SSL certificates

Most sites need the free one. We will say which do not.

A free certificate encrypts exactly as strongly as one costing two hundred pounds. What you pay for is identity verification and warranty cover, and only some organisations genuinely need either. Every hosting plan here includes SSL that renews itself, and this page exists to help you decide whether you need anything more.

Which do I need?See certificates

Which certificate do you actually need?

Certificate sales rely heavily on people not knowing the difference. Find your situation below and take the answer at face value — in four of these six cases the honest answer is the free one.

A blog, portfolio or brochure site
Free SSL
Nobody is entering payment details or sensitive data. Encryption is what you need, and the free certificate provides exactly the same encryption as any paid one.
A store using Stripe, PayPal or a hosted gateway
Free SSL
Card details go straight to the payment provider and never touch your server. A paid certificate adds nothing to the security of that transaction.
A business whose insurer or client asks for warranty cover
DV or OV
The warranty is the product here. It is a commercial instrument rather than a technical one, and free certificates carry none.
An organisation wanting its legal name in the certificate
OV
Organisation validation confirms your company actually exists and is who it claims to be. A curious visitor can see that in the certificate detail.
Finance, healthcare or regulated procurement
EV
Some procurement policies simply require extended validation. When that is the case the requirement is contractual, not something to argue with.
Many subdomains under one name
Wildcard
A wildcard covers every subdomain at once, which is simpler than issuing dozens of certificates — though free certificates can also be issued per subdomain automatically.

Certificates, at the price we pay plus our margin

Encryption strength is identical across every certificate below. What changes is how thoroughly the issuer verifies who you are, how long that takes, and what they will pay out if their verification proves wrong.

Free SSL

Included

Issued and renewed automatically
Same encryption strength as any paid certificate
Trusted by every modern browser
Covers your domain and its www
Nothing to configure or renew

See hosting plans

Prices in USD, billed yearly, exclusive of applicable taxes. Installation is free on any HostElevate plan, and we will install a certificate bought elsewhere too.

Straight answers about SSL

Certificates are sold on confusion more than most products. These are the honest versions.

No. The encryption is identical — the same algorithms, the same key strengths, the same protection in transit. What a paid certificate adds is verification of who you are and a warranty from the issuer if that verification turns out to be wrong. Neither of those makes the connection more encrypted.
Three legitimate reasons: a client, insurer or procurement policy requires warranty cover; an organisation wants its verified legal name visible in the certificate; or a regulated sector mandates extended validation. Outside those, the free certificate is genuinely the right answer and we will tell you so.
It renews itself every ninety days, automatically, with nothing for you to do. That short lifespan is a security feature rather than a limitation — a compromised certificate stops being useful very quickly.
For DV certificates, no — the padlock looks identical whether the certificate was free or cost two hundred pounds. With OV and EV, a visitor who clicks through to the certificate detail can see your verified organisation name. Very few visitors ever do this.
One certificate covering every subdomain of a domain, so shop, blog and app are all secured by a single certificate. Useful when you have many subdomains, though free certificates can also be issued individually per subdomain automatically.
Yes, at no charge on any of our hosting plans. Send us the certificate files and we will install and configure it, including the intermediate chain that people frequently miss.
It pays out to a party who suffers a loss because the certificate authority mis-issued a certificate — for example, issuing one to somebody impersonating you. It is protection against the issuer's failure, not against your site being hacked, and it is very rarely claimed.
Yes. Browsers mark sites without it as insecure, search engines prefer secured sites, and any form at all — including a contact form — sends data that should not travel in plain text. This is precisely why we include it free rather than selling it.

Sizing a server is easier with someone who has done it before. Tell us what you are running and we will suggest a size — including a smaller one, if that is the honest answer.

Ask before you buy

Most sites need the free one. We will say which do not.

A blog, portfolio or brochure site

A store using Stripe, PayPal or a hosted gateway

A business whose insurer or client asks for warranty cover

An organisation wanting its legal name in the certificate

Finance, healthcare or regulated procurement

Many subdomains under one name