Since the beginning of man, way before the chicken or the egg, the question of whether or not to pay for SSL \u2014 and how much does an SSL certificate<\/a> cost \u2014 has plagued us. Aristotle gave lectures about it. Empedocles ruminated on it during his exile. Heraclitus opined in his writings that it was a question that strikes at the heart of every man (and, in 2019, every woman). It\u2019s rumored that Michelangelo\u2019s thinker is pondering that very question from atop his rocky perch.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Should one pay for SSL<\/a>, and if so, how much?<\/p>\n Well, much to the dismay of Locke and Hobbes and Voltaire and Shaw, we have an answer for you.<\/p>\n Everyone likes free stuff \u2014 that\u2019s also a concept as old as man. And free SSL sounds great. It could have been, too. But this is mankind we\u2019re talking about. Altruism left man\u2019s system long ago, alongside the detritus from Eden\u2019s apple. There is one major advantage to free SSL and a couple of HUGE drawbacks.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with the most obvious advantage: it\u2019s free.<\/p>\n Good, glad we got that out of the way. Now let\u2019s talk about the disadvantages.<\/p>\n First, free SSL isn\u2019t supported. This is no problem for a technical crowd, but for the average site owner setting everything up can be a huge headache. There\u2019s nobody to call if you get stuck. No live chat to hold your hand. You need to make a go out of it entirely on the strength of forum posts and knowledgebase articles \u2014 and we all know how well that works out.<\/p>\n Second, and this is equally important speaks to the human element ruining everything. More and more every day free SSL certificates are becoming more associated with hackers and criminals. Phish use domain validation (DV) SSL, too. And at this point over half of all phishing sites are now using a free DV SSL certificate<\/a>. That means there\u2019s an advantage to going with an SSL certificate that asserts greater identity. And they don\u2019t give those away for free.<\/p>\n Third, the certificates only last 90 days. Meaning you have to replace free SSL certificates four to eight times as often as paid ones. Talk about a certificate management nightmare.<\/p>\n Fourth, and lastly, free SSL certificates don\u2019t come with any warranties. Yeah, so if something does manage to go wrong where the encryption fails, you have no protection.<\/p>\n Back to paid SSL. Paying for an SSL certificate offers several distinct advantages. Namely:<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with identity. Free SSL is all domain validated<\/a>. That means the certificate authority<\/a> (CA) checks whether you control the domain but nothing else. Again, this has been abused. Let\u2019s Encrypt, the biggest free CA, actually flouted that it no longer checks the Google safe browsing blacklists and will issue certificates to literally anyone<\/em>. This is not good for anyone \u2014 your customers in particular.<\/p>\n The only way not to be associated with that kind of behavior or mindset is to purchase a business authentication certificate that displays your verified identity<\/a> and train your customers to look for it. Those aren\u2019t free though.<\/p>\n Support is nice, too. When you purchase a commercial SSL certificate, you can call the CA or reseller you bought it from and they\u2019ll help you. Free CAs will not help you if you call them. They\u2019ll ask how you got this phone number. Then they\u2019ll ask you to please delete it. They might even suggest you visit a forum and search for an answer, but even that\u2019s not a given.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, CAs and reseller offers support across a range of channels, and they\u2019ve even been told their employees have lovely phone voices.<\/p>\n Next up, paid SSL certificates come with functionality beyond just \u201csingle domain.\u201d Let\u2019s Encrypt will issue you a wildcard but you have to jump through a bunch of hoops and check a bunch of boxes pertaining to the type of server you use, its software, the lineage of your grandparents \u2014 enough red tape that by the time you finish filling it all out, you\u2019ll wish you\u2019d just forked over the $17 for a commercial cert.<\/p>\n Paid SSL certificates come in single domain, multi-domain<\/a>, SAN certificate<\/a>, UCC SSL Certificates<\/a>, wildcard SSL<\/a> and multi-domain wildcard<\/a> varieties. Something for every use case. It\u2019s much more convenient than creating a patchwork of three-month single domain certs.<\/p>\n Finally, trust. We\u2019ve said it before, but email has free options, too. And yet, if a business tries to send you an email using a Gmail address, you\u2019re going to be skeptical. SSL is like that as well. If your website is using a free DV certificate that\u2019s popular with criminals, it\u2019s going to cause a lot more hesitation than using a paid SSL certificate that lists verified organizational information.<\/p>\n People trust the latter. The former? Good luck.<\/p>\n Warranties<\/a> are great for businesses. If something goes wrong, they help to protect your organization and customers with warranties ranging from $10,000 to $2 million (depending on the individual certificate and the CA who issues it).<\/p>\n Well, let\u2019s start with what you\u2019re paying for with SSL. When you purchase an SSL certificate, you\u2019re not really paying for the digital certificate itself. Sure, it\u2019s valuable, but that\u2019s not where the costs come in. What you\u2019re paying for is the validation and support apparatus that the CA has built around the certificates.<\/p>\n Business authentication requires a human being to verify actual information from government sources and other channels. That requires time, labor, training \u2014 and that\u2019s before we ever get to the support aspects or warranties.<\/p>\n None of that stuff is free. So, when you purchase a business authentication SSL certificate \u2014 that\u2019s what the cost is covering.<\/p>\n Now, we need to answer the question of \u201chow much does it cost to get a SSL certificate?\u201d<\/p>\n And the answer (eat it, Plato) is \u201cnot a cent more than you have to\u201d (actually, that sounds more Confucian). Here at CheapSSLsecurity.com, we\u2019ve spent the past decade working closely with the world\u2019s top CAs<\/a> and building strong relationships. Fast forward to today, and we\u2019re platinum level partners with industry\u2019s leaders. If you go to a CA directly, you get retail pricing, which is MSRP. When we go, we get platinum partner level pricing, which is basically cost.<\/p>\n We buy certificates at bulk and then turn around the savings by selling them much lower than MSRP. Sometimes as much as 85% lower. We also offer \u2018round-the-clock support and a money-back guarantee.<\/p>\n We\u2019re so confident in our value that if you ever find someone else selling one of our SSL certificates for cheaper \u2014 we\u2019ll beat the price. Guaranteed.<\/p>\n We offer the best discount on SSL certificates starting as low as $5.45 per year.<\/p>\n Shop All SSL Certificate<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n What Is A Certificate Authority (CA)?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You Should Know Before Purchase that How Much Does an SSL Certificate Cost You? Since the beginning of man, way before the chicken or the egg, the question of whether or not to pay for SSL \u2014 and how much … Continue reading Free or Paid \u2013 The SSL Edition<\/h2>\n
Advantages of Free SSL<\/h3>\n
Disadvantages of Free SSL<\/h3>\n
The Advantages of Paid SSL<\/h2>\n
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Validation<\/h3>\n
Support<\/h3>\n
Versatility<\/h3>\n
Trust<\/h3>\n
Warranties<\/h3>\n
So, How Much Does Does an SSL Certificate Cost?<\/h2>\n
Now Let\u2019s Talk About How Much One Should Pay for SSL<\/h2>\n
Purchase an SSL Certificate from CheapSSLSecurity & Save Up to 88%!<\/h2>\n