How to Become an AWS Engineer in 2026 for FREE;  Cloud Computing continues to be one of the fastest-growing tech fields, and AWS remains the world’s No. 1 cloud platform. The good news? You can become an AWS Cloud Engineer without paying for courses — everything you need is available free online.

How to Become an AWS Engineer in 2026 for FREE;  This guide shows you exactly what to learn, in what order, plus free certification prep, hands-on labs, projects, and how to get your first AWS job.

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1. Understand Who an AWS Engineer Is

How to Become an AWS Engineer in 2026 for FREE;  An AWS Engineer is someone who designs, builds, deploys, and manages applications and infrastructure on Amazon Web Services.

Typical roles include:

• AWS Cloud Engineer

• DevOps Engineer (AWS-focused)

• AWS Solutions Architect

• Cloud Support Engineer

• Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) with AWS focus

• Cloud Security Engineer

They work with:

• EC2, S3, RDS, VPC

• IAM, CloudWatch, CloudTrail

• Lambda, API Gateway

• Docker, Kubernetes (EKS)

• Terraform, CloudFormation

• CI/CD tools

2. Skills You Need to Become an AWS Engineer (by 2026)

A. Core Cloud Skills

✔ Compute – EC2
✔ Storage – S3, EBS
✔ Networking – VPC, Subnets, NAT
✔ Databases – RDS, DynamoDB
✔ Security – IAM, KMS, Secrets Manager
✔ Monitoring – CloudWatch

B. Linux & Networking Basics

✔ Linux commands
✔ Shell scripting
✔ DNS, TCP/IP, Load Balancing

C. DevOps Tools

✔ Git & GitHub
✔ Docker, Kubernetes
✔ Terraform
✔ CI/CD (GitHub Actions, AWS CodePipeline)

D. Programming Knowledge (Optional but Helpful)

✔ Python or JavaScript
✔ Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

3. FREE Learning Path to Become an AWS Engineer (2026)

This is your full roadmap from beginner → job-ready, using only free resources.

STEP 1: Learn AWS Fundamentals (Free Resources)

1. AWS Skill Builder (Free Tier Courses)

Link: https://skillbuilder.aws
Use these free courses:

• AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials

• AWS Technical Essentials

• Introduction to EC2, S3, and IAM

• Introduction to Cloud Computing

2. AWS Free Training on YouTube

Channels:

• AWS Tutorials

• AWS Online Tech Talks

• FreeCodeCamp (12-hour AWS courses)

3. AWS Official Documentation (Beginner-Friendly)

Start with:

• What is Cloud Computing?

• EC2 Overview

• S3 Overview

Time: 2–4 weeks

STEP 2: Create an AWS Free Tier Account

AWS offers a 12-month free tier + Always Free services.

You can practice:

• EC2 free micro instance

• 25GB S3 storage

• Amazon DynamoDB free tier

• Lambda 1M free requests

• SNS, SQS, CloudWatch (free limits)

Cost: FREE (just add a debit card for verification)

STEP 3: Master Core AWS Services (Hands-On Practice)

Learn these in order:

1. IAM – Identity and Access Management

✔ Users, Roles, Policies
✔ Least privilege principle

2. Amazon EC2

✔ Launch Linux servers
✔ SSH into instances
✔ Attach EBS volumes
✔ Create AMIs

3. Amazon S3

✔ Buckets & object storage
✔ Versioning
✔ Lifecycle rules
✔ Static website hosting

4. VPC (Virtual Private Cloud)

✔ Subnets
✔ Routing tables
✔ Security groups
✔ NAT

5. RDS & DynamoDB

✔ Create MySQL/PostgreSQL RDS
✔ NoSQL basics (DynamoDB)

6. Lambda & API Gateway

✔ Serverless functions
✔ Build an API endpoint

Time: 6–12 weeks of hands-on practice

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STEP 4: Learn DevOps Tools for AWS (Free)

A. Linux

Free resource:
➡ YouTube: “Learn Linux in 3 hours – FreeCodeCamp”

B. Git & GitHub

Free resource:
➡ GitHub Learning Lab

C. Docker

Free resource:
➡ FreeCodeCamp Docker full course

D. Terraform (Infrastructure as Code)

Free resource:
➡ HashiCorp Learn (Free)

E. CI/CD

Practice with:

• AWS CodePipeline

• GitHub Actions

Time: 4–8 weeks

STEP 5: Pass AWS Certifications for Free (Optional but Recommended)

1. AWS Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02)

Free study resources:

• FreeCodeCamp 12-hour CLF course

• Tutorials Dojo practice questions (Free versions)

2. AWS Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03)

Free resources:

• Stephane Maarek free YouTube course

• ExamTopics (free practice questions)

• AWS whitepapers

Exam Fees (if needed):
You can take the exam for free using:
✔ AWS educational vouchers
✔ Free exam vouchers from AWS events
✔ ReSkill AWS AI/Cloud Scholarship (2025–2026)

STEP 6: Build Real Projects to Become Job-Ready

Build at least 5 solid AWS projects for your CV + GitHub.

Project 1: Host a Static Website on S3 + CloudFront (Free Tier)

Skills: S3, CloudFront, Route53

Project 2: Deploy a Web App on EC2 (Nginx + Flask/Python)

Skills: EC2, Security Groups, SSH

Project 3: Serverless App with Lambda + API Gateway + DynamoDB

Skills: Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB

Project 4: Terraform Infrastructure Setup

Skills: IaC, VPC, EC2, IAM

Project 5: CI/CD Pipeline

Skills: CodePipeline, CodeBuild, GitHub

STEP 7: Build a Professional AWS Engineer Portfolio

Your portfolio MUST include:

• 5 AWS projects (documented on GitHub)

• ReadMe for each project

• Architecture diagrams (use draw.io)

• Certifications (if any)

• LinkedIn optimization

• Updated CV with cloud keywords

STEP 8: Apply for AWS Jobs (Even Without Experience)

Entry-level jobs you can target in 2026

• AWS Cloud Support Associate

• Junior Cloud Engineer

• AWS Infrastructure Engineer (Intern)

• Cloud DevOps Trainee

• AWS Technical Support

Where to apply

• LinkedIn

• Indeed

• Amazon.jobs (AWS roles)

• Remoteok.io

• WeWorkRemotely

• HNG Internship (Africa)

• ALX Cloud programs

FREE Roadmap Summary (2026)