Plain-language explanations
Every answer rewritten in everyday language, with analogies. If you can explain it to a friend, you'll remember it in the exam.
12,000+ practice questions for 19 cloud & AI certifications
Every question carries a worked explanation, a plain-English analogy, and a citation back to the official docs. Free, no signup, no ads — the prep we wished existed when we sat AWS and GCP exams ourselves.
§01By role
Think in job roles, not vendors. Pick the path that matches what you build.
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§02Certifications on ExamLab
The certifications we currently go deep on. Pick the one that matches your career track.
Amazon Web Services AWS
The world's largest cloud platform — compute, storage, ML, security
AI Practitioner
AIF-C01
AWS's first GenAI-era foundational exam. Finish it and you'll know what Bedrock, RAG, and Guardrails actually do in production.
Cloud Practitioner
CLF-C02
The AWS starter exam. Finish it and you'll know how S3, EC2, VPC, and IAM actually fit together.
Data Engineer
DEA-C01
AWS's newest data engineering cert. Finish it and you'll know why Glue ETL bookmarks fail silently, how to make Redshift COPY 16× faster, and how Lake Formation layers on top of IAM.
Developer - Associate
DVA-C02
For people who write code: Lambda cold starts, DynamoDB hot partitions, IAM permission boundaries — it's all here.
Machine Learning Engineer
MLA-C01
AWS's exam for the ML engineer, not the data scientist. Finish it and you'll know how to control SageMaker training cost, when to pick async vs serverless endpoints, and how to tell the four Model Monitor drift types apart.
Solutions Architect - Associate
SAA-C03
AWS's most popular mid-tier exam. Finish it and you'll know why Multi-AZ isn't just a checkbox.
SysOps Administrator - Associate
SOA-C02
The cert for engineers who run AWS, not just design it. Finish it and you'll know what treatMissingData actually does at 3am, which log to grep first when an ALB hits 502, and why detailed monitoring isn't 'more metrics'.
DevOps Engineer - Professional
DOP-C02
AWS's top-tier DevOps cert. Finish it and you'll know how cross-account CodePipeline actually wires up, the lifecycle-hook ordering that makes blue-green deploys safe, and why CloudFormation StackSets drift is so painful to fix.
Solutions Architect - Professional
SAP-C02
AWS's most advanced architect cert. Finish it and you'll know that organizational complexity is the real enemy — and multi-account governance, SCP inheritance, and TGW routing tables are your weapons.
Advanced Networking - Specialty
ANS-C01
AWS's deepest networking cert. Finish it and you'll know that BGP AS-path prepending really gets used in production, the difference between TGW route propagation and static routes, and what each Direct Connect VIF type is actually for.
Security - Specialty
SCS-C02
AWS's security specialty exam. Finish it and you'll know why KMS key policy isn't IAM policy, what breaks first when SCPs go rogue, and where CloudTrail and GuardDuty actually have blind spots.
Google Cloud GCP
Google's cloud platform — data, AI, Kubernetes-native
Cloud Digital Leader
CDL
Google Cloud's foundational cert for business leaders, sales, and IT managers. Finish it and you'll know what Capex-to-Opex really means, where Vertex AI ends and Pre-trained APIs begin, and why least privilege is a business decision — not a technical one.
Generative AI Leader
GENAI-LEADER
Google Cloud's foundational cert for the GenAI era. Finish it and you'll know when to reach for Gemini versus Vertex AI, why grounding beats fine-tuning as a first move, and how to frame hallucination as a managed risk — not a dealbreaker.
Associate Cloud Engineer
ACE
The essential certification for Google Cloud engineers. Master GKE, IAM, and VPC to manage enterprise-grade cloud solutions.
Professional Cloud Architect
PCA
GCP's top-tier architect certification, now with GenAI updates for 2025. Master decision-making across cost, reliability, and security through deep case study analysis.
Professional Cloud Developer
PCD
GCP's cert for engineers who ship code on Google Cloud. Finish it and you'll know why Cloud Run cold starts still happen, when Cloud Functions actually beats Cloud Run, and how Pub/Sub ack deadlines interact with message ordering.
Professional Cloud Network Engineer
PCNE
GCP's networking specialty cert. Finish it and you'll know why VPC peering isn't transitive, how Shared VPC layers permissions over Cloud NAT, and the real SLA gap between Cloud Interconnect and Cloud VPN.
Professional Data Engineer
PDE
GCP's premier data engineering cert. Updated for 2025 with heavy focus on Dataplex governance and Dataform automation for enterprise Data Mesh.
Professional Cloud Security Engineer
PSE
GCP's security specialty cert. Finish it and you'll know how to draw VPC Service Controls perimeters, the operational pain of CMEK key rotation, and why Cloud Armor rule priority can backfire.
Anthropic
Claude — AI agent and safety certifications
§03How to pick a cloud or AI certification in 2026
Certification paths have fragmented across cloud and AI vendors — each exam is calibrated for a specific job role and seniority. ExamLab curates a focused set and goes deep, with more on the way. Picking the right one is less about prestige and more about matching the exam blueprint to the work you actually do week to week.
The question reduces to two filters: level (foundational, associate, professional, specialty) and role (solutions architect, developer, data engineer, security, DevOps, ML). Level affects prep time (40 vs 120+ hours). Role shapes what you'll be tested on.
ExamLab rebuilds every topic from the official exam guide, with plain-language explanations, 30 scenario questions per topic, and timed mock exams. No mass-produced test dumps, no locked premium tiers — just the notes and drills you wish a senior engineer had written for you.
§04Why ExamLab
Trap-question practice
Scenario questions modelled on the official sample exams — every distractor explained so you know why the wrong answers look tempting.
Localised, not machine-translated
Notes and questions are professionally translated — analogies adapted for cultural context, vendor service names kept in English. Read naturally, think clearly.
§05How to get started
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1. Pick a certification
Browse by role or level. Each cert card shows duration, question count, and language support.
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2. Read the topic notes
Domain-by-domain study notes. H2s mirror the official exam blueprint so nothing gets skipped.
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3. Drill with practice questions
30 scenario questions per topic. Untimed. Every option explained, so even wrong answers teach you something.
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4. Sit a timed mock exam
Full-length simulation with the official duration and question count. Take it until the score sticks.
§06FAQ
- Is ExamLab free?
- Yes. All notes, practice questions, and mock exams are free. No signup, no premium tier, no advertising.
- Is ExamLab affiliated with any certification vendor?
- No. ExamLab is an independent editorial project. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.
- Which certifications does ExamLab currently cover?
- ExamLab currently covers certifications from AWS and Anthropic, with more vendors being added. Every live certification ships with full English and Traditional Chinese study notes, practice questions, and timed mock exams. Browse the catalogue for the complete list.
- Where do the questions come from?
- Every question is rewritten from scratch against the official exam guide and public whitepapers. We don't use question dumps.
- How often are notes updated?
- When the certification vendor refreshes an exam version. Each cert page shows the last-aligned date.
- What languages are supported?
- English and Traditional Chinese (正體中文).