Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you. This helps support our independent reviews.
Best DevOps Courses on Pluralsight 2026
Master DevOps on Pluralsight with courses on Jenkins, Terraform, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud automation. Get certified.
DevOps engineers are among the highest-paid professionals in tech, with average salaries ranging from $120K to $180K. The demand for DevOps skills continues to surge as companies accelerate digital transformation and adopt cloud-native architectures. If you are looking to master DevOps through Pluralsight, you have landed in the right place.
But with hundreds of DevOps courses covering everything from Jenkins to Kubernetes, which ones actually prepare you for real-world DevOps work? We analyzed Pluralsight’s entire DevOps catalog, evaluated course quality, instructor expertise, hands-on labs, and tool coverage to identify the top 12 courses that will transform you into a productive DevOps engineer.
Quick Picks: Best DevOps Courses by Skill Level
If you are targeting a specific DevOps skill or career stage, start here:
Complete Beginners:
- DevOps: The Big Picture by Richard Seroter (3 hours) - Perfect introduction to DevOps culture, practices, and tooling before diving into technical courses
CI/CD Pipeline Engineers:
- Getting Started with Jenkins by Wes Higbee (5 hours) - Build automated build and deployment pipelines with the industry-standard CI/CD tool
- GitHub Actions: The Big Picture by Adrienne Braganza Tacke (2 hours) - Modern cloud-native CI/CD integrated with Git workflows
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Engineers:
- Terraform - Getting Started by Ned Bellavance (5 hours) - Master infrastructure automation with the leading IaC tool
- Getting Started with Ansible by Michael Levan (4 hours) - Configuration management and application deployment automation
Container and Orchestration Engineers:
- Docker and Kubernetes: The Big Picture by Nigel Poulton (3 hours) - Essential foundation before diving deep into containerization
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) by Anthony Nocentino (15 hours) - Complete preparation for the most valuable Kubernetes certification
Cloud DevOps Engineers:
- AWS DevOps: The Big Picture by Shaun Wassell (2 hours) - DevOps practices specifically for AWS environments
- Azure DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400) by Ervis Trupja (22 hours) - Microsoft Azure DevOps certification preparation
DevOps is a Culture, Not Just Tools
Successful DevOps engineers understand that DevOps is fundamentally about breaking down silos between development and operations teams, automating repetitive tasks, and implementing continuous improvement. The tools (Jenkins, Terraform, Kubernetes) are important, but understanding DevOps principles, collaboration practices, and continuous delivery culture matters even more.
The Top 12 DevOps Courses on Pluralsight (Ranked)
After evaluating course quality, instructor expertise, hands-on relevance, and career impact, here are the best DevOps courses on Pluralsight:
1. The DevOps 2.1 Toolkit: Building, Testing, Deploying, and Monitoring Services Inside Docker Swarm Clusters
Instructor: Viktor Farcic Duration: 6 hours Level: Intermediate Best For: Full DevOps pipeline implementation
Viktor Farcic delivers a comprehensive, hands-on journey through the entire DevOps lifecycle. This course combines Docker containers, microservices architecture, automated testing, continuous deployment, and monitoring into one cohesive pipeline. You will build production-ready deployments using Docker Swarm, Jenkins, and comprehensive monitoring tools.
What makes it great: This is not just theory---you build a complete DevOps pipeline from scratch. Viktor’s real-world experience shines through in every module. The course shows you the messy reality of DevOps, not just the happy path.
2. Terraform - Getting Started
Instructor: Ned Bellavance Duration: 5 hours Level: Beginner to Intermediate Best For: Infrastructure as Code mastery
Ned Bellavance teaches you to provision infrastructure across AWS, Azure, and GCP using Terraform’s declarative syntax. You will learn Terraform fundamentals, state management, modules, workspaces, and collaboration workflows. The course includes hands-on labs where you provision real cloud resources.
What makes it great: Terraform is the most in-demand IaC tool. Ned’s teaching style makes complex concepts accessible, and you will have working Terraform configurations by the end. Infrastructure as Code skills can increase your salary by $20K-30K.
3. Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
Instructor: Anthony Nocentino Duration: 15 hours Level: Intermediate to Advanced Best For: Kubernetes certification and container orchestration
Anthony Nocentino provides comprehensive CKA exam preparation while teaching production-ready Kubernetes skills. You will master cluster architecture, workload deployment, networking, storage, security, troubleshooting, and cluster maintenance. The course includes hands-on labs that mirror the performance-based CKA exam format.
What makes it great: The CKA certification is one of the most valuable credentials in DevOps. Anthony’s course combines exam preparation with practical Kubernetes knowledge you will use daily. Kubernetes skills are non-negotiable for modern DevOps roles.
4. Getting Started with Jenkins
Instructor: Wes Higbee Duration: 5 hours Level: Beginner to Intermediate Best For: CI/CD pipeline automation
Wes Higbee teaches you to build automated CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins, the most widely adopted continuous integration tool. You will learn Jenkins installation, job configuration, pipeline-as-code with Jenkinsfiles, integrations with Git, Docker, and deployment automation. The course emphasizes hands-on pipeline building.
What makes it great: Jenkins powers CI/CD at thousands of companies. This course gets you productive quickly with clear examples and real-world pipeline patterns. Jenkins skills appear in 40% of DevOps job postings.
5. DevOps: The Big Picture
Instructor: Richard Seroter Duration: 3 hours Level: Beginner Best For: Understanding DevOps fundamentals
Richard Seroter introduces DevOps culture, principles, and practices before overwhelming you with tools. You will understand continuous integration, continuous delivery, infrastructure as code, monitoring and logging, and DevOps team structures. This course provides essential context for all technical DevOps learning.
What makes it great: Most DevOps courses jump straight to tools. Richard explains why DevOps exists and what problems it solves. This foundation helps you make better tool choices and understand how DevOps fits into business objectives.
6. Docker and Kubernetes: The Big Picture
Instructor: Nigel Poulton Duration: 3 hours Level: Beginner Best For: Container technology foundations
Nigel Poulton delivers the clearest introduction to containers and orchestration available. You will understand Docker containers, Docker images, container registries, Kubernetes architecture, pods, services, and deployments. This course prepares you for deeper container courses.
What makes it great: Nigel’s teaching is legendary in the container community. He makes complex orchestration concepts understandable through excellent metaphors and clear explanations. Essential before tackling advanced Kubernetes courses.
7. Getting Started with Ansible
Instructor: Michael Levan Duration: 4 hours Level: Beginner to Intermediate Best For: Configuration management automation
Michael Levan teaches you to automate server configuration and application deployment with Ansible. You will learn Ansible playbooks, inventory management, roles, variables, templating with Jinja2, and integrating Ansible with CI/CD pipelines. The course includes hands-on labs automating real infrastructure.
What makes it great: Ansible’s agentless architecture makes it easier to adopt than alternatives like Puppet or Chef. Michael’s practical approach gets you automating quickly. Configuration management is a core DevOps responsibility.
8. Implementing a Full CI/CD Pipeline
Instructor: Kevin Bowersox Duration: 7 hours Level: Intermediate Best For: End-to-end pipeline implementation
Kevin Bowersox guides you through building a complete CI/CD pipeline from source control to production deployment. You will integrate Git, Jenkins, automated testing, artifact repositories, deployment automation, and monitoring. This course connects all the DevOps pieces into one functioning system.
What makes it great: Most courses teach tools in isolation. Kevin shows you how everything connects in a real pipeline. You will understand the complete flow from commit to deployment, which is exactly what employers expect.
9. Monitoring and Alerting with Prometheus
Instructor: Elton Stoneman Duration: 4 hours Level: Intermediate Best For: DevOps observability and monitoring
Elton Stoneman teaches you to implement production-grade monitoring with Prometheus and Grafana. You will learn metrics collection, PromQL queries, alerting rules, Alertmanager configuration, and building Grafana dashboards. The course covers monitoring for applications, containers, and Kubernetes clusters.
What makes it great: You cannot do DevOps without monitoring. Prometheus is the industry standard for cloud-native monitoring. Elton’s hands-on approach teaches you to build monitoring that catches issues before users notice.
10. Azure DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400)
Instructor: Ervis Trupja Duration: 22 hours Level: Intermediate to Advanced Best For: Microsoft Azure DevOps certification
Ervis Trupja provides comprehensive preparation for the AZ-400 certification while teaching enterprise Azure DevOps practices. You will master Azure DevOps Services, Azure Pipelines, infrastructure as code with ARM templates and Terraform, container deployments, and implementing DevOps security.
What makes it great: The AZ-400 certification validates enterprise DevOps skills and can boost your salary significantly. Ervis covers everything you need to pass the exam and implement DevOps in Azure organizations.
11. GitLab CI: Pipelines, CI/CD and DevOps for Beginners
Instructor: Valentin Despa Duration: 6 hours Level: Beginner to Intermediate Best For: GitLab CI/CD pipelines
Valentin Despa teaches you to build CI/CD pipelines with GitLab CI, the integrated DevOps platform. You will learn GitLab CI syntax, pipeline stages, runners, caching, artifacts, deployment strategies, and integrating testing frameworks. The course emphasizes practical pipeline patterns.
What makes it great: GitLab offers a complete DevOps platform in one tool. This course teaches you to leverage GitLab’s tight integration between source control and CI/CD. Many companies are consolidating DevOps tools into GitLab.
12. Infrastructure as Code on AWS with Terraform
Instructor: David Tucker Duration: 6 hours Level: Intermediate Best For: AWS infrastructure automation
David Tucker combines Terraform and AWS for powerful infrastructure automation. You will learn to provision VPCs, EC2 instances, RDS databases, load balancers, and complete AWS architectures using Terraform. The course covers state management, modules, and team collaboration on infrastructure code.
What makes it great: AWS is the dominant cloud platform, and Terraform is the preferred IaC tool. David’s course teaches you to automate complex AWS infrastructure, a critical skill for cloud DevOps engineers. This combination appears in countless job descriptions.
DevOps Learning Path: From Traditional IT to DevOps Engineer
Pluralsight offers structured learning paths that guide you from beginner to job-ready DevOps engineer:
Foundation Phase (1-2 months)
Essential Concepts:
- DevOps culture and principles
- Version control with Git and GitHub
- Linux fundamentals and command line
- Networking basics for DevOps
Recommended courses:
- DevOps: The Big Picture (Richard Seroter) - Culture and practices
- Getting Started with Git (Paolo Perrotta) - Version control fundamentals
- Linux Command Line Interface (CLI) Fundamentals (Shawn Powers) - Essential Linux skills
Career readiness: Junior DevOps roles, build engineer positions
Core Tools Phase (3-4 months)
CI/CD Skills:
- Jenkins pipeline automation
- GitHub Actions or GitLab CI
- Automated testing integration
- Artifact management
Infrastructure as Code:
- Terraform for cloud provisioning
- Ansible for configuration management
- CloudFormation or ARM templates
Recommended courses:
- Getting Started with Jenkins (Wes Higbee)
- Terraform - Getting Started (Ned Bellavance)
- Getting Started with Ansible (Michael Levan)
- Implementing a Full CI/CD Pipeline (Kevin Bowersox)
Career readiness: DevOps engineer roles ($100K-130K), site reliability engineer positions
Advanced Platform Phase (4-6 months)
Container Orchestration:
- Docker containerization
- Kubernetes cluster management
- Helm package management
- Service mesh concepts
Cloud DevOps:
- AWS DevOps tools (CodePipeline, CodeBuild)
- Azure DevOps Services
- GCP Cloud Build
- Multi-cloud strategies
Recommended courses:
- Docker and Kubernetes: The Big Picture (Nigel Poulton)
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) (Anthony Nocentino)
- Azure DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400) (Ervis Trupja)
- AWS DevOps: The Big Picture (Shaun Wassell)
Career readiness: Senior DevOps engineer ($130K-160K), cloud architect roles
Mastery Phase (6-12 months total experience)
Observability and Security:
- Prometheus and Grafana monitoring
- ELK stack logging
- DevSecOps practices
- Chaos engineering
Advanced Practices:
- GitOps workflows
- Progressive delivery patterns
- Infrastructure compliance
- Cost optimization
Recommended courses:
- Monitoring and Alerting with Prometheus (Elton Stoneman)
- DevSecOps: The Big Picture (Chris Blackden)
- Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) Foundation (Neeraj Kumar Singh)
Career readiness: Senior DevOps engineer ($140K-180K+), SRE roles, DevOps architect positions
Recommended Path for Beginners
Start with DevOps: The Big Picture to understand culture, then learn Git and Linux fundamentals. Next, master one CI/CD tool (Jenkins or GitHub Actions) and one IaC tool (Terraform). Finally, add container orchestration with Kubernetes. This sequence builds progressively from concepts to tools to platforms, matching how companies adopt DevOps practices.
Hands-On Labs: Essential for DevOps Learning
DevOps is fundamentally about automation and tooling, making hands-on practice non-negotiable. Pluralsight’s labs put you in real environments where you configure CI/CD pipelines, deploy containers, and automate infrastructure.
What DevOps Labs Offer
- Pre-configured environments: Access to Jenkins, Kubernetes clusters, cloud accounts without setup hassle
- Real-world scenarios: Build actual pipelines, not just watch demonstrations
- Validation system: Labs verify you completed tasks correctly
- Safe experimentation: Break things, learn from mistakes without impacting production
Top DevOps Lab Categories
CI/CD Pipeline Labs:
- Configure Jenkins jobs and pipelines
- Build GitHub Actions workflows
- Implement GitLab CI pipelines
- Integrate automated testing
Infrastructure as Code Labs:
- Write Terraform configurations for multi-cloud
- Create Ansible playbooks for server automation
- Deploy CloudFormation stacks
- Manage infrastructure state
Container and Orchestration Labs:
- Build and run Docker containers
- Deploy applications to Kubernetes
- Configure Kubernetes services and ingress
- Implement Helm charts
Monitoring and Observability Labs:
- Configure Prometheus metrics collection
- Build Grafana dashboards
- Set up alerting rules
- Implement distributed tracing
Cloud DevOps Labs:
- Build AWS CodePipeline workflows
- Configure Azure DevOps pipelines
- Deploy to Google Cloud with Cloud Build
- Implement infrastructure across multiple clouds
Sandboxes for DevOps Tools
Pluralsight offers DevOps sandboxes---open environments where you freely experiment without guided objectives. Sandboxes are perfect for:
- Testing tool configurations before implementing in production
- Practicing for DevOps certifications with hands-on components
- Building proof-of-concept pipelines for your organization
- Experimenting with tool integrations (Jenkins + Terraform + Kubernetes)
Premium Plan Required
DevOps hands-on labs and sandboxes are only available with Pluralsight Premium ($449/year). The Standard plan ($299/year) includes courses but not labs. For serious DevOps learning, Premium is essential---DevOps roles require hands-on tool experience that videos alone cannot provide. The labs dramatically accelerate skill development.
Best Courses by DevOps Tool Category
If you need to master specific DevOps tools, these specialized courses provide deep technical coverage:
CI/CD Tools
Jenkins:
- Getting Started with Jenkins (Wes Higbee) - Foundation and pipeline basics
- Jenkins Fundamentals (Mike Pfeiffer) - Advanced pipelines and integrations
- Continuous Integration with Jenkins (Xavier Morera) - Enterprise CI patterns
GitHub Actions:
- GitHub Actions: The Big Picture (Adrienne Braganza Tacke) - Modern cloud-native CI/CD
- Building Your First GitHub Actions Workflow (Zachary Bennett) - Hands-on workflow creation
GitLab CI:
- GitLab CI: Pipelines, CI/CD and DevOps for Beginners (Valentin Despa) - Complete GitLab DevOps
- Continuous Delivery Using GitLab (Leonardo Pinheiro) - Advanced deployment strategies
Infrastructure as Code
Terraform:
- Terraform - Getting Started (Ned Bellavance) - Multi-cloud infrastructure automation
- Terraform - Deep Dive (Ned Bellavance) - Advanced patterns and enterprise usage
- HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate (Ned Bellavance) - Certification preparation
Ansible:
- Getting Started with Ansible (Michael Levan) - Configuration management fundamentals
- Ansible Fundamentals (Wes Higbee) - Advanced playbooks and roles
- Managing Windows Servers with Ansible (Michael Levan) - Cross-platform automation
CloudFormation:
- AWS CloudFormation Deep Dive (Tom Maddox) - AWS infrastructure templates
- Infrastructure as Code on AWS (David Tucker) - Complete AWS IaC patterns
Container Technologies
Docker:
- Docker and Kubernetes: The Big Picture (Nigel Poulton) - Container fundamentals
- Getting Started with Docker (Nigel Poulton) - Hands-on container building
- Docker Deep Dive (Nigel Poulton) - Production Docker deployments
Kubernetes:
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) (Anthony Nocentino) - Complete K8s mastery
- Getting Started with Kubernetes (Nigel Poulton) - K8s fundamentals
- Kubernetes for Developers: Core Concepts (Dan Wahlin) - Developer-focused K8s
Helm:
- Kubernetes Package Administration with Helm (Phillipe Collignon) - Package management for K8s
Monitoring and Observability
Prometheus and Grafana:
- Monitoring and Alerting with Prometheus (Elton Stoneman) - Cloud-native monitoring
- Monitoring Containerized Application Health with Docker (Elton Stoneman) - Container metrics
ELK Stack:
- Getting Started with Elasticsearch (Janani Ravi) - Log aggregation and search
- Centralized Logging with the Elastic Stack (Antonio Gomes Rodrigues) - Complete logging solution
Cloud-Specific DevOps
AWS DevOps:
- AWS DevOps: The Big Picture (Shaun Wassell) - AWS DevOps overview
- AWS Developer: The Big Picture (Ryan Lewis) - AWS development patterns
- Implementing AWS CI/CD Pipelines (Steve Michelotti) - CodePipeline, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy
Azure DevOps:
- Azure DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400) (Ervis Trupja) - Complete Azure DevOps certification
- Implementing DevOps Development Processes (Kamran Ayub) - Azure Boards and Repos
- Continuous Integration and Deployment with Azure DevOps (Marcel de Vries) - Azure Pipelines
Google Cloud DevOps:
- Google Cloud DevOps Fundamentals (Dan Tofan) - GCP DevOps tools
- Deploying Applications to Google Cloud Platform (Dan Tofan) - GCP deployment automation
DevOps Career Tracks and Certifications
Pluralsight’s DevOps content aligns with the most valuable industry certifications:
Vendor-Neutral Certifications
Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA):
- Prerequisites: Linux fundamentals, container basics
- Exam format: Performance-based (hands-on tasks in live cluster)
- Pass rate: ~55% (challenging but achievable with practice)
- Career impact: Opens Kubernetes engineer roles ($120K-160K)
- Pluralsight prep: CKA course by Anthony Nocentino
Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD):
- Prerequisites: Development experience, Docker knowledge
- Exam format: Performance-based container development tasks
- Pass rate: ~60%
- Career impact: Cloud-native developer roles ($110K-150K)
HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate:
- Prerequisites: Basic cloud knowledge (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
- Exam format: Multiple choice questions on Terraform concepts
- Pass rate: ~65%
- Career impact: Infrastructure automation roles ($100K-140K)
- Pluralsight prep: Terraform certification course by Ned Bellavance
Cloud-Specific DevOps Certifications
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional (DOP-C02):
- Prerequisites: AWS Associate-level certification or equivalent experience
- Exam format: Scenario-based multiple choice questions
- Pass rate: ~45% (very challenging)
- Career impact: Senior AWS DevOps roles ($130K-180K)
- Pluralsight coverage: AWS DevOps courses and hands-on labs
Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400):
- Prerequisites: Azure Administrator or Developer Associate certification
- Exam format: Multiple choice and scenario questions
- Pass rate: ~50%
- Career impact: Enterprise Azure DevOps roles ($120K-170K)
- Pluralsight prep: Complete AZ-400 course by Ervis Trupja
Google Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer:
- Prerequisites: 3+ months GCP experience recommended
- Exam format: Multiple choice and scenario questions
- Pass rate: ~52%
- Career impact: GCP DevOps engineer roles ($115K-165K)
- Pluralsight coverage: GCP DevOps fundamentals courses
Certification ROI for DevOps Engineers
DevOps certifications can increase your salary by $15K-30K depending on the certification and your experience level. The CKA (Kubernetes), AZ-400 (Azure DevOps), and HashiCorp Terraform certifications provide the strongest ROI based on current job market data. Prioritize vendor-neutral certifications (CKA, Terraform) over cloud-specific ones unless you work exclusively in one cloud ecosystem.
Skill IQ and Role IQ for DevOps Careers
Pluralsight’s assessment tools help you identify skill gaps and track progress toward DevOps roles:
DevOps Skill IQ Assessments
Available DevOps-focused Skill IQ tests:
- DevOps (general DevOps knowledge)
- Docker (containerization)
- Kubernetes (container orchestration)
- Jenkins (CI/CD automation)
- Terraform (infrastructure as code)
- Ansible (configuration management)
- Git (version control)
How to Use Skill IQ for DevOps Learning
- Assess current knowledge: Take Skill IQ tests for core DevOps tools (Git, Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform)
- Identify weak areas: Focus on tools where you score below “Proficient” (200/300)
- Take targeted courses: Pluralsight recommends courses based on your specific gaps
- Retest periodically: Track skill growth by retaking assessments after completing courses
- Build T-shaped profile: Aim for expert level in 2-3 tools, proficient in others
Role IQ for DevOps Career Paths
Role IQ assessments evaluate complete readiness for DevOps job roles:
DevOps Engineer:
- Tests: CI/CD, infrastructure as code, containerization, cloud platforms, monitoring
- Target score: 220+ for job readiness
- Typical path: 6-12 months focused learning from beginner
Site Reliability Engineer (SRE):
- Tests: System administration, monitoring, incident response, automation, cloud platforms
- Target score: 230+ for job readiness
- Typical path: 1-2 years DevOps experience plus SRE-specific training
Cloud Engineer:
- Tests: AWS/Azure/GCP services, infrastructure automation, networking, security
- Target score: 225+ for job readiness
- Typical path: Cloud certification plus DevOps tooling experience
Role IQ provides a comprehensive view of your readiness for specific positions, helping you understand which skills need development before applying for DevOps roles.
Pros
- Comprehensive DevOps tool coverage from beginner to expert levels
- Hands-on labs with real DevOps environments (Jenkins, Kubernetes, cloud platforms)
- Courses align with valuable industry certifications (CKA, AZ-400, Terraform)
- Expert instructors include industry leaders (Nigel Poulton, Ned Bellavance)
- Learning paths guide complete career transitions into DevOps
- Skill IQ assessments identify exact DevOps knowledge gaps
- Premium plan includes sandboxes for unlimited tool experimentation
- New DevOps courses added regularly as tools evolve
Cons
- Premium plan ($449/year) required for essential hands-on labs
- DevOps ecosystem changes rapidly - some courses need frequent updates
- No direct instructor support or mentorship
- Labs require significant time commitment beyond watching videos
- Some advanced topics (GitOps, service mesh) have limited coverage
- Certificates show course completion, not industry-recognized credentials
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Pluralsight DevOps courses worth it for career changers?
Yes, Pluralsight offers one of the most structured paths for transitioning into DevOps from traditional IT or development roles. The learning paths guide you from DevOps fundamentals through tools mastery to certifications. Most career changers report landing DevOps roles within 6-12 months of dedicated study using Pluralsight, especially when combining courses with hands-on labs and building a GitHub portfolio of automation projects.
Do I need the Premium plan for DevOps learning?
Absolutely. DevOps is fundamentally about hands-on tool expertise---you cannot learn Jenkins, Terraform, or Kubernetes effectively without actually using them. Premium ($449/year) includes labs where you build real pipelines, provision infrastructure, and deploy containers. The Standard plan ($299/year) offers videos only, which is insufficient for DevOps skill development. The $150 difference is minimal compared to the salary increase from DevOps skills.
Which DevOps tools should I learn first?
Start with Git for version control (non-negotiable foundation), then learn one CI/CD tool (Jenkins or GitHub Actions), one infrastructure-as-code tool (Terraform), and Docker for containers. This combination appears in 70%+ of DevOps job descriptions. After mastering these core tools, add Kubernetes for orchestration and cloud-specific DevOps tools (AWS CodePipeline, Azure DevOps, or GCP Cloud Build) based on your target employers.
How long does it take to become job-ready in DevOps?
For complete beginners: 6-12 months of dedicated study (15-20 hours per week) to reach junior DevOps engineer readiness. If you have software development or systems administration experience: 3-6 months to transition into DevOps roles. Speed depends on your starting point, learning pace, and whether you build a portfolio of automation projects alongside courses. Consistency matters more than intensity.
What is the difference between DevOps and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)?
DevOps is a cultural movement focused on collaboration between development and operations teams, with heavy emphasis on automation and continuous delivery. SRE is Google’s implementation of DevOps principles with specific practices like error budgets, SLIs/SLOs, and treating operations as software engineering problems. SRE roles typically require deeper system design knowledge and software engineering skills. Most companies use DevOps; SRE is more common at large tech companies.
Can I learn DevOps without a development background?
Yes, though a basic understanding of programming helps. Many successful DevOps engineers come from systems administration backgrounds rather than development. You will need to learn scripting (Bash, Python) and understand code concepts, but you do not need to be a software engineer. Pluralsight’s learning paths include programming fundamentals courses designed for operations professionals transitioning to DevOps.
Do DevOps certifications actually increase salary?
Yes, significantly. Industry data shows DevOps engineers with certifications earn 15-25% more than those without. The most valuable certifications for salary impact are CKA (Kubernetes), AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional, and Microsoft Azure DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400). Certifications demonstrate hands-on competency and help you pass resume screens for competitive positions.
How current are Pluralsight’s DevOps courses?
Most core DevOps courses are updated every 12-18 months as tools evolve. Popular courses for Jenkins, Terraform, Kubernetes, and cloud DevOps are kept current with tool versions. Always check course descriptions for publication/update dates. For rapidly evolving tools, Pluralsight typically releases new beginner courses for major version changes while updating existing courses for minor changes.
Final Verdict: Best Platform for DevOps Career Development
Pluralsight stands as the most comprehensive platform for DevOps learning, offering structured paths from beginner fundamentals through advanced certifications. The combination of high-quality courses from industry experts (Nigel Poulton, Ned Bellavance, Anthony Nocentino), hands-on labs with real DevOps tools, and career-focused learning paths creates an environment that genuinely prepares you for DevOps work.
The Premium plan ($449/year) is essential for DevOps learners. The hands-on labs are not optional extras---they are the core of DevOps skill development. Building actual CI/CD pipelines, provisioning infrastructure with Terraform, deploying to Kubernetes clusters, and configuring monitoring systems in real environments accelerates learning exponentially compared to watching videos alone.
Our recommendation: Start with the 10-day free trial. Take the DevOps Skill IQ assessment plus assessments for Git, Docker, and Jenkins to identify your starting point. If you are serious about transitioning into DevOps or advancing your DevOps career, invest in Premium for full lab access. For teams upskilling existing IT staff into DevOps roles, Pluralsight’s Team or Professional plans ($579-799/user/year) add analytics and custom learning paths.
The DevOps job market remains exceptionally strong. DevOps engineers command salaries from $100K to $180K depending on experience, location, and specialization. Companies across every industry need DevOps talent as they modernize infrastructure and adopt cloud-native architectures. Pluralsight’s structured DevOps learning paths, combined with hands-on practice and industry certifications, provide one of the highest-ROI investments you can make in your tech career.
DevOps is not just a job title---it is a career multiplier that opens doors to cloud engineering, site reliability engineering, platform engineering, and technical leadership roles. Pluralsight gives you the structured roadmap to get there.
Related Learning Paths
- Complete Pluralsight Review - Full platform breakdown and pricing analysis
- Best Docker Courses on Pluralsight - Container fundamentals
- Best Kubernetes Courses on Pluralsight - Container orchestration mastery
- Best AWS Courses on Pluralsight - Cloud infrastructure training
- Compare Learning Platforms - See how Pluralsight stacks up
Related Articles
Best Docker Courses on Pluralsight 2026
Top 12 Docker courses on Pluralsight for beginners to experts. Learn containers, Compose, Swarm, security, and Kubernetes foundations.
EducationBest Kubernetes Courses on Pluralsight 2026
Top 12 Pluralsight Kubernetes courses for CKA and CKAD certifications. Master containers, orchestration, Helm, and cloud-native development.
EducationBest AWS Courses on Pluralsight 2026: Top 12 for Certification
Pluralsight's best AWS courses for Solutions Architect, Developer, and SysOps certifications. Includes A Cloud Guru content.
EducationBest Azure Courses on Pluralsight 2026
Pluralsight's best Azure courses for Administrator, Architect, and Developer certifications. Includes A Cloud Guru content for AZ-104, AZ-305, AZ-204.