Which cloud certification is best? AWS vs Azure vs Google

The best cloud certification for beginners is the foundational exam for the cloud you expect to use: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02), Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900), or Google Cloud Digital Leader. They are all entry points, but they differ in price, format, renewal and whether they suit a technical or collaborative business role.

If you have no platform in mind, start with the cloud named by the employers, team or course you are targeting rather than a claimed salary or an unsupported "easiest" ranking. This guide compares the three exams, explains when an associate-level cloud engineer certification is a better first move, and shows where free official preparation and practice questions fit. Facts and prices were checked on 27 October 2026.

The three beginner cloud certifications

These are the main general cloud entry exams from each vendor, and none needs a prior certification. (AWS and Google also have entry-level AI exams, AI Practitioner and Generative AI Leader, but those test AI, not cloud basics.) AWS Cloud Practitioner and AZ-900 suit people learning technical cloud vocabulary; Cloud Digital Leader is aimed at people who need to discuss Google Cloud's value with technical colleagues. Google Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE) is deliberately not in this three-way comparison: it is Google's associate-level, hands-on route.

Each exam below gets the same facts in the same order, so you can compare them line by line. Then the differences, a decision path by background, and the cases where you should skip the fundamentals exam altogether.

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02)

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner is a live Foundational certification. AWS says its Italian and German language versions will be retired after 31 December 2026; the CLF-C02 exam itself has no retirement date.

Who it is for: people new to cloud, including non-IT roles such as sales, marketing, product and project management.
Prerequisites: none. AWS suggests up to six months of exposure, but it does not require experience or another certification.
Format (as of October 2026): 65 questions in 90 minutes. Questions are multiple choice, where you select one of four answers, or multiple response, where you select two or more answers from five or more; 50 questions are scored and 15 are unscored.
Scoring: the score range is 100 to 1,000 and the passing score is 700. AWS uses compensatory scoring, so you pass on the overall result rather than a cut score in every domain.
Price (as of October 2026): US$100, or ₹8,553 through the Pearson Mindhub voucher store, which is the route that accepts INR.
Delivery: take it at a Pearson VUE testing centre or online with a proctor; online proctoring in English operates around the clock.
Validity: the certification lasts three years. You can renew by passing CLF-C02 again, an AWS Associate or Professional exam, or AWS Cloud Quest: Recertify Cloud Practitioner.
What it covers: Cloud Concepts (24%), Security and Compliance (30%), Cloud Technology and Services (34%), and Billing, Pricing, and Support (12%).
Free official preparation: AWS provides Official Practice Question Sets with 20 questions, a two-hour Exam Prep course and complimentary Exam Readiness webinars.

Start with the reason cloud changes a business decision, not a service-name list. Use a practice question on cloud economics to recognise the shift from fixed to variable expense, then use a practice question on speed and agility to apply the same foundational idea to provisioning time.

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)

Azure Fundamentals is a live, Beginner-level credential. Microsoft calls it a common starting point for an Azure career.

Who it is for: technology professionals building foundational Azure knowledge.
Prerequisites: no formal prerequisite. Microsoft recommends experience in an IT area such as infrastructure, databases or software development.
Format (as of October 2026): 45 exam minutes, within 65 minutes of seat time. Microsoft does not publish a fixed AZ-900 question count; it says most certification exams have 40 to 60 questions, and its sandbox is an interface sample rather than a promise of a question mix.
Scoring: 700 or more on a 1,000-point scale passes. That scaled score does not mean 70% of questions correct.
Price (as of October 2026): the country selector showed US$99 and ₹3,691 in India. The price depends on where the exam is proctored, so check it again when you schedule.
Delivery: book online proctoring from home or office, or a Pearson VUE test centre. Students and educators can also use Certiport, which is test-centre only.
Validity: Azure Fundamentals does not expire, so there is no renewal assessment or renewal fee.
What it covers: cloud concepts (25–30%), Azure architecture and services (35–40%), and Azure management and governance (30–35%).
Free official preparation: Microsoft Learn's four-part Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure series, a practice assessment, the exam sandbox and Exam Readiness Zone videos are free.

The first lessons are often about how payment and responsibility change in the cloud. Work through a practice question on the consumption-based model to distinguish paying for use from capital expenditure, then use a practice question on cloud service types to decide when a managed platform removes operating-system patching work.

Google Cloud Digital Leader

Cloud Digital Leader is Google Cloud's live foundational certification. Its new exam version has been live since 12 August 2026; Google publishes no short exam code, although CDL is a common shorthand.

Who it is for: people who need cloud-computing basics and an understanding of how Google Cloud products help an organisation, especially collaborative roles working with technical professionals.
Prerequisites: none. Google recommends experience collaborating with technical professionals, but it does not require it.
Format (as of October 2026): 50 to 60 multiple-choice and multiple-select questions in 90 minutes, offered in five languages.
Scoring: Google provides pass/fail results and does not publish a numerical score or pass mark.
Price (as of October 2026): US$99 plus tax. The renewal exam costs US$60, and Google does not list an INR price.
Delivery: choose remote online proctoring or onsite proctoring at a testing centre.
Validity: the certification lasts three years. You can renew with the standard exam, the 20-question, 45-minute renewal exam as of October 2026, or designated Google Skills courses and skill badges (the course route adds only one year).
What it covers: cloud basics and the business value of Google Cloud products, rather than a published technical role requirement.
Free official preparation: Google's exam guide and untimed sample questions are free. Its six-course Google Skills learning path has a no-cost Starter tier; Pro is US$29 a month.

Cloud Digital Leader is therefore a better fit for a person who needs a shared cloud vocabulary than for someone who is ready to administer a project. If your goal is a cloud engineer role, read the associate-level route before paying for a foundational exam.

How they differ

The labels are similar, but the practical differences matter when you are booking your first exam. The format facts below are as of October 2026.

AWS: 65 questions and 90 minutes, with a published 700 passing score. / Azure: 45 exam minutes, a 700 passing score, and no published fixed question count. / Google: 50 to 60 questions and 90 minutes, with pass/fail results but no published numeric pass mark.
AWS: US$100, with ₹8,553 available through the specified voucher store. / Azure: the India selector showed ₹3,691, lower than AWS's listed INR route. / Google: US$99 plus tax, but no INR price is listed. All three prices are as of October 2026 and can change at booking.
AWS: certification lasts three years and has several renewal routes. / Azure: the Fundamentals certification never expires. / Google: certification lasts three years and has a standard exam, shorter renewal exam, or designated-course renewal options.
AWS: covers security, technology, billing and general cloud concepts. / Azure: balances cloud concepts, Azure services, and management and governance. / Google: is aimed at explaining Google Cloud's value in an organisation and collaborating with technical people.
AWS: publishes single-answer and multiple-response formats. / Azure: shows sample interactions in its sandbox but does not publish an AZ-900 question-type mix. / Google: publishes multiple-choice and multiple-select formats.

Which cloud certification is best for you

Use your next environment, not a brand ranking, as the tie-breaker. A foundational credential is a way to learn and signal a starting vocabulary; it does not make the cloud choice for you.

You have no IT background: choose the foundational exam for the cloud used by the role, employer or course you are pursuing. Choose Cloud Digital Leader when your intended work is collaborative and business-facing; choose CLF-C02 or AZ-900 when you want the broader technical vocabulary of AWS or Azure. The AWS certification roadmap maps the AWS choices after the first exam.
You are a student or fresher in India: first identify the platform your target employers use. If the choice is otherwise even, AZ-900's listed India price is lower, it never expires, and its official prep is free. That is a cost and renewal advantage, not evidence that Azure is easier or a guarantee of a job.
You work in a Microsoft 365 or Azure shop: take AZ-900 first, because its Azure architecture, services, management and governance vocabulary will be immediately useful. Then use the Azure certification path to decide whether administration or architecture is your next direction.
You are already a developer or system administrator: you can usually go straight to a role-based associate exam. "No prerequisites" means no earlier certification is required, not that no hands-on knowledge is expected, so pick the route where you can already build and explain the work.
You are undecided: use the free official material for the platforms you are considering, look at the services in local job descriptions, and make one choice before collecting multiple entry badges. For Google Cloud's practical route, see whether Associate Cloud Engineer is worth it.

When to skip the fundamentals exam

Skip a foundational exam when you already understand cloud concepts and your next role requires implementation rather than vocabulary. None of the three vendors lists its fundamentals exam as a prerequisite for its associate exams, but that is not a shortcut around experience. Move up when you can explain the choices you made in a small project, not just name services.

ACE is Google's associate-level, hands-on certification, not a beginner exam. Google recommends at least six months of hands-on Google Cloud experience; as of October 2026, it has 50 to 60 multiple-choice and multiple-select questions in two hours and costs US$125 plus tax. It is intended for the associate cloud engineer role. Use a practice question on a Spot VM batch workload to see the kind of compute trade-off it expects, then use a practice question on Cloud Identity Free to explore the resource-hierarchy and access decisions that come early in ACE preparation.

That distinction is useful if you are comparing Google Cloud Digital Leader with ACE. Take Cloud Digital Leader if you need the non-technical foundation; take ACE only after you have started doing the associate-level work. If AWS is your destination, use the AWS roadmap above to choose the role-based next step instead of assuming every beginner must take the same sequence.

Is there a free cloud certification?

The official preparation can be free, but these exams are not free. As of October 2026, CLF-C02 is US$100, AZ-900's country selector showed US$99 and ₹3,691 in India, and Cloud Digital Leader is US$99 plus tax; AWS also lists an ₹8,553 voucher-store route, while Google lists no INR price. Check the vendor's booking screen, especially if the country where you are proctored differs from where you live. For a fuller AWS price and preparation breakdown, see the AWS certification cost guide.

Use the official guide, learning material and sample or practice assessment first. Then use the practice banks here to retrieve the concepts and find gaps. Use AWS Cloud Practitioner practice tests and the CLF-C02 question list, AZ-900 practice tests and the AZ-900 question list, and Associate Cloud Engineer practice tests with the ACE question list. There is no Cloud Digital Leader bank here, so the ACE material belongs after you choose the hands-on Google route, not as a substitute for Digital Leader preparation.

Frequently asked questions

Should I get AWS or Azure certification first?

Get the certification for the cloud your target employer, team or course uses. Choose CLF-C02 for an AWS path and AZ-900 for an Azure path; both are foundational exams with no formal prerequisite. If neither platform is indicated, use their free official preparation to see which service names and tasks match your intended work before booking.

What is the easiest cloud certification for beginners in 2026?

There is no vendor-published pass-rate comparison that supports calling AWS, Azure or Google easiest. Cloud Digital Leader is intended for cloud basics and collaborative roles, while CLF-C02 and AZ-900 introduce technical cloud vocabulary. Pick the exam whose platform and purpose you can connect to rather than trying to infer difficulty from its price or question count.

Is AZ-900 for beginners?

Yes. Microsoft lists Azure Fundamentals at Beginner level and calls it a common Azure-career starting point. It recommends experience in an IT area, but it does not require a previous certification or formal prerequisite.

Is a cloud engineer or cloud architect certification for beginners?

Not usually. A cloud engineer certification such as Google's Associate Cloud Engineer expects hands-on work, and a cloud architect certification tests design decisions you make after you have built things. Start with a fundamentals exam unless you already build and run cloud workloads.

Can I get a cloud job with just one certification?

One certification can show that you have learned the published fundamentals, but it is not a substitute for demonstrating useful work. Pair it with a small project, an explanation of the choices you made, and continued study for the platform your target role actually uses. For AWS, see what jobs you can get with AWS Cloud Practitioner. A cloud engineer certification becomes more relevant when you are ready to make and defend implementation decisions.

How long does it take to prepare for a cloud certification?

None of the three vendors publishes a study-hours figure, so any fixed timetable is a guess. Work through the official objectives, practise the concepts you miss, and use timed questions to see whether you can apply them. Your prior IT experience and the exam you choose will matter more than a generic number of weeks.

How long are cloud certifications valid?

CLF-C02 and Cloud Digital Leader are valid for three years. Azure Fundamentals never expires. Renewal rules also differ: AWS has certification-based routes, while Google offers exam and designated-course routes for Digital Leader.