By Quick answer: Which AI certifications are best for software engineers?
- Azure — AI-102.
- AWS — ML Engineer ($150).
- GenAI — Databricks GenAI Engineer, LLM course.
- Free — Anthropic and OpenAI academies.
Key takeaways
- Engineers who can ship AI features are in demand.
- Start with free API courses; certify on your cloud.
- Build one AI feature end to end, with evaluation.
AI and ML specialists are among the fastest-growing roles in the WEF's 2025 report, and most AI work in companies is done by software engineers adding AI features. These seven certifications prove you can build with AI.
Seven AI certifications for engineers
Ranked for this reader. Costs and formats come from each issuer's own page, checked on 3 November 2026; prices change, so confirm before you book.
| # | Certification | Cost | Time | Prove it free |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Microsoft Azure AI Engineer Associate (AI-102)Microsoft | Exam priced by country1 | 100 minutes | Free test |
| 2 | AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – AssociateAmazon Web Services | $1502 | Check issuer | Free test |
| 3 | Databricks Certified Generative AI Engineer AssociateDatabricks | $2003 | 90 minutes | Free test |
| 4 | Generative AI with Large Language ModelsDeepLearning.AI & AWS / Coursera | Coursera plan4 | 2 weeks at 10 hours a week | Free test |
| 5 | Anthropic Academy – Claude CoursesAnthropic | Free5 | Self-paced | Free test |
| 6 | OpenAI AcademyOpenAI | Free6 | Self-paced | Free test |
| 7 | Google Cloud Professional Machine Learning EngineerGoogle Cloud | $2007 | 2 hours, multiple choice | Free test |
Prove it free before you pay for an exam
Take the free test first. Pay for an exam only when you pass.
Every pick above has a matching free practice test on Science of Apps, one of the world's largest libraries of free certification tests (1,200+). Check your level before you pay for an exam, or add a verifiable credential to LinkedIn while you study. (Disclosure: we publish these tests; the certifications above earn us nothing.)
- AI-102 Practice TestPractise for Microsoft Azure AI Engineer Associate (AI-102) before you pay.Start free test →
- AWS ML Engineer Associate Practice ExamPractise for AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate before you pay.Start free test →
- Databricks Generative AI Engineer Practice ExamPractise for Databricks Certified Generative AI Engineer Associate before you pay.Start free test →
- LLM Application Development CertificationPractise for Generative AI with Large Language Models before you pay.Start free test →
Each certification, and what it lets you build
- MicrosoftMicrosoft Azure AI Engineer Associate (AI-102)AI apps on AzureExam priced by country
- AWSAWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – AssociateML on AWS$150
- DatabricksDatabricks Certified Generative AI Engineer AssociateLLM apps on Databricks$200
Microsoft Azure AI Engineer Associate (AI-102)
- Cost
- Exam priced by country1
- Format
- 100 minutes
Building AI solutions on Azure, including generative AI apps. 100 minutes. Microsoft's associate exam proves you can build AI solutions on Azure, including generative AI, language and vision apps. It's a 100-minute exam priced by country, needs coding skills and renews free online each year.
Best forAI apps on Azure
AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate
- Cost
- $1502
Data preparation, training, deployment and monitoring on AWS. $150. AWS's associate exam proves you can prepare data, train, deploy and monitor machine learning models on AWS. It costs $150 and expects hands-on ML and AWS experience, making it a strong credential for ML engineers.
Best forML on AWS
Databricks Certified Generative AI Engineer Associate
- Cost
- $2003
- Format
- 90 minutes
Building LLM applications on Databricks. 90 minutes, $200. Databricks' associate exam proves you can design and build LLM applications on the Databricks platform, from data preparation to evaluation. It's 90 minutes and costs $200, so it suits data and AI engineers whose teams use Databricks.
Best forLLM apps on Databricks
Generative AI with Large Language Models
- Cost
- Coursera plan4
- Time
- 2 weeks at 10 hours a week
How LLMs work, fine-tuning and deployment, about two weeks part-time. DeepLearning.AI and AWS's course explains how large language models work, how to fine-tune and evaluate them and how to deploy them. It takes about two weeks at ten hours a week and suits developers and data scientists with Python.
Best forLLM fundamentals
Anthropic Academy – Claude Courses
- Cost
- Free5
Anthropic Academy's free courses on building with Claude. Anthropic Academy's free courses teach how to use Claude well and how to build with Anthropic's API, from everyday prompting to developer workflows. They suit both professionals and developers.
Best forbuilding with Claude, free
OpenAI Academy
- Cost
- Free6
OpenAI Academy's free learning on OpenAI's tools. OpenAI Academy's free learning covers using ChatGPT and OpenAI's tools effectively at work and in education. It's practical and tool-specific, so pair it with a tool-neutral course if you use several assistants.
Best forbuilding with OpenAI, free
Google Cloud Professional Machine Learning Engineer
- Cost
- $2007
- Format
- 2 hours, multiple choice
Google Cloud's professional ML exam for production ML engineers. Google Cloud's professional exam tests production machine learning: framing problems, building pipelines and serving and monitoring models. It's two hours, costs $200 and is aimed at experienced ML engineers.
Best forsenior ML on Google Cloud
An AI feature to build
- Retrieval — answer questions over your own documents.
- Evaluation — a test set and a score.
- Guardrails — handle bad input and failures.
- Monitoring — log cost and quality.
How we ranked these picks
We ranked AI certifications by how directly they help engineers build and deploy AI features. Fees come from official pages, checked 3 November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI certification is best for developers?
Azure AI-102 or AWS ML Engineer, matched to your cloud.
Are free AI courses useful for engineers?
Yes; Anthropic and OpenAI academies teach their APIs.
Do I need ML theory to build AI apps?
Not for many LLM features; it helps for custom models.
Is Databricks GenAI worth it?
Yes if your company uses Databricks.
Is there a free AI test for developers?
Yes. Science of Apps offers free AI and ML tests.
Sources
- Microsoft — Microsoft Azure AI Engineer Associate (AI-102), official page (checked 3 Nov 2026)
- Amazon Web Services — AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate, official page (checked 3 Nov 2026)
- Databricks — Databricks Certified Generative AI Engineer Associate, official page (checked 3 Nov 2026)
- DeepLearning.AI & AWS — Generative AI with Large Language Models, official page (checked 3 Nov 2026)
- Anthropic — Anthropic Academy – Claude Courses, official page (checked 3 Nov 2026)
- OpenAI — OpenAI Academy, official page (checked 3 Nov 2026)
- Google Cloud — Google Cloud Professional Machine Learning Engineer, official page (checked 3 Nov 2026)
- Checked November 4, 2026. Figures that change — fees, salaries, prices — are reviewed every six months; if something is out of date, tell us.
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Prove the skill before you pay for the exam.
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