A free SSL certificate may look good and cost-free solution, but it comes with certain boundaries. On the other side, paid SSL certificate is an excellent choice for any kind of businesses which has more advantages compared to free SSL certificate.

Let’s find out the difference between free SSL vs Paid SSL certificate

  • Type of SSL Certificate - Free SSL certificates only come with a Domain Validation (DV) option Whereas the paid SSL certificates do come with Organization Validation (OV) & Extended Validation (EV) options.
  • Level of Validation - Certificate Authority does not validate anything apart from the identity of the website owner with FREE SSL while in the case of OV & EV certificates, in-depth verification of the business is carried out by the certificate authority (CA).
  • Validity Period - Free SSL certificates provided by popular CAs is issued for 30-90 days In the case of paid certificates, they can be issued for a period of 1-2 years.
  • Support - No technical support with Free SSL while paid certificates are committed to providing round the clock support to their customers.
  • Warranty - No warranty with Free SSL while paid SSL to come backed by warranties.