Google Cloud Certification: 2025 Guide

Becoming Google Cloud certified means you’re proficient in Google Cloud technologies. Being certified shows prospective employers that you can maintain and implement Google Cloud technology into a company’s workflow.

Find out what it takes to earn a Google Cloud certification. If you're interested in pursuing certification, consider enrolling in Google's Preparing for Google Cloud Certification: Cloud Engineer Professional Certificate, which prepares you for the Associate Cloud Engineer certification.

What is Google Cloud certification?

This professional certification shows you have completed Google Cloud training and are proficient in the Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Google cloud computing services include cloud storage and backup, database management, developer tools, Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, and analytics. 

Companies that use Google Cloud services instead of Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure may seek employees with a Google Cloud certification, which can save them the time and expense of training.

Is Google Cloud certification worth it?

Becoming certified in Google's Cloud solutions shows that you are a strong candidate for a company that uses the GCP. It also demonstrates a wide range of technical skills and a solid understanding of cloud architecture, which can help you appeal to other companies.

Demand for Google Cloud professionals

The Google Cloud Platform is one of the three main cloud vendors, according to Flexera’s State of the Cloud Report 2024 [1]. The other two cloud providers in the top three are Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Since many enterprises have a hybrid cloud environment, learning about multiple cloud providers can be beneficial.

Are Google Cloud certifications free?

Each certification costs between $99 USD and $200 USD, so consider finances when deciding which Google Cloud certifications to pursue [2, 3]. More information on pricing is below. Check with your employer to see if it will cover the cost, especially if the company benefits from increasing your skill levels. 

Does Google Cloud Certification expire?

Your Google Cloud certifications are valid for two or three years, depending on your level. The foundational and associate certificates are valid for three years, while all professional certificates are valid for two years from the date you receive them [5]. You must pay to retake and pass the exam after two years to maintain your certification.

Types of Google Cloud certifications (with costs)

While taking the Google Cloud certification training courses on Coursera for 30 days is free, the exams carry fees ranging from $99 USD for the lowest level certificate (Cloud Digital Leader) to $200 USD for the Professional levels [2, 3, 5]. The type of certification you pursue depends on your goals.

Foundational

A Google Cloud Foundational certification demonstrates your broad knowledge of cloud concepts and Google Cloud’s products, services, tools, features, benefits, and use cases. 

For this certification, you should have experience working in a collaborative role with other technical professionals, but you don’t need to meet any technical requirements to enroll. This certification allows you to work as a Cloud Digital Leader. The exam costs $99 USD plus tax where applicable [2].

Associate certification

An associate certification demonstrates you have the fundamental skills to deploy and maintain Google Cloud projects. It’s recommended that you have at least six months of experience building on Google Cloud to gain the knowledge to pass the exam. The exam fee is $125 USD plus tax where applicable [6].

Professional Certificate

A Professional Certificate shows you can perform critical technical job functions and advanced skills in designing, implementing, and managing Google Cloud products. Google recommends at least three years of cloud industry experience and one year working on Google Cloud or these certifications. All Google Cloud Professional Certificate exams cost $200 USD plus tax where applicable [3].  

The Google Cloud Professional Certificates are:

• Cloud Architect

• Cloud Database Engineer

• Cloud Developer

• Data Engineer

• DevOps Engineer

• Security Engineer

• Network Engineer

• Machine Learning Engineer

How to choose the proper certification for you

Keep your career goals in mind when choosing the proper Google Cloud certification. If you want to work in a cloud role at a major company that employs the Google Cloud Platform, you’ll typically benefit from earning a certification. Some major companies using the GCP include PayPal, Home Depot, Equifax, Etsy, and Wayfair. 

Holding various cloud certifications helps you be a more attractive candidate and provides more options when seeking new job opportunities. They demonstrate your ability to switch between different cloud platforms. And with many companies now using multiple clouds, this can help you stand out amongst other candidates. 

What is your current role?

When choosing the best Google Cloud certification, start with your current role or what role you’d like to gain. Then, select the certification programme that most closely aligns with that role. For example, if you are a cloud developer looking to hone your skills, a cloud developer certification is the way to go. An aspiring professional Cloud DevOps Engineer may begin with the foundational certificate, advance to a Google Cloud Certified Associate, and then enroll in the Cloud DevOps Engineer professional certification.

Do you meet the certification type prerequisites? 

You also want to take the certification programme designed for your skill level. If you’re a newcomer to GCP, the foundational certification is the best option because it requires no experience in GCP. With six months of GCP experience, you’re ready for an associate certification. Finally, to be prepared for a Professional Certificate, over three years of cloud experience and one year of GCP experience are needed. 

What is your end goal with certification?

Consider whether you are looking to make a career switch to cloud management or simply want to advance your current career. A certification related to your current role can help you show your skills and give you a leg up on the competition. However, suppose you plan to move to a different job within the cloud. In that case, a certification in your target role may show your employer or prospective employer you’re ready for the transition.

Tips for how to prepare for the certification exam

After taking online courses and a practice exam, you’ll feel better prepared for the Google Cloud certification exam. Online groups and free videos online will also help you prepare.

Online courses 

Google offers you the ability to choose a cloud path, hone your skills, and confirm your learnings in one spot, the Google Cloud Skills Boost. Here, you can study everything about Google Cloud – from a basic introduction and tour of Google Cloud to preparing for the Google Cloud professional data engineer exam. 

Google also offers many Cloud Professional Certificates and Specializations on Coursera. The courses you can choose from include:

• Preparing for Google Cloud Certification: Cloud Architect Professional Certificate: This programme can help you develop the skills you need to advance your cloud architecture career. It also lets you start toward the Google Cloud professional cloud architect certification. When you complete the course, you can register for the exam.

• Google Cloud Digital Leader Training Professional Certificate: With this course, you can gain a general understanding of the cloud and Google Cloud Platform, including the terminology and use cases. You’ll also learn data, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and IT infrastructure. The course is intended to help you prepare for the foundational cloud digital leader certification from Google Cloud.

• Preparing for Google Cloud Certification: Cloud Engineer Professional Certificate: In this course, you'll learn about Google Cloud’s infrastructure and platform services and prepare for a cloud engineer role. This certificate should help you prepare for the associate cloud engineer exam, which you must register for and pass to earn the certification.

• Preparing for Google Cloud Certification: Machine Learning Engineer Professional Certificate This Professional Certificate course covers the skills you’d need in a machine learning engineering career. You’ll have the chance to gain an understanding of how to design, build, and productionalise ML models for businesses using Google Cloud. After completing this course, you’ll be better prepared to pass the Google Cloud professional machine learning engineer certification exam.

• Preparing for Google Cloud Certification: Cloud Data Engineer Professional Certificate: This course aims to help you prepare for Google Cloud’s Cloud Data Engineer Professional Certificate exam. You'll have the opportunity to learn how to use BigQuery to analyse interactive data. You will also use Cloud SQL and Dataproc to migrate existing MySQL and Hadoop/Pig/Spark/Hive workloads to Google Cloud and choose between different data processing products on Google Cloud.

• Preparing for Google Cloud Certification: Cloud DevOps Engineer Professional Certificate: This course covers techniques for monitoring, troubleshooting, and improving infrastructure and application performance in Google Cloud using SRE principles. It can help you prepare for Google Cloud’s professional DevOps engineer certification exam.

• Preparing for Google Cloud Certification: Cloud Security Engineer Professional Certificate: If your goal is to advance your Cloud Security Engineer career, this course can help you learn various necessary skills. These include managing access, defining organisational structure and policies, and configuring network security. It's designed to help you prepare to take the Google Cloud professional cloud security certification exam.

• Preparing for Google Cloud Certification: Cloud Network Engineer Professional Certificate: This course is designed to help you learn about working in a cloud network engineering role, including hybrid connectivity, network services, and security for established network architectures on Google Cloud. It is for preparing to take the Google Cloud professional cloud networking engineer certification exam.

Practice exams and exam guides 

You can check your knowledge before taking the exam through the online practice questions Google Cloud offers on each certification exam’s registration page. When you click on each certification, it launches sample questions via Google Forms. 

For example, if you are pursuing the professional data engineer certification, you can visit the data engineer certification exam page and click “Review Sample Questions” on the right. It will then launch the Google Forms practice test, and you can see if you’re ready for the actual exam. 

Online groups

You can also meet peers in your respective Google Cloud concentration by visiting the Google Cloud Community. Here, you can ask questions, find answers to your questions, answer others’ questions, and connect with other members working in or aspiring to work in Google Cloud. It has forums where you can ask questions, learn news about the cloud, and attend events you can attend. 

You can also find Google Cloud groups to join on LinkedIn. Here, you can network with others in the field and ask questions.

Free videos online or on Google’s website 

Find free videos about the Google Cloud Platform on the Google Cloud Tech YouTube channel. You can use these videos as resources while studying for your certification exam. The videos are suitable for people of all skill levels. 

The Google Cloud Skills Boost website offers free cloud training where you complete a role-based Google Cloud learning path at no cost. You can choose a learning path that best aligns with your preferred career path and complete a series of hands-on labs and courses to earn Google Cloud badges. While badges aren’t the same as certifications, they can help you start down the path toward certification.

Prepare for your Google Cloud certification with Coursera

Google Cloud certifications demonstrate proficiency in cloud computing and are valuable for career advancement, with different levels and specialties available to match various skill levels and career goals.

Online courses are a great way to help prepare for your Google Cloud certification. On Coursera, you can find a number of Google Cloud certification prep courses, including the Preparing for Google Cloud Certification: Cloud Engineer Professional Certificate, in which you'll learn about the infrastructure and platform services provided by Google Cloud Platform, and the skills needed to be successful in a cloud engineering role.