Free Wildcard SSL Vs Paid Wildcard SSL Differences Explained

Free Wildcard SSL may provide some of the features you get with a paid Wildcard SSL certificate, but not all.

Hence, to get a clear picture, we will be discussing Free Wildcard SSL vs Paid Wildcard SSL in this article.

What is a Paid Wildcard SSL Certificate?

Paid Wildcard certificates secure unlimited single-level subdomains with a primary domain using a single certificate.

For example, Thomas has a domain named example.com, and he wants to secure these subdomains: blog.example.com and shop.example.com. To accomplish this, Thomas can use a paid wildcard SSL certificate and secure the domain and subdomains.

The same will be the process of working on a free Wildcard certificate. Still, the only difference will be that – once Thomas decides to go with a paid certificate, he will be qualified for a warranty and other additional benefits or features provided by the respective CA, which he wouldn’t have gotten if he had gone with a free certificate.

Technical Components to Consider When Selecting Wildcard SSL

After reading the above content, you must have understood that the main objective or working of both – Paid and Free certificates are the same. So, on what basis or components should an organization decide between a Free vs Paid Wildcard SSL?

Here are the technical components that an individual or organization should consider while choosing between these two types of certificates:

Types of Validation Process

If an individual or the organization chooses a Free Wildcard certificate, they can only get the certificate issued with one type of validation – Domain Validation.

But, if the individual or the organization chooses a Paid Wildcard certificate, they can get the certificate issued with any of these two types of validation- Domain Validation and Organization Validation.

Security Features

Both, Free and Paid certificates offer the same level of encryption. Both certificates use standard 256-bit encryption signed with a 2048-bit signature key.

However, when choosing the free certificate, the certificate authority only verifies whether or not the entity requesting the certificate has control over the domain.

However, suppose the organization decides to use a Paid Wildcard SSL certificate and chooses organization validation as the validation option. In that case, the CA will conduct a thorough validation to verify the domain ownership and the existence of the organization that owns the domain.

This, through validation, increases the security of the website, and along with that, it will also help in building trust among the users.

Support and Warranty

Paid certificates come with 24*7 technical customer support and a warranty covering financial losses due to an SSL-related issue. The warranty amount can range from $10,000 to $1,500,000.

This is not the case with the Free certificate – there is no customer support as the whole process is automated, and the CA provides no warranty if anything goes haywire.

Site Seal and Validity Period

Paid certificates come with site seals that help build users’ trust and confidence. But it’s not true when referring to a Free Wildcard certificate; these certificates do not come with a site seal.

The validity of a Free certificate is approximately three months (90 days, to be exact). After that, you have to renew the certificate again. A Paid Wildcard certificate is valid for up to two years, and there is no need to renew it again within that period.

Read Also: Positive SSL Vs. Essential SSL Certificate Comparison

Free vs Paid Wildcard SSL

For a better understanding, let’s go through Free vs Paid Wildcard SSL, in a tabular format:

Benchmark	Free Wildcard SSL	Paid Wildcard SSL
Encryption Strength	256-bit encryption	256-bit encryption
Certificate Authority (Root)	Let’s Encrypt	Trusted third party CA’s (Commercial CA)
Validation Type	Domain Validation (DV)	Domain Validated (DV) and Organization Validation (OV)
Warranty	No.	Yes.
Site Seal	No.	Yes.
Customer Support	No.	Yes.
Number of Subdomains covered	Infinite	Infinite
Validity Period	90 days	2 years
Issuance Time	Within minutes, as the whole process is automatic.	Takes a longer time to issue the certificate as it requires manual verification.
Browser Compatibility	99.99%	99.99%
Price	Free	$39.99 to $2600/yr

Which Option Should I Buy for My Website with Subdomains?

The answer to this query depends upon the requirements of a particular organization or person. As for some entities, the Free Wildcard certificate can work as the encryption level used is the same as the Paid certificate. But encryption can’t be the only deciding factor.

Read Also: How to Use Wildcard SSL Certificate for Subdomains?

Using a Paid SSL Certificate from a trusted CA is always best to secure your domain and its subdomains. This is important because using a Paid SSL certificate from a trusted CA will:

• Allow an entity to choose OV as the verification method, which would boost the website’s security.
• Provide around-the-clock customer support and extended validity duration.
• Compensate for the loss if something goes wrong at CA’s end.
• Include dynamic site seals that help build users’ trust and confidence.

If you are not interested in the features mentioned above and are okay with the downtime risk, you can use a Free Wildcard SSL certificate.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while both free and paid Wildcard certificates provide unlimited single-level subdomain security, the two have significant technical differences.

While free certificates are issued through automated domain validation, paid certificates offer organization validation, 24/7 customer support, a more extended validity period, and a warranty covering financial losses due to SSL-related issues.

Choosing between free and paid SSL certificates ultimately depends on the individual or organization’s requirements. Opting for a Paid Wildcard SSL certificate from a trusted CA is always recommended to ensure the highest security, customer support, and trust-building features for their website and its subdomains.