Relational Databases Certification
Every other freeCodeCamp certificate can be done in a browser tab. This one cannot. It hands you a Linux machine, a terminal and a PostgreSQL server, and teaches SQL, Bash scripting and Git by making you use all three together.
Five database and scripting projects lead to the same 50-question exam format as the rest of the new series.
Certificate facts
- Level
- Foundational
- Field
- Development & DevOps
- Access
- Free
- Assessment
- Online exam, not proctored
- Questions
- 50 questions per attempt, drawn at random from a larger bank; closed book
- Languages
- EnglishfreeCodeCamp says its exams are English only for now and that other languages are planned
- Price
- Free (read 26 September 2026)
- Validity
- never expires
- Exam delivery
- Unproctored online exam in freeCodeCamp's own open-source Exam Environment desktop app, every attempt reviewed by staff; legacy and archived certifications by project submission only
Prerequisites: None. You need a GitHub account for Codespaces, an Ona account, or a machine able to run the course's Linux environment locally; the five certification projects must pass before the exam unlocks
Renewal: None. freeCodeCamp says a claimed certification stays yours and that any future expiry rule would come with at least a year's notice
Source: certificate page at freeCodeCamp · Price: Coursework, projects, exam and certificate cost nothing; freeCodeCamp is funded by optional donations
How to prepare
1. The vendor's free learning path
freeCodeCamp publishes the exam objectives and a learning path free of charge — the authoritative source for scope and weighting. Open the learning path (opens in a new tab)
2. The programme
The certificate is earned inside this programme. Its facts, price and the provider's own page are on the course page; the link there carries no commission.
Affiliate disclosure: the course link above is an affiliate link — buying through them may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. The vendor's learning path and booking links carry no commission.
The certificate that takes away the browser
Most beginner programming courses keep you in a friendly web editor with a preview pane. Here the workshops run in a virtual Linux machine instead, through GitHub Codespaces, a service called Ona, or your own computer. The first module is about code editors, and the second is about the shell. That change of setting is the most valuable thing the course offers. Plenty of people who can write JavaScript in a browser freeze when faced with a prompt, a file system and no undo button, and this is a gentle, structured place to get over it.
From there the course moves into SQL against a real PostgreSQL server, where you define tables, fill them and ask questions of them. Then it combines the two, with Bash scripts that talk to the database, which is how a lot of unglamorous real-world automation actually works. It ends with Git, taught from the command line rather than through a graphical client.
Git is the biggest module, and that is a good sign
By count of lessons and exercises, the Git module is the largest in the course, ahead of both SQL modules. That surprises people who signed up for databases, and it is the right call. Version control from the command line is something almost every technical job assumes and almost no beginner course teaches properly; learning it in the same terminal where you already work makes it feel like part of the job rather than a separate chore. The last two certification projects sit after that module, so you finish the course using all three tools together.
| Certification project | Comes after the module on |
|---|---|
| Celestial bodies database | SQL and PostgreSQL |
| World Cup database | Bash scripting, then SQL and Bash together |
| Salon appointment scheduler | SQL and Bash together |
| Periodic table database | Git |
| Number guessing game | Git, as the last project of the course |
Why we rate it foundational
freeCodeCamp places it after the JavaScript and Python certificates in its recommended order, but nothing in it depends on either. It starts from what a code editor is and never asks you to write a general-purpose program. Someone with no programming background at all can take it, and some should: analysts, testers and support engineers get more everyday value from SQL and a shell than from a front-end framework. The level reflects what it assumes, not how much work it is. The course is credited with three hundred hours, a number freeCodeCamp applies uniformly across its catalogue.
- The projects pass or fail on automated checks written from user stories; no person inspects your schema.
- The exam matches the rest of the series: closed book, fifty randomly drawn questions, a seven-day gap between tries, and a human look at each attempt before any score is released.
- Module quizzes need 18 correct out of 20.
- Only PostgreSQL is taught. The SQL transfers widely, but database-specific features and administration do not.
- Exam practicalities: The exam follows the house pattern: a desktop app, English only for now, one attempt a week with no limit on the total, and your projects stay passed if an attempt fails. freeCodeCamp says it is still working on how well the exam app handles screen readers; the course pages already do.
What a question looks like
Written by us in the exam's style. It is not a real question from any question bank, and we do not publish those.
A table of bookings has a foreign key to a table of customers. A script deletes a customer who still has bookings, and the delete fails. The requirement is that removing a customer should also remove their bookings. Which change to the schema achieves that?
The error message points at the delete statement, but the fix belongs in how the relationship was declared. Candidates who have only queried data, never designed it, tend to reach for a second delete in the script rather than the constraint.
What it costs to get and to keep
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Course, projects and exam | 0 USD | free; donations are voluntary (read 26 September 2026) |
| Workshop environment | not published | GitHub Codespaces and Ona are third-party services with their own free allowances and terms, which we did not verify; running the environment locally avoids them (read 26 September 2026) |
| Renewal | not published | none; no expiry is planned (read 26 September 2026) |
How much preparation, from where you are
- Never used a terminal
- The course's best audience. Go slowly through the Bash modules; everything after depends on them.
- You write SQL in a graphical tool at work
- The SQL will be familiar. The value for you is in scripting against the database and using Git from the shell.
- You administer databases
- Nothing here for you as a credential. It covers no backup, tuning, replication or security.
What passing this does not prove
- Database administration: backups, performance tuning, replication, user permissions.
- Any database other than PostgreSQL, or any non-relational store.
- Connecting a database to a web application, which neither this nor the current back-end certificate covers.
- Designing a schema for a large, changing product with many teams.
Against the alternatives
- Back-End Development and APIs Certification
- The natural partner. The back-end certificate builds APIs without a database; this one teaches the database without an API. Together they describe a junior back-end developer better than either alone, and this one is the easier place to start.
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals (DP-900)
- A paid Microsoft exam about data concepts and Azure data services, largely multiple choice, with no terminal in sight. It tests breadth of vocabulary; this certificate tests whether you can actually build and query a database. Choose by whether you need the Azure name or the hands-on skill.
Relational Databases Certification — quick answers
Do I need to install anything?
Not necessarily. The workshops can run in GitHub Codespaces or Ona in the browser, or locally in a virtual Linux machine if you prefer. What you cannot do is complete them in freeCodeCamp's ordinary web editor.
Which database does it use?
PostgreSQL. The SQL you learn carries over to most relational databases, though each has its own extensions.
Is it free?
Yes, every part of it, from the first lesson to the final certificate. The only possible costs are third-party environment limits, which you can avoid by working locally.
I have the old Relational Database certificate. Is it still valid?
Yes. The older version sits in freeCodeCamp's archive and remains valid. The current version adds theory, quizzes and an exam.
Is it useful outside development?
Very. SQL and basic shell scripting are daily tools for analysts, testers and support engineers, and this is one of the few free courses that teaches them in a real environment.
Where this certificate sits in the field
What comes next
Concepts this certificate draws on
Glossary entries with the reason each one matters for Relational Databases Certification.
Last reviewed 26 September 2026 · Getting Digital