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Updated on 2024-06-18 GMT+08:00
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What Are Differences Between Free and Paid SSL Certificates?

All SSL certificates can be used to create an encrypted channel for visitors to access websites through HTTPS. If a website is secured with an SSL certificate, a security padlock will be displayed on the browser when visitors access the website.

This topic describes the differences between free and paid SSL certificates.

Table 1 Differences between free and paid SSL certificates

Item

Free Certificate

Paid Certificate

Security Level

General

High

Compatibility with the certificate running environment

General

High

SSL certificate warranties from CAs

Not supported

Supported

Restrictions on certificate quantity

20 free certificates for each account, including its IAM users

Unlimited

Types of website domain names that can be associated with

One single domain

Single domain, multiple domains, and wildcard domains

Supported certificate types

DV

DV, OV, and EV

Technical support

Not supported

Supported

Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP)

There is no local OCSP. So there might be network delay or timeout.

All paid certificates except DV (Basic) support OCSP acceleration access.

Generally, free certificates are used only for personal websites or testing purposes. It is not recommended that you use free certificates for enterprise websites with mature services.

For enterprise websites, paid certificates are recommended. For governments, financial institutions, e-commerce platforms, and healthcare agencies, OV or EV certificates are recommended. These certificates make your website more trust while better protecting website data and identity authentication. For more details about paid certificate selection, see How Do I Select an SSL Certificate?

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