People ask me which one to get all the time, and my first instinct is always to ask more about their specific situation before I answer. The reality is that both credentials have their place, but they’re not the same thing, and pretending otherwise doesn’t help anybody make a real decision.
The Google IT Support Certificate is a five-course program offered through Coursera, developed by Google, and designed to take someone with no background in IT and get them to a foundational level of competency in a few months. It covers troubleshooting, networking, operating systems, system administration, and security basics. You can work through it in roughly six months studying part time, sometimes faster if you have more hours to put in. The cost runs around $49 per month through Coursera, and financial aid is available if that’s a stretch for your budget.
The CompTIA A+ is a vendor-neutral certification that has been the industry standard for entry-level IT for over 30 years. Two exams, approximately $130 each, covering hardware, software, networking fundamentals, security, cloud basics, and troubleshooting methodology. Employers know it immediately. Recruiters recognize it without explanation. It shows up on IT job listings at a rate that no other entry-level credential comes close to matching.
So which one wins? For raw job market recognition, the A+ is still ahead. It appears on job postings at a significantly higher rate, and hiring managers who may not know much about the Google cert know exactly what the A+ means the moment they see it. If your primary goal is getting hired in IT as quickly as possible, the A+ is the answer.
That said, the Google IT Support Certificate is not a throwaway. Google has made a serious investment in making it a legitimate credential, Coursera’s infrastructure means millions of people have taken it, and in some markets and with some employers it carries genuine weight. If you learn better in a structured, course-based format rather than self-directed exam prep, the Google program may actually suit your learning style more effectively, and you’ll retain the material better for it.
Some people do both, and that’s not a bad move at all. The Google cert gives you the conceptual foundation and the confidence boost, then you go take the A+ exams to earn the credential that carries more weight on your resume. The knowledge overlaps significantly enough that you won’t feel like you’re starting from zero the second time around. Either way, getting something on your resume is better than waiting for perfect conditions that aren’t coming. Pick one and start.
Big Dog Cert
Alright, lemme give it to ya straight. No sugarcoating, no corporate fluff, just the real deal. I'm Mike. Fifty years on this planet, and I've done it all. I started out in IT back when "the cloud" was just what you saw out the window, worked my way through HR (yeah, I've been the guy who had to sit across the table from people and keep a straight face), and then did a stretch in sales where I learned real quick that if you can't sell yourself, nobody's buying what you're pitching. Three careers. One guy. Zero patience for textbooks that read like they were written by robots.