The 15 Cheapest SSL Certificates: Are They Worth It?

CAcert free certificate

• Price: Free
• Issuance: Immediately
• Seal: None
• Validation: Domain
• Warranty: None
• Wildcard: No
• Refund: Not applicable

Recommendation: Use for Testing Only

The only thing going for CAcert is the price. The company doesn't indicate what the encryption rate is for its certificates, and in fact, the browser used for testing did not accept its site as using a valid CA.

This one is fine if you're just testing and don't want to use a self-signed certificate, but otherwise, avoid.

Namecheap (Reseller): Comodo Positive SSL

• Price: $10 for first year (renews at $12 per year)
• Issuance: 15 minutes or less
• Seal: Yes
• Validation: Domain
• Warranty: $10,000
• Wildcard: No
• Refund: 15 days

Recommendation: A Cheap Way to Get Comodo

If your company doesn't do a lot of business through the SSL server, this might be a good option.

Namecheap (Reseller): Comodo Positive SSL Multi-Domain

• Price: $25.99 for the first year (renews at $29.99 per year)
• Issuance: Up to two business days
• Seal: Yes
• Validation: Domain
• Warranty: $10,000
• Wildcard: No
• Refund: 15 days

Recommendation: Good for Multiple Domains on One Certificate

If your company doesn't do a lot of business through the SSL server, this might be a good option.

Namecheap (Reseller): Comodo InstantSSL

• Price: $24.88 for the first year (renews at $28.88 per year)
• Issuance: Two business days or fewer
• Seal: Yes
• Validation: Domain and company
• Warranty: $50,000
• Wildcard: No
• Refund: 15 days

Recommendation: Get Your Company Validated Along With the Domain

If your company doesn't do a lot of business through the SSL server, this might be a good option.

RapidSSL

• Price: $59.00 per year
• Issuance: Within minutes
• Seal: Yes
• Validation: Domain
• Warranty: $500,000
• Wildcard: No
• Refund: 30 days

Recommendation: Fine for Low-Volume Sales

RapidSSL offers a single server certificate for a reasonable price. Be aware that RapidSSL also resells GeoTrust certificates for higher-volume sales, but for low-volume sales, this certificate is fine.

Network Solutions Xpress

• Price: $59.99 per year
• Issuance: Within minutes
• Seal: No
• Validation: Domain
• Warranty: $10,000
• Wildcard: No
• Refund: None

Recommendation: Low-Volume Sales With the Network Solutions Brand

Network Solutions will verify your domain with the Network Solutions brand standing behind it—good for low-volume sales.

Reseller: Comodo InstantSSL Pro

• Price: $38.88 for first year (renews at $44.88 per year)
• Issuance: Two business days
• Seal: Yes
• Validation: Domain and company
• Warranty: $100,000
• Wildcard: No
• Refund: 15 days

Recommendation: A Cheap Way to Get Comodo Company Validation

If your company wants the Comodo brand, needs company validation, and doesn't do a lot of business through the SSL server, this might be a good choice.

Comodo SSL

• Price: $99 per year
• Issuance: Within minutes
• Seal: None
• Validation: Domain and company
• Warranty: $500,000
• Wildcard: No
• Refund: 30 days

Recommendation: Get the Comodo Brand Without Using a Reseller

Comodo offers a cheaper option with a decent warranty and domain and company verification.

This certificate is great for a small e-commerce business or a site that sells just one or two services. The warranty is not the best in the industry, but it's great for the price.

GoDaddy Protect One Website

• Price: $63.99 per year
• Issuance: Up to 10 minutes
• Seal: Yes
• Validation: Domain
• Warranty: No
• Wildcard: Yes
• Refund: None

Recommendation: Good Add-On

If you already have a GoDaddy hosting or DNS account, then adding SSL is easy. The company offers only domain validation, so it's not as good of an assurance provider as others on this list. If you want to keep all your things in one place, however, GoDaddy makes this easy. The company eliminated its warranty at a time when other CAs are increasing them.

Reseller: Comodo PremiumSSL

• Price: $52.88 for first year (renews at $59.88 per year)
• Issuance: Two to five business days
• Seal: Yes
• Validation: Domain and company
• Warranty: $250,000
• Wildcard: No
• Refund: 15 days

Recommendation: A Cheap Way to Get Comodo PremiumSSL

If your company doesn't do a lot of business through the SSL server, this might be a good option.

Thawte SSL Web Server

• Price: $238 per year
• Issuance: Unknown
• Seal: Yes
• Validation: Domain and company
• Warranty: $1,250,000
• Wildcard: No
• Refund: 30 days

Recommendation: Very Good Warranty

If your company needs a strong warranty, this is the best available for the price. 

Comodo Multi-Domain SSL

• Price: $149 per year
• Issuance: One to three business days
• Seal: Yes
• Validation: Domain
• Warranty: $250,000
• Wildcard: Yes
• Refund: 30 days

Recommendation: Good for Multisites

If your company has many domains, this might be a good choice. 

Comodo Positive SSL Wildcard

• Price: $89 per year
• Issuance: Within minutes
• Seal: Yes
• Validation: Domain
• Warranty: $50,000
• Wildcard: Yes
• Refund: 30 days

Recommendation: Cheapest Wildcard

This is the cheapest we found that includes Wildcard SSL.

GeoTrust True BusinessID

• Price: $238 per year
• Issuance: One business day
• Seal: Yes
• Validation: Domain and company
• Warranty: $1,250,000
• Wildcard: No
• Refund: None

Recommendation: A Good Choice for Businesses

If your business wants the GeoTrust name and needs business verification as well as domain, this is a good choice.

Network Solutions Basic

• Price: $124.50 per year
• Issuance: As little as one business day
• Seal: Yes
• Validation: Domain
• Warranty: $50,000
• Wildcard: No
• Refund: None

Recommendation: Get the Network Solutions Name

This is one of the more expensive certificates on this list, but it carries with it the trusted Network Solutions brand.

The warranty is OK for a small e-commerce site.