Are Google certifications free? Which ones are and which are not
It depends on which Google credential you mean. The 12 credentials in the table above are free in full: Google states that Skillshop is available at no cost and that its foundational certifications continue to be free of charge, and the two completion awards come from programmes Google describes as free. Searches for Google certifications free often have a paid product in mind, so this list of free Google certification courses sorts the credentials into three groups.
Skillshop certifications earned by passing an assessment
Most of the free Google certificates here are Skillshop certifications for Google Ads and Google Analytics. Each course page has one section headed pass the assessment and earn a certification; the study sections around it are marked optional or recommended. Passing that assessment is the only requirement. The listed certifications are Google Ads Search, Google Ads Display, Google Ads Video, Google Ads Measurement, AI-Powered Shopping ads, AI-Powered Performance Ads, Google Ads Apps, Google Ads Creative, Grow Offline Sales and the Google Analytics Certification.
Two add a step. Measurement requires a short pre-survey before its optional modules unlock, though only the assessment awards the certification. Analytics places the assessment in its fifth and final section, marked required, after four recommended study sections.
Awards earned by completing a course
Fundamentals of Digital Marketing has no single assessment to pass; on completing its 17 modules, about 40 hours of material, you earn a badge or award that appears under Awards on your public Skillshop profile and can be added to LinkedIn; Google's help centre says an award is not a formal credential in the way a certification is. Create a Budget in Google Sheets, a lesson of about 7 hours from Google's Applied Digital Skills programme, shows a credential for completion on its page. It is written for middle-school and high-school students, and the page says nothing about verification, so treat it as a record of completion rather than a certification.
Google credentials that are paid, so not listed
Google Career Certificates and Google AI Essentials are sold on Coursera as a monthly subscription after a trial, so neither the course nor the certificate is free. Google has also said that its newer proctored professional certifications will require a fee. Google Skills has a no-cost Starter plan with badges, but its cloud and AI courses join this list only once a page makes the free tier clear. For free credentials in those subjects see IBM, AWS or the AI certifications page.
How to verify a free Google certification
After you pass a Skillshop assessment, Google gives you a unique link per certification that opens the certification or badge. Awards also sit on your public Skillshop profile, where you can print them or copy and share the URL. Use that link rather than a screenshot: it is what an employer can check. Google says all Skillshop certifications are valid for one year from the date issued unless the certificate states otherwise, renewed by passing the assessment again, so a certification shown without a date may have lapsed.
Is the Google Ads certification free, and which one first?
Yes. Every Google Ads certification course on Skillshop pairs optional study with a free assessment, and access to the material is unlimited, so you can study and retry at your own pace. Skillshop's average completion time and proficiency level for each course are a fair guide to order.
If you have never run a campaign, start at beginner level. Google Ads Display takes about 2 hours 56 minutes including its study section; AI-Powered Shopping ads is the shortest at about 1 hour 15 minutes; Google Ads Video, on YouTube advertising, is about 4 hours 1 minute. Search is labelled intermediate, and its study sections on the Ads auction, responsive search ads and AI-powered bid strategies assume you have seen an account before. Without any Google Ads account, begin with Fundamentals of Digital Marketing, which covers strategy, search, social media and email before any single product.
Is the Google Analytics certification free, and what does it test?
It is free on the same terms as the Google Ads ones: Skillshop at no cost, no price on its course page, a shareable link on passing; Google's free-of-charge statement for foundational certifications is written for Google Ads, so for Analytics the evidence is the platform policy and the course page. Its page shows no total duration, so plan around the four recommended study sections. The assessment expects you to understand the event-based data model and privacy controls, move between the Reports, Explore and Advertising workspaces, set up key events, conversions and audiences, reason about attribution and sampling, and connect Analytics with Google Ads. Google labels it intermediate. For the measurement side of advertising, Google Ads Measurement is narrower and about 2 hours 40 minutes. Both appear on the data analytics certifications page.
Are free Google certificates worth listing?
They are product certifications, so their value is highest where the product is used. Google describes certified Search users as able to turn a marketing vision into a coherent strategy and use Smart Bidding to improve performance; the Analytics and Measurement pages describe configuring properties and conversion tracking. A team that runs Google Ads can check those claims through the link. Elsewhere, a Skillshop certification shows product knowledge rather than experience, and it needs renewing after a year. The completion awards say less: they confirm you finished the material, not that you were assessed on it.
For marketing credentials not tied to one advertiser's tools, the HubSpot certifications are free and verifiable, and the digital marketing certifications page lists both providers. For Google's free courses more generally, see the Google provider page.