Yes, there are some downside of using free SSL. If you are paying for something then it must be better than free one for sure. So In this blog we will discuss why you should use paid SSL and Why You should not use free SSL certificate. We will compare paid SSL & Free SSL certificates so that you can know whether is worth or not to use paid certificates.
When you get free certificates from your hosting, it’s actually shared between many websites or the price may be included in the initial hosting price. Paid certificates these are always going to be unique to one domain they’re not going to be shared across many domains
so there are many different types of paid certificates too, but there’s three main versions. The first one is domain validation which means you just have to verify that you’re the domain owner to get this type of SSL certificate which you can get for free from let’s encrypt website. There’s also higher level certificates and this includes extended validation and organization validation. These certificates require the purchaser to give more validation of their company like a physical address or verification of the legal name of the business. So bank websites are a good example of organizations that would have these higher level certificates probably the extended validation and you could verify this by going to a bank website and seeing in the browser that their actual name is displayed right there next to the lock icon on a secure website.
So to answer the question like most things the paid version of SSL certificates are going to be better than the free version of the certificates but they probably are not going to offer any additional security, they both have the same level of security so really what you’re paying for is for them to look better in a browser like the bank example we just showed.
So which SSL certificate you decide to get for your website is going to depend on what you’re doing on your website, what type of organization you are and then maybe your budget too. But these days because of the errors that are shown the warnings that are showing in browsers we recommend that every website have at least domain validation / DV certificate installed on their site.
So we recommend again checking with your hosts to see what kind of SSL certificates they offer. Maybe they have that free version that you can install to get your domain covered and also check out let’s encrypt org it’s a newer organization that’s become popular because they offer free SSL certificates and they are the domain validation or DV certificates.
| PAID SSL Certificate | FREE SSL Certificates | |
|---|---|---|
| Level of Validation | While in the case of paid SSL certificates, in depth verification of the identity of the website owner, business is a must before issuing the certificate to the site owner. | In Free SSL Certificates Only domain validation isa done before issuing the ssl certificate. |
| Level Of Trust | HIGH | LOW |
| Validity Period | 1-2 years | 30-90 days |
| Support | High Support | No / Limited support |
| Warranty | Provided | No warranty provided |
| SSL Encryption | 2048 bits | 2048 bits |
| Ecommerce Payments | Suitable | Not Suitable |
We hope these points and explanations will decide to choose the best one for you.
If you need any help with SSL certificates contact us.
