297 Best + Free AWS Courses & Certificates [2026]
Ranked by Michael Kuhlman, CourseDuck's founder, from student reviews across every provider. How we rank · Embed this list
Our guide: The 10 Best AWS Courses on Udemy in 2026
Our top picks
- Ultimate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate 2026 [Udemy] - Best Paid Course
- [NEW] Ultimate AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 2026 [Udemy]
- Machine Learning A-Z [2026]: ML, DL, AI with AWS, Python & R [Udemy] - Best Paid Course
- Ultimate AWS Certified Developer Associate 2026 DVA-C02 [Udemy]
- [NEW] Ultimate AWS Certified AI Practitioner AIF-C01 [Udemy]
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) - Zero to Hero [Udemy]
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) Exam Training [Udemy]
- Decoding DevOps – From Basics to Advanced Projects with AI [Udemy]
- Introduction to Cloud Computing on AWS for Beginners [2026] [Udemy]
- AWS Fundamentals: Building Serverless Applications [Coursera] - Best Free Course
About the best AWS courses
Frequently asked questions
- Udemy and Eduonix are best for practical, low cost and high quality AWS courses.
- Coursera, Udacity and EdX are the best providers for an AWS certificate, as many come from top Ivy League Universities.
- YouTube is best for free AWS crash courses.
- PluralSight, SkillShare and LinkedIn are the best monthly subscription platforms if you want to take multiple AWS courses.
- Independent Providers for AWS courses & certificates are generally hit or miss.
- Average
- $132,096 a year
- Middle half earn
- $107,000 to $155,000 25th to 75th percentile
- Full range
- $39,500 to $193,500
Share of US job postings in each pay band; the dark bar holds the average, the striped bars the 25th and 75th percentiles. Source: ZipRecruiter salary data, gathered when this guide was first published in October 2026.
Ultimate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate 2026
Stephane Maarek's 27-hour SAA-C03 prep, backed by nearly 300,000 reviews and refreshed again in September 2026, that students say was enough on its own to pass.
Best for: Anyone who wants one structured path to the Solutions Architect Associate exam, starting from zero AWS experience.


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- 27 hours across 397 lectures, ordered as a progression from IAM and EC2 to VPC rather than a service list
- Refreshed in September 2026, with logged updates every year from 2019 to 2023, so console walkthroughs stay current
- Recent reviewers report passing with this course plus practice exams, some with no other study
- All 800+ slides come as a downloadable PDF, handy for revision in the last week before the exam
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- A three-star reviewer found it thin on why similar services exist and when to pick one over another
- Only one full practice exam is included; several passing reviewers used extra tests
- One reviewer says chapter quizzes don't line up well with the lecture content
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[NEW] Ultimate AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 2026
Stephane Maarek's AWS Cloud Practitioner prep: 14.6 hours, section quizzes, one full practice exam, hands-on Free Tier demos, and last updated in September 2026.
Best for: Complete beginners who want a structured path to the CLF-C02 exam with hands-on console demos, not just slides.


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- Maarek explains each service simply and flags what the exam actually tests, reviewers say.
- Hands-on demos in the AWS Free Tier plus section quizzes and a full practice exam.
- Updated in September 2026, with 32 caption tracks and all 300+ slides as a PDF download.
- Roughly 200,000 five-star reviews, and reviewers report passing the exam with it as their main material.
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- Some hands-on videos still show an older AWS console, so demos can be hard to follow.
- Instructor is voice-over-slides only after the intro; one reviewer found it sleepy.
- Only one practice exam included; one reviewer leaned on a separate six-test pack to pass.
2
Machine Learning A-Z [2026]: ML, DL, AI with AWS, Python & R
A 49-hour survey of nearly every classic machine learning algorithm in Python and R, plus an AWS deployment track, taught intuition-first with diagrams rather than derivations.
Best for: Beginners with high school math who want a map of the whole ML field, with code templates in Python and R, before specialising.


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- Theory lectures explain each algorithm with diagrams and intuition; reviewers say the concepts stick.
- Covers regression through neural networks, plus an AWS track on SageMaker, deployment and CI/CD.
- Python and R tracks can be taken separately, with code templates included for the models.
- Refreshed in June 2026 and backed by 1.2 million students and a 4.5 rating from 206,000 reviews.
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- Coding videos are padded with long intros; one reviewer estimates a quarter of the runtime could be cut.
- Some Python snippets are deprecated and the graded labs fail on variable names, per recent reviews.
- Shallow on statistics; model assumptions are rarely checked, so it can feel like a coding tutorial.
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Ultimate AWS Certified Developer Associate 2026 DVA-C02
A 31-hour DVA-C02 prep with 448 lectures, 29 quizzes and a full practice exam, refreshed in September 2026 and backed by roughly 124,000 reviews at 4.7 stars.
Best for: Developers with basic programming skills who want to pass the Developer Associate exam and actually use Lambda, DynamoDB and API Gateway afterward.


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- Recent reviewers report first-try passes and say the lectures match what the exam actually asks
- Updated September 2026, with 448 lectures, 29 quizzes and a full practice exam included
- Over 700 slides available as a downloadable PDF; one reviewer says he still uses the notes at work
- Clear, fast explanations that one reviewer says needed no supplementing from outside sources
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- Several 2026 reviews complain of an exam voucher pop-up after every lecture that breaks autoplay in the player
- Kinesis is no longer on the AWS free tier, so that hands-on section can't be followed along for free
- Hands-on demos move quickly and there are no projects that combine multiple services
4
[NEW] Ultimate AWS Certified AI Practitioner AIF-C01 (2026)
A 10-hour, exam-focused prep for Amazon's entry-level AI certification from AWS Hero Stephane Maarek, with section quizzes, downloadable slides and one short practice exam.
Best for: Anyone who wants the AIF-C01 badge quickly, especially people who already hold Cloud Practitioner or another AWS cert.


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- Clear, easy explanations; several reviewers passed earlier AWS exams using his courses
- Quiz after most sections, a practice exam, and all 200+ slides as a downloadable PDF
- Hands-on demos of Bedrock, Amazon Q and SageMaker, using the AWS free tier where possible
- Refreshed in September 2026, and one reviewer says Q&A answers reached beyond the AI topics
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- Only one 20-question practice exam; one reviewer says first-timers need at least two full-length tests
- Opens with Bedrock before the AI and ML basics, which one true beginner found too much too soon
- A recent 2-star says agentic AI topics (AgentCore, Strands, MCP) were missing as of August 2026
5
Amazon Web Services (AWS) - Zero to Hero (2019)
A free three hour walk through EC2, RDS, S3, SES and CloudWatch from BackSpace Academy, lifted from the opening section of their certification course, with about 464,000 students enrolled.
Best for: Complete beginners who want to click through real AWS services for free before paying for a certification course.


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- Free and under three hours, so it's a low-risk first look at EC2, RDS, S3, SES and CloudWatch
- Hands-on demos reviewers call clear and easy to follow, with subtitles in 24 languages
- Shows how to clean up resources afterwards to avoid AWS charges, which one reviewer singles out
- Rated 4.5 by about 12,000 reviewers, with roughly 464,000 students enrolled
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- Last updated July 2019, so the AWS console in the videos no longer matches what learners see
- No certificate, no quizzes, and a single section of 14 lectures, so little to practise on
- One reviewer found the video resolution low, and an AWS account is still required
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AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) Exam Training (2026)
What You'll Learn
- MAXIMIZE YOUR TIME EFFICIENCY: Learn at your own pace with theory lectures and guided practical hands-on exercises
- FULL-LENGTH PRACTICE TEST: Assess your exam readiness with 65 unique practice questions delivered in an exam simulation that is timed and scored
- QUIZZES: At the end of each section you get to review your knowledge with a total of 120 unique quiz questions that test your understanding
- EXAM CRAM: These fast-paced lessons are perfect for quick revision. Available for download in PDF format
- ALL DIAGRAMS, CODE AND SLIDES: Available for download in PDF format
- ACTIVE Q&A FORUM: In this discussion board, students ask questions and share their recent exam experience offering feedback on which topics were covered
- RESPONSIVE SUPPORT: Our team of AWS experts respond to all of your questions, concerns or feedback
- ALWAYS UP TO DATE: Our teachings reflect the latest CLF-C02 exam blueprint. All students have lifetime acc
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Deep Learning A-Z [2026]: DL, AI in Python & AWS + LLM Prize
Six-part tour of neural networks, CNNs, RNNs, self organizing maps, Boltzmann machines and autoencoders that leads with intuition and has drawn over 400,000 students.
Best for: Beginners who want to understand why each network works before writing code, across six different architectures.


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- Intuition lectures before every coding section, which reviewers call clear and lucid
- Covers six architectures including SOMs, Boltzmann machines and autoencoders
- Updated June 2026, with AWS sections and an annex on regression and preprocessing
- Links to further reading and code templates included
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- Coding sections reportedly lean on copy and paste, with some keywords left unexplained
- Datasets must be requested from an outside site, which one reviewer found slow
- No transformers in the syllabus, and reviewers call parts outdated or too basic
8
Decoding DevOps From Basics to Advanced Projects with AI (2026)
A 64-hour DevOps survey from Linux basics to Kubernetes, taking in AWS, Terraform, Jenkins and AI helpers, that reviewers find easy to follow and hands-on.
Best for: Newcomers with a little tech background who want one course that touches every major DevOps tool.


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- Covers Linux, AWS, CI/CD, Terraform, Ansible, monitoring and Kubernetes in one place
- Reviewers say explanations are clear and most lessons are hands-on
- Real projects, including an AWS lift and shift and a Google Cloud build
- Updated in June 2026, with a Bestseller badge and about 290,000 students
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- Some reviewers say it drags, with long setups and watch-me-do-it sections
- Breadth over depth: one reviewer says it only teaches the basics
- No coding exercises, and single reviewers report outdated steps and weak support
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Introduction to Cloud Computing on AWS for Beginners [2026]
A short, diagram-heavy tour of core AWS services, from EC2 and VPC to Lambda, built for people starting with no cloud background at all.
Best for: People who learn from diagrams and want a clear first map of core AWS services before picking a certification.


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- Colored diagrams and animations make hard ideas easier to picture
- Clear, unhurried delivery that reviewers describe as easy to follow
- Covers access control, VPC, databases, CloudFormation and Lambda in under 10 hours
- Updated in September 2026, and reviewers say lessons still matched the console
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- Some sections move fast, like the role assignment and STS switch, and skip the why
- Labs are simple and real-world use cases for each service are thin
- No quizzes or practice tests, and Docker and Cognito get light coverage
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AWS Fundamentals: Building Serverless Applications (2019)


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- Course is taught by the best AWS experts in the world.
- The hands-on learning is efficient and effective.
- Covers deep topics but is still accessible to beginners.
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- Its a rare problem for a computer science course to overemphasize practical skills and undervalue theory, but here we are.
- Course is too short for the complex topics covered.
- Course has multiple instructors which can lead to an uneven learning experience.




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