A Complete Guide to Google Cloud Certifications

Cloud computing is part of most enterprise IT strategies, and public cloud offerings from Amazon, Microsoft, and Google feature high on the list of technologies selected. While Google's cloud offerings — Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and the G Suite set of office productivity apps — trail their AWS and Azure competitors, Google's CEO has claimed that it is the fastest-growing major public cloud provider in the world.

With this background, it's no surprise that Google has been busy promoting its Google Cloud Certification and Google Developer Certification programs to increase user adoption of the Google Cloud Platform. 

The CBT Nuggets Google Certification Guide is a comprehensive introduction to the various Google IT professional certificate paths for Google Cloud Certification and Google Developer Certification, included in these sections:

What are Google Cloud and Developer Certifications?

Google Cloud Platform represents a small part of Google's overall product and services offerings, trailing its search and advertising offerings. There are numerous Google certifications for search, web advertising, and education. 

For example, Google Certified Level 1 certification validates a teacher's proficiency in using Google tools in their classroom. This guide does not concern itself with search or advertising but is focused instead on Google certification programs related to Google Cloud technology (including G Suite) and development certifications.

Google currently offers 11 cloud certifications:

• Google Cloud Digital Leader

• Google Associate Cloud Engineer 

• Google Associate Cloud Workspace Administrator 

• Google Associate Data Practitioner  

• Google Professional Cloud Architect

• Google Professional Cloud Database Engineer

• Google Professional Cloud Developer 

• Google Professional Data Engineer

• Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer

• Google Professional Cloud Network Engineer

• Google Professional Cloud Machine Learning Engineer 

Google Cloud certifications begin with the Google Cloud Digital Leader, a lower-level cert that shows you understand the cloud and Google's offerings in that arena. Then, it moves on to associate-level certifications for those new to IT or the Google Cloud Platform. Beyond that, we go to professional-level Google tech certification accreditations for more experienced IT professionals — in roles such as data engineers, cloud architects, and collaboration engineers.

Google Cloud Digital Leader

The Google Digital Leader certification is designed for anyone who wants to show they understand cloud computing basics and have a deep understanding of the services and  products Google Cloud offers. 

This is not a highly technical certification; rather, it's designed for professionals to show they understand the basics and the products Google offers. 

The CDL exam covers a variety of topics, including: 

• How Google Cloud can transform digital offerings 

• Data transformation with Google Cloud 

• How to use Google Cloud AI to drive innovations 

• Trust and security in Google Cloud

• Scaling operations using Google Cloud 

Required exam:  Requires passing one exam, the Google Cloud Digital Leader

Prerequisites:  None 

Recommended experience:  Experience working with tech professionals

Google Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE)

The Google Associate Cloud Engineer certification is designed for IT professionals who are new to cloud computing or for junior-level people who are new to cloud computing and the Google Cloud Platform.

The ACE exam validates a candidate's understanding of both general and GCP-specific cloud topics, including:

• Set up a cloud solution environment

• Plan and configure a cloud solution

• Deploy and implement a cloud solution

• Ensure successful operation of a cloud solution

• Configure access and security

Required exam: Earning the Google ACE certification requires passing one exam — the Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE) exam.

Prerequisites: None

Recommended experience: Google recommends that candidates have 6 or more months of hands-on experience with the Google Cloud Platform.

Google Associate Workspace Administrator 

The Google Associate Workspace Administrator certification is designed for IT professionals responsible for managing and securing Google Workspace environments. It’s ideal for IT administrators, help desk personnel, and technical support engineers who oversee collaboration tools like Gmail, Drive, and Meet.

The Associate Google Workspace Administrator exam validates a candidate's ability to:

• Manage user accounts and organizational units

• Configure and support core Workspace services

• Implement data governance and compliance policies

• Manage security policies and access controls

• Oversee endpoint management

• Troubleshoot common Workspace issues

Required exam: To earn the certification, candidates must pass the Associate Google Workspace Administrator exam.

Prerequisites: None

Recommended experience: Google recommends 6 months of hands-on experience with Workspace administration, including user management, security configurations, and troubleshooting.

Google Associate Data Practitioner  

The Google Associate Data Practitioner certification is designed for IT professionals who manage and secure data on Google Cloud. It’s ideal for those working with data ingestion, transformation, pipeline management, analysis, machine learning, and visualization. Candidates should have a basic understanding of cloud computing models, including IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS.

The Associate Data Practitioner exam validates a candidate’s ability to:

• Prepare and ingest data

• Analyze and present data

• Orchestrate data pipelines

• Manage and secure data

Required exam: To earn the certification, candidates must pass the Associate Data Practitioner exam.

Prerequisites: None

Recommended experience: Google recommends 6+ months of experience working with data on Google Cloud.

Google Professional Cloud Architect (PCA)

The Google Professional Cloud Architect certification is designed for IT professionals who design, develop, and manage secure, scalable, high-availability cloud solutions based on the GCP.

The Google PCA exam validates a candidate's understanding of both general and GCP-specific cloud topics including:

• Design and plan a cloud solution architecture

• Manage and provision the cloud solution infrastructure

• Design for security and compliance

• Analyze and optimize technical and business processes

• Manage implementations of cloud architecture

• Ensure solution and operations reliability

Required exam: Earning the Google PCA certification requires passing one exam — the Professional Cloud Architect (PCA) exam.

Prerequisites: None

Recommended experience: Google recommends that candidates have more than 3 years of industry experience, including at least one year designing and managing GCP-based solutions.

Google Professional Cloud Developer (PCD) 

The Google Professional Cloud Developer certification is designed for app developers who design and build applications to run on the GCP. Candidates should have experience with GCP products such as Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, Security key integration, and BigQuery.

The Google PCD exam validates a candidate's understanding of both general and GCP-specific development topics, including:

• Design highly scalable, available, and reliable cloud-native applications

• Build and test applications

• Deploy applications

• Integrate Google Cloud Platform services

• Manage application performance monitoring

Required exam: Earning the Google PCD certification requires passing one exam — the Professional Cloud Developer (PCD) exam.

Prerequisites: None

Recommended experience: Google recommends that candidates have more than 3 years of industry experience, including more than one year designing and managing GCP-based solutions.

NOTE: A new version of this certification goes live March 12, 2025. For updated information about what the certification will cover, view this guide from Google. 

Google Professional Data Engineer (PDE)

The Google Professional Data Engineer certification is designed for IT professionals who design and implement data processing systems and deploy operational machine learning models on the Google Cloud Platform.

The Google PDE exam validates a candidate's understanding of both general and GCP-specific data processing and analysis topics, including:

• Design data processing systems

• Ingest, store, and process data 

• Maintain and automate data workloads 

• Prepare data and use it for analysis 

Required exam: Earning the Google PDE certification requires passing one exam — the Professional Data Engineer (PDE) exam.

Prerequisites: None

Recommended experience: Google recommends that candidates have more than 3 years of industry experience, including more than one year designing and managing GCP-based solutions.

Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer (PCSE)

The Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer certification is designed for security analysts, engineers, and architects who design and implement secure infrastructures on the Google Cloud Platform.

In order to pass the exam for this Google tech certification, a security professional must have a thorough understanding of the Google Cloud Platform and Google Security Technologies, as well as an excellent grounding in IT security in general. They must have the skills and knowledge to configure and manage GCP security technologies as part of a secure cloud infrastructure.

The Google CSE exam validates a candidate's understanding of both general and GCP-specific security topics, including:

• Configure access within a cloud solution environment

• Configure network security and secure communications 

• Ensure data protection

• Manage operations within a cloud solution environment

• Support compliance in a cloud environment

Required exam: Earning the Google PCSE certification requires passing one exam — the Professional Cloud Security Engineer (PCSE) exam.

Prerequisites: None

Recommended experience: Google recommends that candidates have more than 3 years of industry experience, including more than one year designing, managing, and securing GCP-based solutions.

Google Professional Cloud Network Engineer (PCNE)

The Google Professional Cloud Network Engineer certification is designed for network engineers and architects who implement, manage, and optimize network architectures on the Google Cloud Platform. Candidates should have experience implementing VPCs, hybrid connectivity, network services, and security for established network architectures.

The Google PCNE exam validates a candidate's understanding of both general and GCP-specific networking topics, including:

• Design, plan, and prototype a GCP network

• Implement a GCP virtual private cloud (VPC)

• Configure network services

• Implement hybrid interconnectivity

• Implement network security, including troubleshooting 

Required exam: Earning the Google PCNE certification requires passing one exam — the Professional Cloud Network Engineer (PCNE) exam.

Prerequisites: None

Recommended experience: Google recommends that candidates have more than 3 years of industry experience, including one or more years of hands-on experience designing, deploying, and managing GCP-based networked solutions.

Google Professional Cloud Machine Learning Engineer 

The Google Professional Machine Learning Engineer certification is designed for professionals who build, evaluate, and optimize AI solutions using Google Cloud. It’s ideal for those working with large datasets, generative AI, MLOps, and scalable machine learning models. Candidates should have experience with data platforms, distributed data processing tools, and AI model deployment.

The Professional Machine Learning Engineer exam validates a candidate’s ability to:

• Architect low-code AI solutions

• Collaborate across teams to manage data and models

• Scale prototypes into ML models

• Serve and scale models in production

• Automate and orchestrate ML pipelines

• Monitor and optimize AI solutions

Required exam: To earn the certification, candidates must pass the Professional Machine Learning Engineer exam.

Prerequisites: None

Recommended experience: Google recommends 3 or more years of industry experience, including 1 year or more designing and managing ML solutions on Google Cloud.

How Much Does It Cost to Get Google Certified?

The Google certification exam cost varies by level. The Google Cloud Digital Leader cert costs $99, while the Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer, Associate Data Practitioner, and Associate Google Workspace Administrator certification costs $125. Each Google Cloud Certified Professional certification costs $200.  

Your total Google certification program cost will include costs for study materials and Google certification training courses that you take in preparation for taking the exam. Google provides many free exam preparation resources such as study guides, videos, and labs. However, you may incur costs for other study resources, so budget accordingly.

Google Recertification and Renewal

Because of the rate of technology change, Google certification programs — like most others nowadays — have expiration dates. While it may seem like a pain to have to recertify and renew your Google Cloud certification or your Google developer certification, it does make sure that your credentials are current and valuable.

The lower level certs are generally valid for three years, while the higher level Google Cloud Professional certifications are generally valid for two years from the date certified. All candidates must recertify in order to maintain their certification status. At or before expiration, candidates must complete the registration and certification process again in order to renew their certification.

Google Certification Salary and Career Information

Now, your Google Cloud experience and certification will be just one indicator of the value that you bring to the table. Other factors such as regional cost-of-living, industry, and company size will play a big part in how much a job will pay. A 2025 search of the Indeed.com job search site for full-time jobs requiring Google Cloud showed over 42,000 opportunities with salaries from $50,000 to over $125,000. 

Compensation data provider PayScale tracked salaries for employees with Google Cloud Platform expertise in the AppEngine and BigQuery products. These products are most closely related to the Google Professional Cloud Developer and Google Professional Data Engineer certifications. DevOps engineers with Google AppEngine skills commanded average salaries of $95,000, while software engineers were averaging $95,000 to $105,000 depending on seniority. The average salary for professionals with Google BigQuery skills was $106,000. With the current interest in data analytics and big data, the Google Professional Data Engineer certification looks like a good bet financially.

Google Cloud Certification vs AWS Certification

Our purpose here is to compare the Google Cloud certification program with AWS certification, by looking at the comprehensiveness of the certification programs and the relative career opportunities.

AWS has an extensive multi-level certification program, with certifications for entry-level (Foundational), junior (Associate), early career (Professional), and senior-level (Specialty) personnel, while Google Certification is primarily focused on early-career professionals, with the Google Professional Cloud, Google Professional Data Engineer, and Google Professional Collaboration Engineer Certifications. However, the addition of the Machine Learning Engineer cert may also be of interest as AI and machine learning become more prevalent. 

The first thing to ask is: Which cloud platform does your current (or future) employer use? If you know the answer, great—that’s your direction. If not, AWS might be the safer bet since it tends to offer more job opportunities and has a wider market share.

A July 2019 search of the job site Indeed.com/ showed nearly four times more jobs requiring AWS certification than those requiring Google Cloud certification. Also, with AWS certification, you have the opportunity to achieve higher-level certifications as your career progresses. Google Cloud certification does not yet support that career progression.

Ready to Start Training for a Google Cloud Certification?

Good luck to you as you start on your Google certification path. Our course offerings do change from time to time as we support the Google certification roadmap, so be sure to check CBT Nuggets for new and updated Google certification video training courses.

All of our Google Cloud training contains built-in quizzes to help reinforce what you're learning. Our subscriptions also provide access to CyberVista IT Training Practice Exams, which provide a baseline for learners to test their knowledge. These practice exams help learners evaluate their strengths and weaknesses so they can pinpoint areas to focus on when studying.  

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