Cloud Edventures
You want to learn AWS by doing, not just watching. Both Cloud Edventures and A Cloud Guru (now part of Pluralsight) promise hands-on learning — but they take very different approaches.
This comparison breaks down what matters for your career: which platform actually proves your skills to employers.
| Feature | Cloud Edventures | A Cloud Guru (Pluralsight) |
|---|---|---|
| Real AWS Sandboxes | Yes — isolated accounts per mission | Yes — Cloud Playground |
| Guided Missions | Step-by-step with copy-paste commands | Video courses + separate labs |
| Automated Validation | Real-time — checks your actual AWS resources | No — self-assessed |
| Verified Portfolio | Yes — shareable URL with badges | No |
| Pricing | Freemium + credits | $35/mo (Cloud+ plan) or $45/mo (Complete) |
| Learning Style | Build-first, learn by doing | Watch-first, labs separate |
| AWS Services Covered | 15+ (Lambda, EC2, S3, Bedrock, etc.) | 100+ across AWS, Azure, GCP |
| Best For | Getting hired with proof | Broad certification prep |
A Cloud Guru (ACG) was built as a certification prep platform. It started with video courses and added hands-on labs later. The Cloud Playground is useful, but it's a sandbox without guided structure — you need to know what to build.
Cloud Edventures was built as a portfolio-building platform. Every mission creates real AWS resources that are automatically validated. When you complete a mission, you have verified proof that you actually built something — not just proof that you watched a video.
ACG has been around since 2015 and covers significantly more ground. If you need to learn Azure, GCP, or prepare for a specific certification exam, ACG has more content. Their video production quality is high, and they have practice exams for most AWS certifications.
The Pluralsight integration also means you get access to a massive library of software development courses beyond just cloud.
The verified portfolio changes everything. After completing missions on Cloud Edventures, you get a public portfolio URL showing every project you built, every badge you earned, and timestamps proving when you did it. Share this URL with recruiters and hiring managers.
With A Cloud Guru, you finish a course and get a completion certificate that says you watched videos. In 2026, hiring managers are increasingly skeptical of these.
The validation is real. Cloud Edventures runs automated validators against your actual AWS resources in real-time. If your Lambda function works, you pass. If your IAM permissions are wrong, the validator tells you exactly what to fix. This is how you actually learn — by debugging real problems, not by clicking "Next" on a video.
Zero risk of surprise bills. Both platforms offer sandboxes, but Cloud Edventures provides fully isolated accounts with strict cost controls built into every mission. You literally cannot rack up a surprise bill.
Choose Cloud Edventures if:
Choose A Cloud Guru if:
A Cloud Guru teaches you about AWS.
Cloud Edventures proves you can build on AWS.
If you already have certifications and need to convert them into job offers, Cloud Edventures fills the exact gap that A Cloud Guru doesn't address: verified, employer-facing proof of hands-on skills.
The best approach? Use A Cloud Guru for certification prep if you need it, then use Cloud Edventures to build the portfolio that actually gets you hired.
If you're ready to build real AWS projects and create proof you can show employers:
Start your first mission free →
Last updated: March 2026. Pricing and features may change. We strive to keep comparisons accurate and fair.
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