14 Best Microsoft Azure Courses to Take in 2026

Last updated: October 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson. Every course below was opened on its platform on 14 October 2026 to confirm it is still sold and to read its rating, learner count and last-update date, and every exam fact was read on Microsoft Learn the same day. We also read recent r/AzureCertification and r/AZURE threads on what people used to pass. See our review methodology. If you enroll through our links we may earn a commission, which never changes the ranking.

The best Azure course to start with is free: Microsoft Learn, Microsoft’s own training, has a path for every Azure exam. For paid exam prep, Scott Duffy’s AZ-900 and AZ-104 courses on Udemy are the most widely used, and Microsoft’s AZ-900 Specialization on Coursera is the best pick if you want a structured program with a certificate. Pair any of them with practice tests and your own free Azure account.

Azure is the second-largest cloud: Microsoft held 20% of worldwide cloud infrastructure spending in Q2 2026, behind Amazon at 28% and ahead of Google at 15%, according to Synergy Research Group. It is the usual cloud in companies that already run Microsoft 365, Windows Server and Active Directory, which is why Azure skills show up so often in enterprise IT job listings. This guide ranks 14 courses across the main Azure exams (AZ-900, AZ-104, AZ-305, AI-200 and AZ-400, plus the AI-901, DP-900 and SC-900 fundamentals) and across free and paid options.

Comparison: 5 Major Azure Certifications + Best Course Per Level

Exam prices are the US prices shown on each Microsoft Learn credential page on 14 October 2026; Microsoft prices exams by the country you test in. Prices, ratings and course versions change, so check the course page before you buy.

For the wider picture, see our best cloud computing courses and AWS vs Azure guides.

1. Microsoft Learn (Free Official Training)

Best for: everyone, as a first and last stop. Microsoft Learn has a free learning path for every Azure exam, written by the team that writes the exam outline, plus free practice assessments for many exams and sandbox exercises that run in a temporary Azure environment. In the Reddit threads we read, Microsoft Learn was a common answer for AZ-900, usually alongside one video course. Its weakness is exam focus: it teaches Azure broadly, while the paid courses below drill what the exam asks.

Start Microsoft Learn (free).

2. AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam Prep (Scott Duffy, Udemy)

Best for: anyone new to Azure who wants one complete video course. Duffy’s “Master Microsoft Azure Fundamentals: AZ-900 Exam Prep 2026” is rated 4.6 from 142,867 ratings, has 619,170 students and was updated in October 2026, so it tracks the current outline. It covers cloud concepts, core Azure services, governance, security and pricing. AZ-900 is not required for any other Azure exam, but it is the most common first step, and the fundamentals certification does not expire.

See Scott Duffy’s AZ-900 course on Udemy →

3. AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator (Scott Duffy, Udemy)

Best for: IT professionals and cloud administrators. “AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator, Complete Exam Prep” is rated 4.5 from 58,513 ratings, has 325,479 students and was updated in June 2026. It covers identity (Microsoft Entra ID), governance (Azure Policy and RBAC), storage, virtual networks, compute and monitoring. Reddit users who passed with it consistently add two things: hands-on labs in their own subscription and a practice-test bank, because one learner warned the course moves fast and is not enough on its own. Our AZ-104 certification guide covers the exam itself.

See Scott Duffy’s AZ-104 course on Udemy →

4. AZ-305: Designing Azure Infrastructure Solutions (Alan Rodrigues, Udemy)

Best for: experienced administrators moving into architecture. AZ-305 earns the Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification, and Microsoft requires the Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) first. Rodrigues’s course is rated 4.6 from 8,921 ratings, with 74,700 students, and works through identity, governance, data storage, business continuity and infrastructure design. Check before you buy: the course was last updated in September 2025, while Microsoft updated the AZ-305 outline on 17 April 2026, so compare the course sections with the current study guide and fill gaps with Microsoft Learn. See our AZ-305 guide.

See the AZ-305 course on Udemy →

5. AI-200: Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate (Luke Ginn, Udemy)

Best for: application developers, and anyone who was preparing for AZ-204. Microsoft retired AZ-204 (Azure Developer Associate) on 31 July 2026; the developer route is now AI-200, which earns the Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate ($165). It keeps the Azure developer core, such as App Service, Functions, storage and messaging, and adds containers, vector search and Python. Luke Ginn’s course is the substantial lecture-based option and was updated in October 2026, but because the exam is new its 4.5 rating comes from only 143 ratings. Our AZ-204 to AI-200 guide explains what changed.

See the AI-200 course on Udemy →

6. AZ-400: Designing and Implementing DevOps (Alan Rodrigues, Udemy)

Best for: DevOps engineers. AZ-400 earns the DevOps Engineer Expert certification and requires either the Azure Administrator or the Azure Developer Associate first. Rodrigues’s course is rated 4.5 from 13,392 ratings, with 87,499 students, and covers Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, pipelines, infrastructure as code and monitoring. Check before you buy: it was last updated in September 2025, and Microsoft rewrote the AZ-400 skills outline on 27 July 2026, with pipelines now 50 to 55% of the exam. Our AZ-400 guide has the new weights, and our Azure DevOps courses guide lists alternatives.

See the AZ-400 course on Udemy →

7. Microsoft Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 Exam Prep Specialization (Microsoft, Coursera)

Best for: learners who want a structured program with a shareable certificate. Microsoft’s own four-course Specialization on Coursera is rated 4.6 from 189 reviews of its courses, has about 26,000 learners, and Coursera estimates about 3 months at 10 hours a week. It goes further than exam cramming into IT support skills on Azure. You can enroll for free to preview; the certificate needs a paid enrollment or Coursera Plus.

Preview Microsoft’s AZ-900 Specialization on Coursera →

8. AZ-104 Azure Administrator Certification Prep (KodeKloud, Coursera)

Best for: administrators who learn by doing. Mumshad Mannambeth’s KodeKloud team built this four-course, beginner-level Specialization, which Coursera estimates at about 4 weeks at 10 hours a week. It covers Entra ID, Azure Policy and RBAC, ARM templates and Bicep, virtual networks, VPN gateways and load balancing. KodeKloud is known for lab-based teaching, which suits AZ-104’s scenario questions.

View KodeKloud’s AZ-104 prep on Coursera →

9. Microsoft Azure Paths (Pluralsight)

Best for: learners who want sandbox labs and a full catalog. Pluralsight’s Core Tech plan costs $21 a month and Complete costs $39 a month, both billed yearly; the Cloud+ add-on, which includes the former A Cloud Guru library, is $24.50 a month billed yearly (Pluralsight pricing page, 14 October 2026), and there is a 10-day trial. Pluralsight has certification paths for AZ-900, AZ-104 and the other Azure exams. Many employers pay for it.

Try Pluralsight →

10. Azure AI Fundamentals: AI-901 (in28Minutes, Udemy)

Best for: analysts and developers who want an Azure AI credential. Microsoft moved Azure AI Fundamentals to exam AI-901 and updated it on 15 April 2026; the exam costs $99 and the certification does not expire. The in28Minutes course has been retitled for AI-901, is rated 4.5 from 14,285 ratings and was updated in August 2026. Building AI agents is a different, associate-level exam, AI-103.

See the AI-901 course on Udemy →

11. DP-900: Azure Data Fundamentals (Alan Rodrigues, Udemy)

Best for: data analysts and future data engineers. DP-900 ($99) covers core data concepts and Azure’s relational, non-relational and analytics services; Microsoft says it can be a step toward the database administrator or data engineer certifications but is not a prerequisite for them. Rodrigues’s course is rated 4.7 from 4,959 ratings and was updated in March 2026. The data engineering credential is now DP-700 (Fabric); see our Azure data engineer certification guide.

See the DP-900 course on Udemy →

12. SC-900: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals (Phillip Burton, Udemy)

Best for: anyone heading toward Microsoft security roles. SC-900 ($99) covers Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access, Microsoft Defender and Purview compliance concepts across Microsoft 365 and Azure. Burton’s course is rated 4.5 from 2,389 ratings and was updated in September 2026.

See the SC-900 course on Udemy →

13. John Savill’s Technical Training (YouTube, Free)

Best for: free, clear explanations of every Azure exam. John Savill’s channel has 544,000 subscribers and about 1,200 videos, with full study-cram videos for the main Azure exams. In all three r/AzureCertification and r/AZURE threads we read, his videos were recommended next to Microsoft Learn, and one learner from a non-cloud background said a free YouTube series was enough to pass AZ-900. Watch John Savill’s channel. We have no affiliate relationship with it.

14. Cloud DevOps using Microsoft Azure (Udacity)

Best for: learners who want reviewed projects. Udacity’s intermediate Nanodegree runs about 54 hours across 5 courses and 3 projects, was updated on 10 August 2026, and is rated 4.3 from 83 reviews. It covers infrastructure as code, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing and monitoring on Azure, and expects Linux command-line skills first. It is the most expensive option here at $249 a month, so it suits people who value project feedback over the lowest price. See our Udacity Cloud DevOps review.

View the Udacity Azure DevOps Nanodegree →

Free Azure Courses

You can prepare for any Azure exam without paying for a course. The exam fee is the unavoidable cost.

• Microsoft Learn: free paths, free practice assessments for many exams, and sandbox exercises.
• John Savill’s Technical Training: free study-cram videos for the main exams.
• freeCodeCamp: free Azure tutorials and long YouTube courses, including an AZ-104 course mentioned on r/AzureCertification.
• Coursera: enroll for free to preview Microsoft’s and KodeKloud’s Specializations; the certificate needs a paid enrollment.
• An Azure free account: free monthly amounts of many services for 12 months plus 65-plus always-free services, so you can practice in a real subscription.

Free Azure courses with a certificate: Microsoft Learn gives you badges and trophies on your profile, not certificates of completion. The Microsoft certification itself only comes from passing the exam.

Practice Tests and Hands-On Labs

Every Reddit thread we read said the same thing: video courses are not enough for the associate exams. Add these:

• Microsoft’s free practice assessments on the exam pages, which use the real question styles.
• A paid practice-test bank. Tutorials Dojo was called “the de facto standard” in one thread, and others used Whizlabs or MeasureUp, Microsoft’s official practice-test partner. Two learners in one thread found the Tutorials Dojo questions tough, which is useful preparation.
• Your own labs. One learner kept lab costs to about $20 to $25 a month by deleting resources after each session. Set a budget alert first.

Are Azure Certifications Worth It?

For people who work in, or want to work in, Microsoft-based companies, yes. Associate-level exams ($165) test real configuration work, so passing one is a credible signal, and fundamentals exams ($99) are a cheap way to prove you know the basics. A certification does not replace experience: hiring managers still ask what you have built. The best return comes from pairing AZ-104 or AI-200 with a few projects you can show, such as a deployed web app, a network with secured access, or a CI/CD pipeline.

Do Azure Certifications Expire?

Fundamentals certifications (AZ-900, AI-901, DP-900, SC-900) do not expire. Associate and expert certifications (AZ-104, AI-200, AZ-305, AZ-400) are valid for a year, and you renew them free by passing an online assessment on Microsoft Learn in the months before they expire. If you fail an exam, Microsoft’s retake policy makes you wait 24 hours for the second attempt and 14 days for later ones, with up to five attempts in 12 months.

How to Choose the Right Azure Course

• New to Azure (beginners): Microsoft Learn plus #2 or #7 for AZ-900.
• Cloud admin or IT pro: AZ-900, then AZ-104 with #3 or #8, plus a practice-test bank.
• Cloud architect: AZ-104 first (required), then AZ-305 with #4.
• Developer: AI-200 with #5 and Microsoft Learn.
• DevOps engineer: AZ-104 or AI-200, then AZ-400 with #6.
• Data or AI: DP-900 (#11) or AI-901 (#10) after the fundamentals.
• Security: SC-900 (#12).
• Want project feedback: Udacity (#14).
• No budget: Microsoft Learn, John Savill and an Azure free account.

A 6-Week AZ-900 Study Plan

• Weeks 1 to 2: Microsoft Learn’s AZ-900 path, plus one video course.
• Week 3: create an Azure free account; deploy a web app, a storage account and a virtual network, then delete them.
• Week 4: governance, pricing and support topics, which beginners underrate.
• Week 5: Microsoft’s free practice assessment, then a paid practice bank.
• Week 6: review weak areas and book the exam when you score well above the pass mark in practice.

Related: Weighing AWS as well? Our guide to the best AWS courses covers the main certification courses and AWS’s free official training.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best Azure course for beginners in 2026?

Start with Microsoft Learn’s free AZ-900 path. For a video course, Scott Duffy’s AZ-900 course on Udemy is rated 4.6 from 142,867 ratings and was updated in October 2026; for a structured program with a certificate, Microsoft’s AZ-900 Specialization on Coursera.

Are there free Azure courses?

Yes. Microsoft Learn is free for every Azure exam and includes practice assessments and sandbox exercises. John Savill’s YouTube channel and freeCodeCamp are also free. Only the exam itself costs money: $99 for fundamentals and $165 for associate and expert exams in the US.

Which Azure certification should I get first?

AZ-900 (Azure Fundamentals) if you are new to cloud. If you already work in IT, many people go straight to AZ-104 (Azure Administrator), which is also the prerequisite for the AZ-305 architect certification.

Are Azure certifications worth it?

Yes for Microsoft-based employers. Associate exams test real configuration work, so they are a credible signal, but they work best alongside projects you can show.

How long does it take to learn Azure?

About 2 to 4 weeks for AZ-900 at 5 to 10 hours a week, and 2 to 3 months for AZ-104. Hands-on practice in a real subscription is what usually decides how fast you get there.

Do Azure certifications expire?

Fundamentals certifications do not expire. Associate and expert certifications are valid for a year and renew for free by passing an online assessment on Microsoft Learn.

What replaced AZ-204?

Microsoft retired AZ-204 (Azure Developer Associate) on 31 July 2026. The developer route is now AI-200, which earns the Azure AI Cloud Developer Associate.

Can I use Microsoft Learn instead of paid courses?

Yes, many people pass with Microsoft Learn plus free videos. Paid courses help mainly with exam focus, and a practice-test bank helps more than a second video course.

Is Azure better than AWS?

Neither is better overall. AWS is larger (28% of cloud spending in Q2 2026 against Microsoft’s 20%, per Synergy Research Group), and Azure is the usual choice in Microsoft-based companies. See our AWS vs Azure guide.