10 Best AWS Certifications for Beginners and Experienced in 2024

Find out which AWS Cloud certification is right for you depending upon your skills, experience, and career growth with links to resources to prepare.

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11 min readJan 26, 2022

10 Best AWS Certifications To Aim — image_credit — Whizlabs

Hello guys, if you are thinking to take your cloud skills to next level in 2024 or want to become an AWS certified cloud professional then you have come to the right place.

In the past, I have shared many free and paid courses to learn AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud certification, and today, I am going to share the 10 best Cloud certifications for AWS Cloud professionals can aim for in 2024.

These certifications are provided by Amazon itself and they are highly regarded. These are also role-based certifications which means you have certificates from developers, DevOps engineers, system admins, software architects, DBAs, Security experts, Network experts, Big Data professionals, and Data Analysts. You can choose them depending upon your skill and experience.

Btw, if you are a complete beginner in the cloud then I highly recommend your o start with AWS cloud Practitioner, that’s the easiest of all the AWS certifications and you can pass it in one week of serious study. You can also use this certification to learn the basics of cloud computing and much more.

Many companies have changed from using web hosting to cloud computing such as AWS and the cloud computing term has shifted from nice to have a cloud hosting for running your business to a mandatory thing that enterprises can not change or use an alternative like a regular web hosting or shared one.

These kinds of changes demand the employee learn new skills of development maintenance deploy as well as managing your web application in the cloud and there is no better place to deploy your work than Amazon AWS which is a bunch of services that offered from the gain company amazon for running and hosting your application on the cloud.

Today’s article will show you many online courses that offer certification for learning different tasks such as learning how to deploy and manage the application on the cloud taking care of the security of your business and more.

10 Best AWS Cloud Certifications for IT Professionals

Here is the list of best AWS and Cloud Certifications you can aim for in 2024. You don’t need to pass all these AWS certifications unless you want to become an AWS hero like Stephane Maarek, but you rather choose which one is best for you depending upon your profile, career aspirations, and experience.

The list is starting from developer certification but it has certifications for beginners, project managers, system admins, database people, Big data, and machine learning experts.

3. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (Best Cloud Certificate for Beginners)

This certificate is for entry-level who want to understand the core and general infrastructure of amazon AWS without any focus on a specific service and you can go to the associate certification after completing this program.

If your organization is using AWS then it’s a brainer to go for this certification and even if your organization is not using but you want to start with AWS then Cloud Practitioner should be the first certification to aim in 2024.

You will need to take and pass the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam (CLF-C01) exam to earn this certification. The exam features a combination of multiple-choice and multi-select questions

If you need resources I highly recommend that this Ultimate AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner can help you with your journey.

2. AWS Certified Developer — Associate (Best Cloud Certification for Programmers)

This is the best cloud certification for software developers and programmers. This certification is for people having at least one year of developing and maintaining the AWS applications and teaches you the core of the AWS services and how to use the basics of these services.

If you are a developer like Java developer or Python developer and want to learn Cloud computing and AWS then this is the best certification for you.

If you are already committed to passing this certification in 2024 and need a good resource then this course of Udemy called the AWS Certified Developer — Associate prepares you for this certification.

3. AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate (Best Cloud Certificate for Software Architects)

This is probably the most popular AWS certificate and also the best one for experienced people like experienced developers, software architects, tech leads, and solution architects.

This kind of certificate is good for people who want to perform and define solution architects like deploying the web application and securing them. In short, the best cloud certification for senior developers and solution architects.

To earn this certification, you’ll need to take and pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate exam (SAA-C02) which not only required answering questions but also performing some lab activity.

The exam is also very scenario-focused and needs a deep understanding of different AWS services to answer correctly. That’s why you need to prepare hard to become an AWS certified solution architect.

Thankfully, there are a lot of courses out there teaching you these skills and one of them is called Ultimate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate offered on the Udemy platform by Stephane Maarek, an AWS Guru I highly recommend this course to anyone who is serious about AWS solution architect associate exam in 2024.

best AWS certification for exeperienced professionals

4. AWS Certified SysOps Administrator — Associate (Best Cloud Certificate for System admins)

The AWS Certified SysOps Administrator — Associate exam validates that a candidate has the experience and skills to contribute and ‘hit the ground running.

This is one of the best AWS certifications for Linux admins, System Admins, and Support professionals, and you will gain a wide range of knowledge and skills including Deploying, managing, and operating scalable, highly available, and fault-tolerant systems on AWS while preparing for this certification.

It will also help you to choose the right services for your next application as well as determine the costs and control the data flow of your AWS account.

If you want to become an AWS Certified System Administrator and need a course to prepare we'll then Probably this course called Ultimate AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate is the best one to prepare you for this role and get certified.

best AWS certification for system admins

5. AWS Certified Data Analytics — Specialty (Best Cloud Certificate for Data Analysts)

The AWS Certified Data Analytics — Specialty exam validates individuals who have the in-depth skills required to build, deploy, and tune data models, and to earn this certification, you’ll need to take and pass the AWS Certified Data Analytics — Specialty exam (DAS-C01).

This is one of the best AWS Certifications for Data scientists and it's totally worth it because you will gain a solid understanding of the base layers of the data science hierarchy of needs.

This specialty certification will prepare you for a role in data analytics and your job is collecting the data than storing them as well as the processing and finally, visualization to get insights of your AWS account is consuming the data and power.

And, if you want to become an AWS Certified Data Analytics engineer then you can take this course AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty on udemy to help you earn this certificate.

best AWS certification for Data Scientiests

6. AWS Certified Advanced Networking — Specialty (Best Cloud Certificate for Networking experts)

AWS Certified Advanced Networking — Specialty is intended for individuals who perform complex networking tasks with five years of hands-on experience. You need to pass the AWS Certified Advanced Networking — Specialty (ANS-C00) exam to become an AWS Certified Network Engineer.

This is one of the best AWS certifications for network architects, network engineers, and DevOps engineers, who are involved in designing, deploying, and managing AWS cloud and hybrid network solutions.

You will learn and perform complex tasks related to networking as well as designing, developing, and deploying your application to the AWS cloud and maintaining all the network architecture of AWS.

A course on udemy called AWS Certified Advanced Networking — Specialty can help you learn the skills needed to pass the certification exam.

best AWS certification for network engineers

7. AWS Certified Security — Specialty (Best Cloud Certificate for Security Experts)

The AWS Certified Security — Specialty exam validates technical skills and experience in securing and hardening workloads and architectures on the AWS.

To earn this certification, you’ll need to take and pass the AWS Certified Security — Specialty exam (SCS-C01). This certification is for people who have at least two years of experience in the AWS workload and want to learn security such as data encryption and securing your web application inside your AWS account.

This is one of the best AWS certifications for Security professionals, particularly those who are involved in Cloud Security and if you want to go for this certification and need sources then you should check out this advanced course called AWS Certified Advanced Networking — Specialty on udemy helps you learn these skills.

best AWS certification for Security professionals

8. AWS Certified DevOps Engineer — Professional (Best Cloud Certificate for DevOps Engineers)

The AWS Certified DevOps Engineer — Professional exam validates technical expertise in provisioning, operating, and managing distributed application systems, and to earn this certification, you’ll need to take and pass the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer — Professional exam (DOP-C01).

It’s an AWS professional certificate targets people who have at least two years of using AWS services and you will learn to design and maintain automation tools as well as monitor metrics of your AWS system automate the security controls and more.

This is one of the best AWS Certifications for DevOps Engineers and DevOps Champion and if you want to prepare for this certification in 2024 then you can also checkout a comprehensive course called AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional on Udemy to prepare better.

best AWS certification for DEvops Engineers

9. AWS Certified Database — Specialty (Best Cloud Certificate for DBAs)

A specialty certification recommends from you have at least five years of working with databases technology and two years using AWS services and you will learn how to design and maintain databases inside AWS for your web application.

This is one of the best AWS certifications for Database administrators. The AWS Certified Database — Specialty exam validates expertise in recommending, designing, and maintaining the optimal AWS database solution.

To earn this certification, you’ll need to take and pass the AWS Certified Database — Specialty exam (DBS-C01). If you want to go for this exam and need a preparation resource then you can also check out this course called Ultimate AWS Certified Database Specialty which is a great choice to start your journey.

best AWS certificatoin for DAtabase admins

10. AWS Certified Big Data — Specialty (Best Cloud Certificate for Bit Data Professionals)

If you love working with large datasets then this certification is right for you since you learn how to deal with complex Big data like designing and data analysis as well as creating automation tools for analyzing them.

The AWS Certified Big Data — Specialty certification is intended for individuals who perform complex Big Data analyses with at least two years of experience.

To earn this certification, you’ll need to take and pass the AWS Certified Data Analytics — Specialty exam (DAS-C01). It’s one of the best AWS Certifications for Big Data Developers.

If you want to become an AWS certified Big Data Developer then this course on udemy called AWS Certified Big Data can help you a lot in achieving this goal.

Best AWS certification for Big Data Professionals

That’s all about the best AWS certifications you aim for in 2024. You have seen many Amazon AWS certifications that you can earn from home and start your next new career in developing designing securing your enterprise web application as well analyzing the data and much more.

I have also categorized which certification is for beginners and which is for experts. You can choose to depend upon your experience and skills but if you’re a beginner, I highly recommend you to start with AWS Cloud Practitioner certification, that’s the easiest of all and you can pass this exam in just one week of serious study.

Other Certification Resources for IT Professionals and Java Programmers

Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like these AWS and Cloud Certifications then please share them with your friends and colleagues. If these questions have helped you to pass the exam, then please spread the word so that other people can also benefit.

P. S. — If you are a complete beginner into AWS and Cloud Computing and looking for some free courses to learn AWS then you can also check out this AWS Essentials (FREE Course) from Linux Academy on Udemy. It’s a nice course to start with and you can get it free. All you need is a Udemy account to access this course.