Free vs Paid SSL

Hii,

Aside from the liability aspect (in that a paid SSL is like an insurance up to $10,000 or more depending on your certificate), and aside from Extended Validation and Organization Validation instead of just Domain Validation, what other protection does a paid certificate offer?

I'm looking for specific things that a paid certificate can do versus a free one, Should I stick to LetsEncrypt SSL or Buy a Paid One ?

 

Paid SSL also comes with a lot of support.

 

If you go for FREE SSL Cloudflare is way better than others. They have paid options too

 

LetsEncrypt should be enough for a free ssl certificate.

 

Let's Encrypt is great and supported by all major browsers. I wouldn't use any other.

 

Only couple benefits of paid SSL certificates:

1. SSL certificate provides authentication and improves customer trust by enabling HTTPS
2. You can purchase SSL certificates at huge discount rates from SSL providers
3. 99.9% mobile & desktop browser compatibility
4. 24/7 Customer Service
5. Increased SEO rankings
6. Warranty and refund policy

 

I think that as with everything, paid SSL would be a better option.

 

Difference between Free SSL and Paid SSL Certificate

1. Validity Period

Free SSL Certificate comes up with the validity of 30 days and a maximum of 90 days. Paid SSL Certificate comes up with the validity of 1 year to 2 years.

2. Level of Support

For a Paid SSL Certificate option, the user will get 24x7 endless support, but in the case of Free SSL, the user may need to compromise with the support.

3. Trust Level

Free SSL certificate only comes up with domain validation, but you get the Paid SSL Certificate come up with Organization Validation and Extended Validation option. The level of trust for EV SSL and OV SSL is highest than the DV SSL.

4. Warranty

There is no warranty claim for Free SSL, but you can claim the maximum of $1.7 M from a paid SSL Certificate authority.


Regards,
Adrian

 

I would consider that the difference being sought here is between free SSL certificate and paid SSL certificate.

A free SSL certificate is the one which you get without paying for it. In terms of security, and encryption is concerned, a free SSL certificate is as secure as a paid SSL certificate. This is quite contradictory to the common belief that only paid SSL certificate provides an ample amount of security and proper encryption.

Now, the question to ask here should be*‘why should I pay for an SSL certificate when I can get it for free?’*

Free SSL certificate comes with following demerits:

It does not provide Organisation validation and is restricted to domain validation.

It comes with a validity of 30–90 days, contrary to the validation period of 1 or 2 years for a paid SSL certificate.

Business support is not available for free SSL certificate, In case of an issue with free SSL certificate, one has to go through a bunch of old forum posts to be able to find a possible solution.

There is nothing like a warranty if anything goes wrong on the CA’s end like a failure of PKI instance. Paid SSL certificates come backed by warranties to ensure availability and enhanced uptime.