Google's best free AI courses are Introduction to Generative AI and its follow-up courses on Google Skills, which carry no charge and award skill badges, plus Machine Learning Crash Course for technical learners. Google AI Essentials gives a Google certificate, but it runs on Coursera and the certificate needs a paid subscription unless you get financial aid or a scholarship.
Google offers more free AI learning than almost any other company, but it is spread across five different places: Google Skills (formerly Google Cloud Skills Boost), Grow with Google, Google for Developers, Google DeepMind and Kaggle. That is why "free AI course by Google" searches are so confusing, and why so many posts promise a "free Google certificate" that turns out to need a subscription.
This page lists only courses made or run by Google, says exactly which ones are free, and separates three things people often mix up: a free course, a free skill badge and a paid Google certificate. If you want the wider list, including IBM, Microsoft and university options, see our free AI courses with certificate.
Which free Google AI course should you take first?
Start with Introduction to Generative AI if you are new to AI, and Machine Learning Crash Course if you already know some Python and maths. Everything else on this page builds on one of those two.
Your goal
Start with
Then
Understand AI tools, no coding
Introduction to Generative AI
Introduction to Large Language Models
Use Gemini better at work
AI Power-Ups for Google Workspace
Google AI Essentials (paid certificate)
Become an ML engineer or data scientist
Machine Learning Crash Course
Kaggle Learn courses
Understand how LLMs are built
Introduction to Large Language Models
Google DeepMind's AI Research Foundations
Teach AI in a school
Generative AI for Educators with Gemini
Experience AI lessons
If generative AI is new to you, our explainer on what generative AI is takes five minutes and makes Google's first course much easier to follow.
Do Google's free AI courses give a certificate?
Most free Google AI courses give a skill badge, not a certificate. Google's own AI learning page labels each course with what you earn: "Badge" for the no-charge Google Skills courses, "Certificate" for Google AI Essentials, and "Professional Certificate" for the newer Google AI Professional Certificate.
What each term means in practice:
Skill badge: a free digital credential from Google Skills that you can share on LinkedIn. It proves you completed a specific course or lab.
Certificate: a Google Career Certificate such as AI Essentials, completed on Coursera. The learning can be tried free, but earning the certificate needs a paid subscription unless you get aid.
Certification: a proctored Google Cloud exam with a fee, aimed at cloud and ML professionals.
10 free AI courses by Google, checked
How we chose: every course here is made or run by Google or a Google company. We checked each one on Google's official pages in October 2026 for price, what you earn at the end, level and duration. Where Google lists a course as "No charge", we say Free. Where we could not confirm the price on an official page, we say so. Courses are grouped from beginner to advanced.
1. Introduction to Generative AI (Google Skills)
Provider:
Google Cloud
Price:
Free
Certificate:
Free skill badge
Level:
Beginner
Duration:
About 45 minutes
The front door to Google's AI learning and the course most people mean when they search for a free AI course by Google for beginners. In a short video lesson, Google explains what generative AI is, how it is used and how it differs from traditional machine learning, then introduces Google tools for building generative AI apps.
Google lists it as introductory, no charge and about 45 minutes long, with a skill badge at the end.
Who should skip it: if you already use ChatGPT or Gemini daily and know what an LLM is, go straight to Introduction to Large Language Models.
2. Introduction to Large Language Models (Google Skills)
Provider:
Google Cloud
Price:
Free
Certificate:
Free skill badge
Level:
Intermediate, no coding
Duration:
About 1 hour
The natural second step. This micro-course explains what large language models are, where they are useful and how prompt tuning can improve their output, with a look at Google tools for building generative AI applications.
Google lists it at about an hour, marks it no charge and awards a skill badge. Google's AI learning page labels it intermediate, but it needs no coding.
Honest note: it explains concepts, not code. If you want to build something with an LLM afterwards, pair it with a hands-on project such as our RAG chatbot build.
3. Introduction to AI Image Generation (Google Skills)
Provider:
Google Cloud
Price:
Free
Certificate:
Free skill badge
Level:
Intermediate
A short course on the diffusion models behind AI image tools. It suits designers, marketers and students who use image generators and want to understand why they produce what they do, including their limits.
Google marks it no charge, intermediate, with a skill badge on completion.
Who it is not for: if you never work with images, skip it and spend the time on the LLM course or Machine Learning Crash Course instead. Badges are most useful when they match the work you want to do.
The shortest useful course on this list. In about 15 minutes, it shows how to use Gemini in Google Workspace to summarise emails, find information and draft replies so you manage your inbox faster.
Google marks it no charge, beginner, with a badge. It is ideal for office workers, teachers and small business owners who already use Gmail and Docs.
The catch: the features it teaches depend on Gemini being available in your Workspace account. Check with your company or college admin before you assume you can follow along.
5. Google AI Essentials (Grow with Google, on Coursera)
Provider:
Google (Grow with Google)
Price:
Free trial; then subscription
Certificate:
Paid, unless aid or scholarship
Level:
Beginner
Duration:
Under 5 hours
The course behind most "Google AI certificate" searches. It is self-paced, takes under five hours across five modules (introduction to AI, productivity tools, prompting, responsible AI and staying current), and needs no technical experience.
How the certificate works, honestly: AI Essentials runs on Coursera. You can start with a 7-day free trial, but the Google certificate is earned through a paid subscription after that. Coursera financial aid (where the course offers it), or a scholarship through Google's partners in India such as NASSCOM Foundation, can cover it if you qualify. Check the Grow with Google India page for current scholarship options rather than relying on social media posts.
6. Machine Learning Crash Course (Google for Developers)
Provider:
Google for Developers
Price:
Free
Certificate:
No
Level:
Intermediate, needs Python
Google's classic technical course, refreshed with interactive exercises and a newer module on LLMs, from tokens to Transformers. It covers regression, classification, working with numerical and categorical data, neural networks, embeddings, production ML systems and fairness, with programming exercises in Colab.
It is free to use on Google for Developers.
The catch: Google lists prerequisites of algebra, basic linear algebra, statistics and Python, plus some pandas and NumPy prework. We found no certificate or badge, so it builds skill rather than a credential. For engineering students preparing for ML roles, that trade is worth it.
7. Kaggle Learn and the 5-Day Gen AI Intensive Learn Guide
Provider:
Kaggle (Google)
Price:
Free
Certificate:
Micro-courses yes; gen AI guide no
Level:
Intermediate
Kaggle is owned by Google, and its free learning has two useful parts. The Gen AI Intensive, first run live with Google, is now available as a free, self-paced Kaggle Learn Guide covering foundational models, embeddings, AI agents, domain-specific LLMs and MLOps, through whitepapers and code labs in Kaggle notebooks.
Kaggle's regular micro-courses, such as Intro to Machine Learning, add a free certificate of completion.
The catch: we found no certificate for the gen AI guide itself, and its code labs assume Python. Use it after Google's introductory badges, when you want to see generative AI working in real code.
8. Google DeepMind education: AI Research Foundations and Experience AI
Provider:
Google DeepMind
Price:
Free (confirm on course page)
Certificate:
Check official page
Level:
School to university
Answers the "free AI course by Google DeepMind" search. DeepMind supports two very different free programmes. Experience AI, built with the Raspberry Pi Foundation, gives secondary school teachers and students free lesson plans, slide decks and videos. AI Research Foundations, on Google Skills, is a university-level curriculum on building, training and fine-tuning small language models, with courses such as Build Your Own Small Language Model.
The catch: AI Research Foundations targets learners who are proficient in Python and study computer science, maths or physics. Google's India launch coverage describes it as free, but we could not confirm price or badges on the course page itself, so check there before you plan around a credential.
9. Generative AI for Educators with Gemini (Google and MIT RAISE)
Provider:
Google with MIT RAISE
Price:
Free
Certificate:
Free certificate
Level:
Beginner, for teachers
Duration:
About 2 hours
A two-hour, self-paced course built by Google with MIT RAISE for middle and high school teachers of any subject. It shows how to use generative AI to save time on planning, personalise instruction and create class activities, with no technical experience needed.
Google states the course is provided at no cost, and teachers earn a certificate on completion that some districts accept for professional development credit.
Who should look elsewhere: college students and professionals will find the examples classroom-specific. Teachers in India should check whether their school recognises it, and can pair it with our free AI course for teachers.
10. Innovating with Google Cloud Artificial Intelligence
Provider:
Google Cloud
Price:
Free
Certificate:
Free badge
Level:
Beginner, for leaders
A business-focused course for managers and team leads who need to understand what AI can do for an organisation, rather than how to build it. Google lists it under "Transform your business" on its AI learning page, marks it no charge and awards a badge.
Who it suits: MBA students, founders, consultants and anyone who will make decisions about AI projects. Who should skip it: students looking for coding or ML skills, who will get more from Machine Learning Crash Course. Google Cloud's product focus means some examples are specific to its own services.
No, not by default. Google AI Essentials runs on Coursera, where you can try it free for 7 days, but the Google certificate is earned through a paid subscription. Exact pricing varies by country, so check the official page.
Three legitimate ways to reduce or remove the cost:
Coursera financial aid, where the course page offers it.
Scholarships through Google's partners. Google's India certificates page mentions scholarships run with organisations such as NASSCOM Foundation, Tata STRIVE and Safeducate.
Your college or employer, some of which provide Coursera access.
The newer Google AI Professional Certificate is also paid, with eight short courses. If you just want proof that you learned AI basics from Google at no cost, the free skill badges above are the honest answer.
How to finish Google's free AI courses in 3 weeks
You can collect several free Google badges and real understanding in about three weeks at 20 to 30 minutes a day:
Week 1: Introduction to Generative AI, then Introduction to Large Language Models. Read our explainer on what prompt engineering is alongside them.
Week 2: pick by goal. Office work: AI Power-Ups for Google Workspace. Design or marketing: Introduction to AI Image Generation. Management: Innovating with Google Cloud AI.
Week 3: build something. Non-coders can write and test ten reusable prompts for their own work. Coders can start Machine Learning Crash Course or the Kaggle gen AI guide.
Add each badge to LinkedIn the day you earn it, with one line on what you did with the skill.
What mistakes do people make with free Google AI courses?
The most common mistake is believing posts that promise a "Google free AI course with certificate and gifts". Google's official pages describe no-charge badges, a paid certificate with a trial, and scholarships through named partners. They do not ask you to pay a third party or share personal details on WhatsApp to "unlock" a course.
Other mistakes to avoid:
Paying for something free. Google Skills badges marked no charge do not need a subscription.
Collecting badges without practice. Five badges in a week look less convincing than one badge plus a small project from our AI projects for beginners.
Skipping the official page. Course names and prices change. Always start from ai.google, grow.google or developers.google.com.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google's AI course free?
Many are. Introduction to Generative AI, Introduction to Large Language Models, AI Power-Ups for Google Workspace and several other Google Skills courses are marked no charge, and Machine Learning Crash Course is free. Google AI Essentials and the Google AI Professional Certificate run on paid subscriptions after a free trial.
Does Google give a free certificate for AI courses?
Google gives free skill badges for its no-charge Google Skills courses, and a free certificate for Generative AI for Educators with Gemini. The Google AI Essentials certificate is paid through Coursera unless you receive financial aid or a scholarship from one of Google's partners.
Is there a free AI course by Google DeepMind?
Yes. Google DeepMind supports Experience AI, free lessons for secondary school teachers and students built with the Raspberry Pi Foundation, and AI Research Foundations on Google Skills, a university-level curriculum on building and fine-tuning language models for learners who already know Python.
How long does Google's Introduction to Generative AI take?
Google lists Introduction to Generative AI at about 45 minutes. It is a short, introductory video course with a free skill badge at the end. Introduction to Large Language Models, the usual next step, is listed at about an hour.
Is there a free AI course by Google in Hindi?
The Google AI courses listed here are taught in English. Check the language option on each official course page before you start, because availability changes. If you want to learn AI in Hindi first, see our separate list of AI courses in Hindi, then return to Google's badges.
Are Google AI skill badges useful for jobs?
They help as proof that you completed structured learning from Google, especially for freshers. On their own they rarely decide a shortlist. Pair a badge with a small project and be ready to explain what you learned, which matters more in interviews than the badge itself.
