform Developer II superbadge. It belongs to the JavaScript Developer I credential. If a study plan tells you to complete it for PDII, that plan is stitched together from the wrong sources.

So should you still do the superbadges?

Optional, and only if you have time. The superbadges were never busywork; they force you to write real asynchronous Apex, build integrations, and handle bulk data, which is exactly what the exam tests. If you have never built those things at work, the Apex Specialist and Advanced Apex Specialist superbadges are some of the best hands-on practice you can get. But treat them as preparation you choose, not a requirement you must clear. If you already write enterprise Apex daily, you can skip straight to exam prep.

What the exam actually tests

Platform Developer II is organized into five domains, and the weighting tells you where to spend time.

The Performance domain is the one with no Platform Developer I equivalent, and it is where a lot of candidates lose points: large data volume queries, selective SOQL, and governor limit tuning at scale. Process Automation folds integration into it, so REST and SOAP callouts, platform events, and asynchronous Apex all live in the largest domain. If you plan around the current five domains and the 70% bar, you are studying for the exam that exists; if you plan around superbadges and an old passing score, you are not.

How to prepare for the exam-only path

Because PDII is now a single exam, your prep should look like exam prep, not project work. Read the current exam guide, build or review real examples of asynchronous Apex and integration patterns, and then drill scenario questions until the right design comes back automatically. The exam rarely asks for syntax; it describes a system and asks which pattern keeps it correct and inside limits.

Writing the practice code is where an AI pair helps: if you lean on an assistant that can plan and draft the Apex for a batch job or a callout mock while you study, make sure you can still explain why the pattern is correct, because that explanation is what the exam grades. Then convert your notes into targeted question sets. Upload your study material to the Salesforce Platform Developer II practice exam generator and weight the sets toward Process Automation and Performance, the two domains that together make up 45% of the exam.

If you already started the superbadges

Nothing you completed is wasted. The skills carry over directly to the exam, and the badges stay on your Trailhead profile as evidence of hands-on work, which some employers value on its own. What changes is only the requirement: you no longer have to finish the remaining challenges to sit PDII. If you were three quarters of the way through Apex Specialist mainly to unlock the exam, you can stop, book the exam, and use the time you would have spent on the last challenges to drill scenario questions instead.

Common myths still circulating

Three claims show up constantly in forums and older videos, and all three are now wrong. First, that you must complete superbadges before registering: false since October 2025. Second, that the passing score is 63% or 68%: the current bar is 70%, and the 63% figure comes from a retired 2018 PDF. Third, that PDII is mostly the same exam as Platform Developer I with a few harder questions: it is not, because it adds an entire Performance domain and much deeper asynchronous and integration content that PD1 never touches. Checking your prep against these three points is a fast way to tell whether it is current.

The bottom line

Superbadges are no longer required for Platform Developer II. Since October 1, 2025, the credential is earned through the Platform Developer I prerequisite and the proctored exam alone. Use the superbadges as optional practice if the hands-on work fills a gap, but do not let outdated advice send you down a path Salesforce has already removed. Study the current five domains, aim comfortably above the 70% bar, and book the exam when your practice scores are consistently there. New to the developer track? Clear the Salesforce Platform Developer I practice exam first, since it is the required prerequisite.