Are IBM SkillsBuild credentials free?

Yes. The courses and the Credly badges cost nothing for registered users. Adult learners register on one site, while schools use a separate student portal that leads to identical badges.

Are they IBM certifications?

No. They are learning credentials for completed courses, earned through unproctored online assessments. IBM runs its professional certifications separately, through IBM Training.

Do SkillsBuild badges expire?

The badge pages of the three credentials above show no expiry. Expect IBM to refresh these credentials from time to time; a redesigned badge can sit next to an older one on Credly.

All certifications

IBM certifications

IBM runs SkillsBuild, a free learning platform for adults, students and teachers. The credentials that come out of it are Credly badges for completed courses, not proctored certifications, and they are best judged on those terms: as structured, well-produced introductions that cost nothing but time.

Exam delivery: Online on IBM SkillsBuild with unproctored quizzes and assessments; badges issued through Credly

Three badges, three earning rules

SkillsBuild is organised around short learning plans that end in a digital credential. The three below, AI Fundamentals, Cybersecurity Fundamentals and Data Fundamentals, each take between three and ten hours by IBM's own estimate, and their earning rules differ in ways that matter. None is proctored, none carries a fee, and none of the badge pages shows an expiry date.

Credential	How it is earned	Pass mark
AI Fundamentals	A quiz at the end of every module	80 percent per quiz
Cybersecurity Fundamentals	One end-of-course assessment	80 percent
Data Fundamentals	Quizzes, final assessments and simulations	Not published

What IBM's badges are good for

Deciding. A few evenings with a SkillsBuild course is the cheapest way to find out whether security, data or AI is a field worth a year of study.
Vocabulary. The courses are careful about terminology, which makes the next, harder step less intimidating.
Evidence of initiative. On a career-change CV, a named IBM credential shows that the learning started before anyone asked for it.
Not hiring filters. Job adverts that name certifications mean proctored exams. IBM's free badges are not substitutes for them, and IBM does not present them as such.

IBM also redesigns its credentials more often than most vendors. The best-known free AI badge, once built around IBM's own data-science studio, has been replaced in the catalogue by two newer credentials with a broader, product-neutral syllabus, while the old badge page lingers on Credly. A link to a SkillsBuild course is worth checking for the credential named at its end, which should be the current one.

Foundational

Choosing within IBM

Each verdict is written from the first exam's page; the reverse view, where one exists, is written from the other's.

Data Fundamentals against AI Fundamentals: Foundations for Understanding AI: IBM's sibling credential for AI. Data work comes first in practice, so this course is the better starting point for most people, with the AI badge a natural second.

Frequently asked

Are IBM SkillsBuild credentials free?: Yes. The courses and the Credly badges cost nothing for registered users. Adult learners register on one site, while schools use a separate student portal that leads to identical badges.
Are they IBM certifications?: No. They are learning credentials for completed courses, earned through unproctored online assessments. IBM runs its professional certifications separately, through IBM Training.
Do SkillsBuild badges expire?: The badge pages of the three credentials above show no expiry. Expect IBM to refresh these credentials from time to time; a redesigned badge can sit next to an older one on Credly.

Official certification portal: skillsbuild.org

Last reviewed 26 September 2026 · Getting Digital