Free AI Certifications in 2026: 15 Free Programs, Honestly Labeled

Two AI certifications are completely free, proctored exam included: Oracle’s OCI AI Foundations Associate and Oracle’s Agentic AI Foundations Associate. Every other free option is a certificate of completion or a skills badge, and a few of those (Microsoft Applied Skills, AWS microcredentials) prove more than their $0 price suggests.

Below are the 15 free programs we verified on each provider’s own site, labeled by what you actually walk away with. You’ll also find the free exam-voucher offers that are (and aren’t) open right now, and the cheapest paid exams if you need a big-name certification.

At a glance

Checked against each provider’s own pages (Oracle MyLearn and Oracle University, Microsoft Learn, AWS, Google Cloud and Google Skills, Anthropic’s Claude Academy, IBM SkillsBuild, Databricks, Kaggle, Hugging Face, Elements of AI, CS50, Salesforce Trailhead, DeepLearning.AI) on October 8, 2026.

Certificate, badge or certification: know what you’re getting

Search results for “free AI certification” mix three very different things. Here’s how they compare, from the lightest proof to the strongest:

A certificate of completion shows initiative. A graded skills credential shows you can do one specific task. A proctored certification is the only one of the three where someone checks that it was really you who passed, under exam conditions. List all three on a resume if you like, but label them accurately: “Certificate of completion” is not “Certified.”

All 15 free AI certifications and certificates, verified

Costs are as listed by each provider on October 8, 2026. “Free” means the credential itself costs nothing, not just the videos.

The 2 free proctored AI certifications (both from Oracle)

Oracle OCI AI Foundations Associate (1Z0-1122-26) is the free AI certification most people should start with. Oracle’s August 2026 certification update says every Foundations-level course and certification stays free, and OCI certifications are valid for 24 months. The exam page on Oracle MyLearn lists a 60-minute multiple-choice exam with no registration required, and the check-in steps tell you to turn on your webcam, install Oracle’s proctoring browser extension and have a government ID that matches your profile name. No AI, machine learning or coding background is required. Oracle’s public pages don’t list the question count or passing score for this version, so check the exam topics inside the free learning path. Start with our OCI AI Foundations study guide and free OCI AI Foundations practice questions.

Oracle Agentic AI Foundations Associate (1Z0-1157-26) launched in June 2026 and is also free: a 60-minute multiple-choice exam (40 questions, 65% to pass) with the same online proctoring check-in. It’s a step up: Oracle’s course assumes basic LLM concepts, working Python and some familiarity with Oracle Cloud, so take it after OCI AI Foundations if you build software.

Are Oracle’s free certifications as well known as AWS or Microsoft ones? No. But they are real, proctored, vendor-issued certifications that cost nothing, which makes OCI AI Foundations an ideal first credential while you work toward a bigger name. Here’s how the major AI certifications rank.

Free hands-on skills credentials: Microsoft, AWS and Databricks

These sit between a course certificate and a full certification: you only earn the credential by passing a graded task, though Microsoft and Databricks don’t watch you on camera the way a proctored exam does.

Microsoft Applied Skills

Applied Skills are free, lab-based assessments: you complete real tasks in a live Microsoft environment, then the lab is scored. Beginner labs give you 30 minutes and intermediate or expert labs 45, and you can retake a lab 72 hours after your last attempt. There is no webcam proctor; Microsoft records your actions inside the lab, not your face or voice. AI options listed today include Get started developing agents in Microsoft Foundry and Streamline business workflows with AI chat (both beginner), plus Build an agent in Microsoft Copilot Studio, Develop a Generative AI Chat App Using the Microsoft Foundry SDK and Integrate model context protocol tools with agents in Microsoft Foundry. Microsoft announced in June 2026 that Applied Skills will become part of its new Pro Badges family. If you’re aiming at a Microsoft certification, see our Microsoft AI certifications guide.

AWS microcredentials

Since April 23, 2026, AWS microcredentials have been free with no Skill Builder subscription. Each is a timed, hands-on lab in a live AWS environment with no multiple-choice questions, and passing earns a Credly badge. The AI-related ones are AWS Agentic AI Demonstrated plus two added on September 29, 2026: AWS Securing Agent Identities Demonstrated and AWS Databases for Agentic AI Demonstrated. They suit people who already build on AWS; beginners should start with the AWS AI Practitioner study guide instead. More in our AWS AI certifications overview.

Databricks Generative AI Fundamentals accreditation

Databricks’ one-hour Generative AI Fundamentals training leads to a roughly 20-minute quiz. Score 80% and you get a Databricks badge, issued by email and viewable at credentials.databricks.com. Databricks says its badge assessments are free and non-proctored, and you see your result as soon as you finish.

Free AI courses with a certificate

Searching for free AI courses with a certificate? These give you one at no cost. None is a proctored certification, but they’re good learning and honest resume lines.

• Anthropic’s Claude Academy: free courses from Anthropic’s education team, including AI Fluency: Framework and foundations (4 hours) and AI capabilities and limitations (3.5 hours). Sign in with a free Claude account and pass a course’s quizzes to earn a certificate of completion you can download as a PDF, add to LinkedIn or share with a verification link. Anthropic’s older Skilljar academy is still online with free courses such as Claude 101, which also ends in a certificate of completion. These are not the Claude certification exams, which are paid and partner-only: see who can take a Claude certification.
• IBM SkillsBuild: IBM describes the platform as 100% free. Courses marked with a digital credential issue a badge on Credly; Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals takes 10+ hours, and the shorter Craft Precise Prompts for AI Models about 4.
• Google Skills: Google Cloud Skills Boost now redirects to Google Skills. The 45-minute Introduction to Generative AI course awards a badge, and skill badges require passing a hands-on challenge lab. Labs cost credits: joining Google’s free GEAR program gives you 35 learning credits a month, and university students can request 200. The Generative AI Leader learning path prepares you for Google’s $99 exam; see our Google Generative AI Leader study guide.
• Kaggle Learn: short, practical courses that Kaggle lists as “No cost, like all Kaggle Learn Courses,” each with a certificate. Intro to Machine Learning takes about 3 hours and builds on Kaggle’s free Python course; Intro to Deep Learning and Intro to AI Ethics are there too.
• Hugging Face AI Agents Course: free, and Hugging Face says the certification process is completely free with no deadline. Finish Unit 1 for a certificate of fundamentals, or Unit 1 plus a use-case assignment and the final challenge for a certificate of completion. Plan on 3–4 hours a week per unit and basic Python.
• Elements of AI (Introduction to AI): a free course from the University of Helsinki and MinnaLearn with a free certificate. To pass you complete at least 90% of the exercises and get 50% right, including some peer-reviewed answers. The University of Helsinki Open University can record 2 ECTS credits for eligible learners. The follow-on Building AI course is free to take, but its certificate costs €50.
• CS50’s Introduction to AI with Python (Harvard): free through CS50 OpenCourseWare. Score at least 70% on every project and you’re eligible for a free CS50 Certificate; edX sells a separate verified certificate. CS50 lists CS50x or at least a year of Python as the prerequisite.
• Microsoft Learn: all training is free. Modules earn badges and learning paths earn trophies on your Learn profile, and Microsoft itself calls these achievements, not credentials. The AI-901 learning paths are the free prep for Azure AI Fundamentals.
• AWS Educate and AWS Skill Builder: AWS Educate is free, open to learners 13 and older with just an email address, no credit card, and awards digital badges. Skill Builder has more than 900 free self-paced courses; a subscription ($29 a month or $449 a year) unlocks the rest.
• Salesforce Trailhead: free hands-on training with badges. Agentblazer Status has three levels (Champion, Innovator, Legend) that you renew each year; the Legend level includes earning the Agentforce Specialist certification, which is a paid exam ($200).
• NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute: NVIDIA offers many of its self-paced courses free and attaches a certificate to select courses. Useful prep for the NVIDIA NCA-GENL exam.

Looks free, but the certificate costs money

Free AI exam vouchers: what’s open in October 2026

We found no free AI certification voucher offer open to the general public on October 8, 2026. The 2026 promotions have all closed:

• Microsoft Credentials AI Challenge (January 20 to March 2, 2026): earn one of three free AI Applied Skills, then enter a sweepstakes for one of 5,000 vouchers worth 50% off.
• Microsoft AI Agent Skills Sweepstakes (June 15 to July 15, 2026): earn an eligible Applied Skill for a chance at one of 900 vouchers for 100% off exam AB-100, AB-900 or AB-620.
• AWS AI Practitioner offer (May 26 to September 30, 2026): 50% off the AI Practitioner exam, and passing it unlocked a free Cloud Practitioner exam to be taken by November 30, 2026. Today the AWS AI Practitioner exam costs $100.

Discounts that stay on all year: AWS gives everyone who passes an AWS exam a 50% voucher for recertification or another exam; Microsoft lets you renew eligible certifications every year for free with a short online assessment; and Anthropic gives Global Premier partners 100% off its Claude exams through December 31, 2026.

Worth knowing: both of Microsoft’s 2026 voucher promotions asked for an Applied Skills credential earned during the entry window. Earning a free Applied Skill now means you’ll already know the lab format if Microsoft runs another one.

Need a big-name certification? The cheapest paid AI exams

For the best-known AI certifications, the vendor training is free and the exam is the only cost. Our study guides and practice questions for each are free too. For retakes and renewal costs, see what AI certifications really cost or try the AI certification cost calculator.

Prices are US list prices before tax; Microsoft’s exam prices vary by country. Torn between the two cheapest cloud options? Read AWS AI Practitioner vs Azure AI Fundamentals.

Your free next step: before you pay for any exam, take our free AI certification practice questions. They’re original questions written from each vendor’s published exam guide, with a plain-English explanation on every answer and no sign-up, so you’ll know whether you’re ready before you spend a dollar.

Which free AI certification should you start with?

• New to AI, not technical: start with Elements of AI or Claude Academy’s AI Fluency course to learn the concepts, then sit OCI AI Foundations for a free proctored credential.
• Want a real certification on your resume for $0: OCI AI Foundations. Use our study guide and practice questions, then sit the free exam.
• Developer: the Hugging Face AI Agents Course, then a free hands-on credential on the cloud you use: AWS Agentic AI Demonstrated or Microsoft’s Get started developing agents in Microsoft Foundry.
• Heading to a paid exam: pair the vendor’s free training with our free practice questions. Not sure which exam? See AI certifications for beginners.

HOW TO // AI is not affiliated with or endorsed by Oracle, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Google, Anthropic, IBM, Databricks, Kaggle, Hugging Face, the University of Helsinki, MinnaLearn, Harvard, Salesforce, NVIDIA, DeepLearning.AI, Coursera or CompTIA. All program and certification names are trademarks of their respective owners, referenced descriptively. Prices and offers were checked on October 8, 2026; confirm current terms with the provider.

More certification guides: OpenAI Certification: What OpenAI Actually Offers in 2026 (and What to Take Instead) and Prompt Engineering Certification in 2026: 10 Real Options, Honestly Compared.

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