By Amotion AIAnthropic offers free courses on Claude Academy. Courses such as Claude 101, Claude Code 101 and Claude Code in action end with a quiz and a completion badge. A completion badge is not a Claude certification. The four Claude certifications (Associate, Developer, Architect Foundations and Architect Professional) each require a paid, proctored exam.
This page lists the free courses, explains what each badge shows, and suggests which courses to take before each certification exam.
Free Claude Academy courses with a completion badge
| Course | Length | Useful before |
|---|---|---|
| Claude 101 | 13 lessons, 1 quiz, 2.5 hours | Associate Foundations |
| AI Fluency: Framework and Foundations | 14 lessons, 1 quiz, 4 hours | Associate Foundations |
| Introduction to Claude Cowork | 14 lessons, 1 quiz, 2.5 hours | Associate Foundations |
| Introduction to Claude Tag | 11 lessons, 1 quiz, 2.5 hours | Associate Foundations |
| AI Capabilities and Limitations | 13 lessons, 1 quiz, 3.5 hours | Associate Foundations, Architect Professional |
| Claude Code 101 | 12 lessons, 1 quiz, 1.5 hours | Developer Foundations, Architect Foundations |
| Claude Code in action | 9 lessons, 1 quiz, 1 hour | Developer Foundations, Architect Foundations |
| Claude Platform 101 | 13 lessons, 1 quiz, 1.5 hours | Developer Foundations |
| Building with the Claude API | 67 lessons, 8 quizzes, 9 hours | Developer Foundations, Architect Foundations |
| Introduction to Model Context Protocol | 10 lessons, 1 quiz, 1 hour | Developer Foundations, Architect Foundations |
| Model Context Protocol: Advanced topics | 11 lessons, 1 quiz, 1.5 hours | Architect Foundations, Architect Professional |
| Deploying Claude Enterprise with Confidence | 14 lessons, 1 quiz, 2.5 hours | Architect Professional |
| Building Effective Human-Agent Teams (beta) | 5 lessons, 1 quiz, 45 minutes | Architect Foundations |
| Claude with Amazon Bedrock | 65 lessons, 8 quizzes, 8 hours | Teams deploying on AWS |
| Claude with Google Cloud's Vertex AI | 66 lessons, 9 quizzes, 8.5 hours | Teams deploying on Google Cloud |
Claude Academy also lists shorter courses without a stated badge, including Introduction to Subagents, Introduction to Agent Skills and The AI-native SDLC Playbook, and AI Fluency courses for students, educators, nonprofits, small businesses, builders and creative work.
Completion badge or Claude certification: what is the difference?
| Claude Academy completion badge | Claude certification | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | US$99 to US$175 per exam attempt |
| How you earn it | Finish the lessons and pass the course quiz | Pass a proctored exam of 53 to 63 questions in 120 minutes |
| Who can take it | Learners who meet the course requirements; Claude 101 requires a Claude account on any plan | Candidates aged 18 or over at a Claude Partner Network organisation, using a recognised company-domain partner email |
| What it shows | You completed the course | You met Anthropic's standard for a named role |
| Validity | Not stated | 12 months from the award date |
When a listing explicitly names one of Anthropic's four Claude certifications, it refers to that proctored credential. For example, a Unisys AI architect listing names Architect Foundations as required or to be obtained within an agreed timeframe after joining. A completion badge shows you have studied the product; the certification shows you passed Anthropic's exam.
Which free courses to take before each exam
The four exams have no required courses. The order below is Timo's suggestion based on each exam's official domains.
Associate Foundations (CCAO-F). Start with Claude 101, then AI Fluency: Framework and Foundations. The largest exam domain, at 21%, is checking Claude's output, so practise reviewing Claude's answers on your own work tasks as you go. Read the CCAO-F guide.
Developer Foundations (CCDV-F). Take Claude Platform 101, then Building with the Claude API, then Introduction to Model Context Protocol. Applications and Integration is 33.1% of the exam, so the API course matters most. Read the CCDV-F guide.
Architect Foundations (CCAR-F). Take Building with the Claude API, Claude Code in action and both Model Context Protocol courses. Agentic Architecture & Orchestration is the largest domain at 27%, and the courses teach the building blocks the exam scenarios combine. Read the CCAR-F guide.
Architect Professional (CCAR-P). Take Deploying Claude Enterprise with Confidence and Model Context Protocol: Advanced topics. Integration is the largest domain at 19%, and governance plus stakeholder work make up 28% of the exam, which no single course covers. Read the CCAR-P guide.
Is the Claude 101 certificate worth it?
Claude 101 is free and takes about two and a half hours. It is a good way to learn Claude's everyday features, and you can add the completion badge to your LinkedIn profile. It is not a certification, and a listing that explicitly names Associate Foundations asks for the proctored credential. If you want the credential, treat Claude 101 as a first step towards Associate Foundations.
From courses to the exam
Courses teach how Claude's products work. The certification exams test decisions in realistic situations, such as which tool to give an agent or when a human should review an answer. After the courses, test yourself with a free 20-question practice test for your track:
- Claude Certified Associate Foundations practice exam
- Claude Certified Developer Foundations practice exam
- Claude Certified Architect Foundations practice exam
- Claude Certified Architect Professional practice exam
Timo membership includes 20 full mock exams, five per certification, with 1,180 questions in total. To book an exam you need a Claude Partner Network affiliation; if your employer is not a partner, see how to register through Timo.
Sources
- Claude Academy courses, checked 25 September 2026
- Anthropic exam guides for CCAO-F, CCDV-F, CCAR-F and CCAR-P, version 1.0, effective July 2026
- Anthropic certification FAQ, checked 25 September 2026
Registration and related guides
Use the registration guide for booking, payment, cancellation and support. Compare all four certifications, read the Architect overview and Architect exam guide, or try the Claude certification questions and answers.