5 Cloud Certifications to Start Your Cloud Career in 2026

Written by Coursera Staff • Updated on

Develop valuable skills in cloud computing with a range of certifications.

[Featured Image] A person searches for cloud certifications

Key takeaways

Cloud computing certifications help you gain foundational skills in the field, and several help you prepare for entry-level jobs.

  • Cloud computing is a fast-growing market, and professionals in the field can expect to earn a median total pay of $140,000, according to Glassdoor [1].

  • Popular cloud certifications include the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Solutions Architect - Associate, Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals, and Google Associate Cloud Engineer. 

  • You can use a certification to showcase your cloud computing skills and knowledge to potential employers.

Learn more about four cloud computing certifications, their costs, and their exam content. If you're ready to prepare for your cloud computing career now, consider enrolling in the Microsoft Cloud Support Associate Professional Certificate. In as little as five months, you'll learn in-demand skills like digital platform security, virtual network troubleshooting, and AI.

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing, or using the internet to store data and services instead of a computer hard drive, is a fast-growing market. Increased internet access, reduced costs, new technology, and a pandemic-driven digitization of many services have each accelerated cloud migrations. That makes a career in this field particularly lucrative and cloud computing skills in high demand. As of February 2026, the median total pay for cloud computing professionals in the United States was $140,000, according to Glassdoor [1]. This figure includes base salary and additional pay, which may represent profit-sharing, commissions, bonuses, or other compensation.

The following certifications are often recommended for those looking to obtain entry-level cloud jobs. Prices listed are as of February 2026.

1. Amazon Web Services (AWS) Solutions Architect - Associate

The AWS Solutions Architect - Associate certification involves a multiple-choice and multiple-response exam that tests your ability to deploy, manage, and use various services in AWS, the leading platform in the cloud market. The certification shows your proficiency in the basic technical concepts of AWS cloud engineering that can position you to qualify for related jobs. 

Just starting out with AWS? The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification is designed for candidates with a few months of experience and can be a way to build up experience for the AWS Solutions Architect - Associate certification.

  • Cost: $150 [2]

  • What’s being tested: Compute, networking, storage, and database AWS services; deployment and management; basic architectural principles of building in AWS; global AWS infrastructure; network technologies in relation to AWS; among other subjects 

Read more: AWS Solutions Architect: Career + Certification Guide

You can exam prep with AWS while earning a Professional Certificate for your resume by enrolling in the AWS program below. In just two months, you'll gain hands-on experience with data lakes and architecting on AWS.

2. Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals

With the second-largest market share in the cloud space, Azure can be a useful cloud platform to learn [3]. The foundational certification for Azure involves the AZ-900 exam and is designed for those with both technical and non-technical backgrounds. It’s a solid certification to get you up to speed with fundamental Azure knowledge. From there, you can go on to get the Azure Administrator Associate or Azure Developer Associate certifications, though it’s not a prerequisite. 

  • Cost: $99 [4]

  • What’s being tested: The differences between cloud services like IaaS and PaaS; benefits of using cloud services; core Azure services like virtual machines (VMs), containers, Kubernetes, and database services; understanding of Azure core solutions and management tools; basic security, include network security; and other subjects

Prepare for this certification exam while gaining hands-on experience with the Internet of Things (IoT), AI, and cloud governance strategy through the Microsoft Azure Developer Associate (AZ-204) Exam Prep Professional Certificate.

3. Google Associate Cloud Engineer

Getting certified as a Google Associate Cloud Engineer will mean showing competency in basic aspects of working with Google Cloud. This includes setting up a Google Cloud solution environment, managing storage and databases, and configuring access and security, among other things. 

  • Cost: $125 [5]

  • What’s being tested: Setting up cloud solutions by creating projects, managing users in Cloud Identity, and managing billing configuration; planning and configuring compute resources, data storage options, and network resources; deploying Google Kubernetes Engine, applications; managing a virtual machine (VM); and more

4. Cloud Security Alliance: Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK)

The CCSK is issued by the Cloud Security Alliance, a vendor-neutral certification provider. This means that the things you learn from getting a certification can be applied to different cloud platforms. The CCSK focuses on the fundamentals of cloud security. There are other advanced certifications, like the Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) from (ISC)2, that indicate a professional level of mastery of cloud security.

  • Cost: $445 [6]

  • What’s being tested: Cloud computing concepts and architecture; governance and enterprise risk management; legal issues and contracts; data security; virtualization and containers; and more

Which cloud certification should you get?

If you decide to get a cloud certification, it’s a good idea to look at which cloud platform is often used in your geographical area and target industry. Government agencies often use Azure; financial companies might use IBM or AWS.

As of February 2026, Amazon Web Services, or AWS, had the largest market share of cloud infrastructure providers, followed by Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Alibaba Cloud [3]. 

What are the benefits of cloud computing certification?

Like many IT professions, hands-on experience can often speak louder than a certification by itself. That said, a certification can be useful in indicating your abilities to hiring managers and help you build out experience where you might be lacking. 

If you're just starting to explore the IT space, you might want to consider an entry-level IT certification. If you have some experience in IT or computer programming and want to gain experience in cloud computing or want to integrate cloud into your career, a certification can certainly be beneficial.

Explore free resources for your cloud career

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Article sources

1. 

Glassdoor. "Cloud Computing Salaries, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/cloud-computing-salary-SRCH_KO0,15.htm." Accessed February 19, 2026.

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