AWS AI Practitioner vs Google Generative AI Leader: Which First?

Take the AWS AI Practitioner first if your company runs on AWS or you have not picked a cloud yet. Take the Google Generative AI Leader first if you live in Google Cloud or your job is deciding about AI rather than building it. They cost about the same, 100 USD versus 99 USD plus tax, and both are valid for 3 years. The difference is what they test, and that is what should decide it.

I have taken enough vendor exams over 25 years to know that two foundational certs with the same price and the same validity are rarely the same exam. These two are not. One is a broad AI-on-AWS survey with a scored pass mark. The other is a generative-AI-for-decision-makers exam with no published score at all.

Side by side

	AWS AI Practitioner (AIF-C01)	Google Generative AI Leader
Price	100 USD	99 USD plus tax
Questions	65 (50 scored + 15 unscored)	50–60
Time	90 minutes	90 minutes
Passing score	700 on 100–1,000	Not published
Formats	Multiple choice, multiple response, ordering, matching	Multiple choice
Validity	3 years	3 years
Delivery	Pearson VUE, test center or online	Pearson VUE, online or onsite
Languages	10, including English, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese (Italian and German were retired after October 15, 2026)	English, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese
Prerequisites	None (AWS suggests up to 6 months AI/ML exposure on AWS)	None
Retakes	14-day wait, no attempt limit	14-day wait, max 10 attempts per year

Two 2026 notes. AWS retired the Italian and German versions of AIF-C01 after October 15, 2026, so the exam now runs in the other 10 languages. And Google says the Generative AI Leader exam was recently updated to reflect branding changes, so download the current Generative AI Leader exam guide before you study the product section.

The real differences

Scope. AIF-C01 spreads across five domains: Fundamentals of AI and ML at 20%, Fundamentals of Generative AI at 24%, Applications of Foundation Models at 28%, Responsible AI at 14%, and Security, Compliance and Governance at 14%. Generative AI Leader has four: gen AI fundamentals at about 30%, Google Cloud’s gen AI offerings at about 35%, techniques to improve model output at about 20%, and business strategy at about 15%. AWS tests classic ML and security. Google covers both more lightly, with ML basics inside fundamentals and secure AI inside business strategy.

Vendor weight. Roughly 35% of the Google exam is Google’s own product line. AWS product knowledge is spread through the AIF-C01 domains rather than walled off in one, but it is there. Either way, a third or more of your study time goes to one vendor’s catalog. Choose the catalog you will use.

Question formats. AIF-C01 uses multiple choice, multiple response, ordering and matching. Google uses multiple choice only. The AWS exam is harder to guess through, because multiple response, ordering and matching questions only give credit when every part is right.

Scoring transparency. AWS tells you the pass mark is 700 on a 100 to 1,000 scale. Google publishes nothing. Some people find that freeing. I find it annoying when I am trying to judge how ready I am.

Retakes. Both make you wait 14 days after a fail and pay again. Google caps foundational exams like this one at 10 attempts in a one-year period. AWS has no limit. Neither number should matter to you if you prepare.

Decision guide

Take AWS AI Practitioner first if your workloads are on AWS, or you have no cloud yet. The classic ML and security domains transfer to any platform.
Take Google Generative AI Leader first if you are on Google Cloud and your role is manager, product owner, analyst or sales.
Take AWS first if you want a scored exam with a known target. 700 is a number you can study toward.
Take Google first if your budget is one exam and the people you need to convince are executives, not engineers.
Take AWS first if you plan to go deeper. It leads naturally to the AWS Machine Learning Engineer Associate. Google’s leader cert leads to more Google leader content.
Take Google first if the phrase “multiple response, ordering and matching” makes you nervous. Its format is the simpler of the two.

Should you just do both?

If your organization runs both clouds, yes. The combined cost is 199 USD before tax, and the fundamentals overlap enough that the second exam goes faster: what a foundation model is, what prompting and grounding do, what responsible AI means in practice. Do AWS first because its scope is wider, then pick up Google’s product map in a couple of weekends.

If you are on one cloud, no. A second foundational cert on a platform you do not use is a line on a résumé that nobody reads. Put the $99 and the hours toward the next level on your own cloud instead.

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Keep reading: AWS AI Practitioner study guide · Google Generative AI Leader study guide · Is AWS AI Practitioner worth it? · Is Google Generative AI Leader worth it? · All AI & cloud exam prep

HOW TO // AI is not affiliated with or endorsed by AWS or Google. AWS Certified AI Practitioner is a trademark of Amazon Web Services, Inc.; Google Cloud and Generative AI Leader are trademarks of Google LLC; we reference them descriptively. All content is original. Exam details come from AWS’s and Google Cloud’s official pages as of October 2026 and can change; check the official AWS AI Practitioner and Generative AI Leader exam pages before booking.

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Frequently asked questions

Which is easier, AWS AI Practitioner or Google Generative AI Leader?

Google's format is simpler: 50 to 60 multiple choice questions in 90 minutes. AWS AIF-C01 has 65 questions in 90 minutes, including multiple response, ordering and matching items that only give credit when every part is right. Google does not publish a passing score, while AWS sets 700 on a 100 to 1,000 scale.

How much do the two exams cost?

AWS AI Practitioner costs 100 USD and Google Generative AI Leader costs 99 USD plus tax where applicable. Both charge again for each retake and both certifications are valid for 3 years.

Do either of these exams have prerequisites?

No. Google lists no prerequisites and says the exam suits any job role, technical or not. AWS has no prerequisites either and aims AIF-C01 at people with up to 6 months of exposure to AI and ML on AWS.

Can I take both exams online?

Yes. Both are delivered through Pearson VUE, either online-proctored or at a test center. Google offers Generative AI Leader in English, Japanese, Spanish and Portuguese; AWS offers AIF-C01 in 10 languages after retiring the Italian and German versions after October 15, 2026.