99 Best + Free Cloud Computing Courses & Certificates [2026]
Ranked by Michael Kuhlman, CourseDuck's founder, from student reviews across every provider. How we rank
Our top picks
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Fundamentals for Beginners [Udemy]
- A Practical Introduction to Cloud Computing [Udemy]
- Microsoft Azure: From Zero to Hero - The Complete Guide [Udemy]
- Azure Data Factory For Data Engineers - Project on Covid19 [Udemy]
- Cloud Computing Fundamentals [Udemy]
- GCP Professional Cloud Architect: Google Cloud Certification [Udemy]
- TOTAL: Cloud Computing / CompTIA Cloud+ (CV0-004) [Udemy]
- Azure Architect Technologies [Udemy]
- Introduction to the Cloud - The basics in only 2 hours! [Udemy]
- AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator - Full Course -2026 [Udemy]
About the best Cloud Computing courses
Frequently asked questions
The most-reviewed course in this category is Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Fundamentals for Beginners by Janakiram MSV, with about 52,100 reviews at 4.5 as of October 2026. For Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure: From Zero to Hero - The Complete Guide by Memi Lavi has about 23,300 reviews at 4.7. Amazon Web Services has its own category.
Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud, cloud computing fundamentals and architecture, serverless, cloud security, and data engineering with Azure Data Factory.
Paid Udemy video courses include a certificate of completion when you finish; free courses and practice-test-only courses do not. It shows you did the work, but it is not a cloud certification. Credentials such as Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (exam AZ-900) and Google's Associate Cloud Engineer come from passing the provider's own exam; some courses here, and many more in our IT certifications category, prepare you for them.
1
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Fundamentals for Beginners (2025)
A 5.5-hour tour of Google Cloud's main services, from compute to Vertex AI, built for newcomers who want the map before the hands-on work.
Best for: Newcomers, or AWS and Azure users, who want a quick high-level map of Google Cloud services before choosing what to study.


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- Instructor is described as clear and engaging, not monotonous, with good delivery
- Covers the main services across 14 short sections, so each one gets a plain-English intro
- Includes newer material such as Vertex AI, generative AI and observability
- Short enough to finish in a few evenings, with 10 quizzes to check understanding
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- Mostly slides and explanation, with only one demo per section and no coding exercises
- Overview depth only, so reviewers say it skims services and is not enough alone
- Last updated January 2025, and one reviewer says newer or renamed Google services are missing
2
A Practical Introduction to Cloud Computing (2021)
A free two and a half hour primer that defines cloud computing properly, walks through IaaS, PaaS and SaaS with live demos, and ends with a TCO cost comparison.
Best for: IT staff and managers who need the cloud vocabulary and service models explained clearly in one sitting, for free.


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- Builds from on premises and colo through virtualisation to cloud, so the why is clear before the what
- Well paced delivery that reviewers say does not pile on complexity
- Free, and finishable in a single afternoon at 2.6 hours across 20 lectures
- Ends with a practical TCO spreadsheet comparing on premises against cloud costs
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- Last updated April 2021 and the PaaS demo uses IBM Bluemix, so the tooling looks dated
- Intro music is much louder than the narration, and one colo lecture has quiet audio
- Quiz questions are described as ambiguous, and one reviewer wanted more examples
3
Microsoft Azure: From Zero to Hero - The Complete Guide (2026)
A 21-hour Azure build-along that deploys one fictional bookstore across compute, networking, data, identity and cost, written for developers who are new to the cloud.
Best for: Developers with no cloud background who want to learn Azure by building one app from start to finish.


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- One bookstore app is built across compute, networking, data and identity, so the services connect
- Reviewers say Lavi explains complex topics simply and in a clear, structured order
- Last updated August 2026; the changelog lists Front Door (2025) and deployment slots (January 2024)
- Starts from what the cloud is, so no earlier cloud experience is needed
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- Reviewers flag uneven volume, 1080p video that is not enough and a fast speaking pace
- Cloud Shell errors are not covered, and some demos lean on a VS Code extension
- A few reviewers call it a bit outdated and say Azure has changed since some videos were made
4
Azure Data Factory For Data Engineers - Project on Covid19 (2026)
A hands-on Azure Data Factory course built around one real project, a Covid-19 data pipeline that touches Data Lake, Databricks, HDInsight, and CI/CD.
Best for: IT pros or on-prem data engineers moving to Azure who want a full pipeline, not isolated demos.


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- CI/CD setup in Azure DevOps singled out as excellent by a reviewer
- One real Covid-19 project ties Data Factory, Databricks, and HDInsight together
- Includes monitoring and Power BI reporting on top of the pipeline build
- Updated as recently as March 2026, with CI/CD content added in 2022
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- A few reviewers say the delivery is hard to follow for true beginners
- Covid dataset and Databricks connection method are getting dated
- No coding exercises or practice tests, just lecture and follow-along
5
Cloud Computing Fundamentals (2021)
A vendor-neutral, under-three-hour primer on cloud models, migration risks and security that suits total beginners, though the accent and the 2021 content hold it back.
Best for: Beginners who want the vocabulary and security risks of cloud computing before choosing AWS, Azure or Google.


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- Vendor-neutral tour of IaaS, PaaS, SaaS and public, private and hybrid clouds
- Seven quizzes help the ideas stick, according to reviewers
- Sixteen-lecture security section covers the risks the Cloud Security Alliance identified
- Transcripts in most videos soften the accent problem
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- Accent and pronunciation are the top complaint, even in four and five star reviews
- Mostly theory, with no live cloud examples and no coding exercises
- Last updated May 2021, and one reviewer finds it dated next to other cloud courses
6
GCP Professional Cloud Architect: Google Cloud Certification (2026)
What You'll Learn
- Start your journey to become a Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect
- Get hands-on with compute, networking, storage, and database services in Google Cloud Platform
- Understand how to architect and deploy secure and robust applications on Google Cloud Platform
- Understand the best practices for building available, scalable, resilient and secure applications on the Google Cloud Platform
7
TOTAL: Cloud Computing / CompTIA Cloud+ (CV0-004) (2025)
What You'll Learn
- Implement appropriate security controls given requirements.
- Analyze system requirements to successfully execute workload migrations to the cloud.
- Determine proper allocation of cloud resources and apply necessary changes, based on performance data.
- Troubleshoot capacity, automation, connectivity and security issues related to cloud implementations.
- Apply appropriate technologies and processes, including automation and orchestration, to ensure desired system performance.
8
Azure Architect Technologies (2025)
An exam-focused walk through the AZ-300 and AZ-303 Azure architect objectives, with a long run of hands-on infrastructure labs from a teacher reviewers call detailed.
Best for: People who are preparing for the AZ-303 architect exam and already know basic Azure.


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- Reviewers say Alan Rodrigues explains each Azure service in real depth
- 144 lectures on infrastructure cover virtual machines, networking and storage
- Several reviewers passed AZ-303, and some AZ-304, using his material
- Last updated September 2025, with 20 articles and two practice tests included
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- A three-star reviewer says the course alone will not pass the exam
- Labs use generic names like demouser and demovm and stick to the easy path
- Practice answers lack detail, and quizzes only come at the end of sections
9
Introduction to the Cloud - The basics in only 2 hours! (2026)
What You'll Learn
- Understand basic Cloud concepts
- Differentiate between PaaS, IaaS, and SaaS offerings
- Understand public, private, and hybrid cloud models
- VMs, containers, databases, and serverless options in the cloud
- Downloadable PDF Slides and Study Guides for many key lessons!
- Frequent quizzes to check your knowledge as you go!
10
AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator - Full Course -2026
A 59-hour AZ-104 exam prep with portal, PowerShell and CLI labs for identity, networking and storage, popular with working admins despite some dated videos.
Best for: IT admins with networking and VM basics who want lab-heavy AZ-104 prep in the portal, PowerShell and CLI.


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- Identity, networking and storage labs done three ways: portal, PowerShell and Azure CLI, plus two practice tests.
- Reviewers say the explanations are detailed and easy to take notes from.
- Big, recent student base: 4.4 stars from about 7,700 reviews, most of them four or five stars.
- Seventeen caption tracks and a certificate on completion.
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- Low-star reviews say many videos still show the old portal and Azure AD naming instead of Entra ID.
- Audio and video quality varies between lectures, and the accent plus a verbal tic bother some students.
- One reviewer reports wrong answers in the included practice tests.
11
Azure Data Engineer Technologies for Beginners [Bundle] (2024)
What You'll Learn
- You will be able to identify right Azure SQL Server deployment option, purchasing model and service tier according to requirements and will be able to deploy it in cloud.
- You will able to deploy Azure Synapse Analytics (formerly known as Azure SQLData warehouse) in Azure Cloud environment.
- You will have good internal MPParchitecture understanding, and so you will be able to analyse your on-premises data warehouse, and migrate data to Azure Data Warehouse.
- You will be able to create Azure Data Lake Gen1 storage account, populate it will data and analyze it using U-SQL Language.
- You will understand Azure Data Factory key components and advantages. You will be able to create, schedule and monitor simple pipelines.
- We will understand how HDInsight makes Hadoop easy, and we will go through simple demo where well fetch data from Data Lake, process it through Hive and later will store data in SQL Server.












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