Wildcard SSL Certificate Vs. SAN Certificate – An In-Depth Comparison Guide

Gone are the days when you had to buy separate SSL certificates from each of your websites and their subdomains. This hurt enterprises as it required huge expenses and administrative work.

There are now various SSL certificate types, like Wildcard SSL Certificates, SAN SSL certificates, and UCC certificates, which allow multiple websites and top-level subdomains to be protected with a single certificate on multiple web servers.

To ensure optimal security of your websites and subdomains, it’s crucial to learn the use cases of these certificates. Do not worry; this article will help you uncover an in-depth comparison of SAN vs. Wildcard certificates. So, let’s start.

What is a Wildcard SSL Certificate?

A Wildcard certificate is a subdomain SSL certificate that lets you secure and protect numerous subdomains simultaneously. This certificate simplifies things by alleviating the need to redeploy the certificate while incorporating subdomains.

The former is the ideal choice for wildcard certificates vs. SAN certificates if you use numerous subdomains and often add them. It eliminates the need for separate SSL certificates – which involve a lot of expense – while ensuring the security of HTTPS.

How Does Wildcard SSL Work?

You should know that any SSL certificate is used for a single domain. The wildcard certificates work similarly while ensuring numerous benefits to the users. There is only a single listed primary (major) domain in a wildcard certificate – like, for example, *.domain.com.

However, an asterisk (*) – which is a wildcard character – enables it to let the user protect an infinite number of subdomains, such as

• search.domain.com
• mail.domain.com
• login.domain.com etc

Moreover, updating the SSL certificate when adding, modifying, or replacing the sub-domains is no longer necessary. So, using wildcard SSL certificates will be highly beneficial and reasonable if you use plenty of sub-domains.

Wildcard SSL Use Cases

When establishing browser access applications, ZPA permits using wildcard certificates within a solutions market. Within this specific application segment or across many application areas, you can utilize a wildcard certificate for many fully qualified domain names (FQDNs).

You might design two application portions, for instance:

• App1 has app1.example.com in it
• App2 that includes app2.example.com.

You utilize the same wildcard certificate, *.example.com, for both application segments. A wildcard application can also employ a wildcard certificate. The wildcard certificate, however, only matches against the top level, while the wildcard application supports subdomains.

Top Wildcard SSL Certificates

Comodo Positive SSL Wildcard – Best For Small Companies

Positive SSL Wildcard is the finest security option for a small business or organization wishing to safeguard your domain and subdomains at a fair price. The Positive SSL Wildcard is ridiculously cheap.

Certera SSL Wildcard – Best For Medium-Sized Businesses

The Certera SSL Wildcard offers firms complete security while offering certified business information anytime users verify the certificate or click a website mark for enterprises that are a little more recognized but could still benefit from a boost when it concerns establishing confidence.

Comodo Wildcard SSL – Best For All Enterprises

These SSL certificates from Comodo are explicitly designed to meet the various Enterprise requirements. This premium wildcard certificate ensures quick, seamless, and effective securing of your organization’s website portfolio. 

What is a SAN Certificate?

Regarding the SAN certificate vs. Wildcard certificate, the SAN SSL certificate is much like the latter, as you can secure multiple domains leveraging only one certificate. However, there are several differences between a multi-domain SAN certificate and vs. wildcard certificate that you must know.

Firstly, you can leverage the SAN certificate with numerous websites and top-level domains. Nevertheless, a comprehensive list and all the SSL certificates are necessary when incorporating or adding domains. It implies that you’ll have to redeploy the SAN certificate whenever you include a server on the list.

How Does SAN SSL Work?

SAN or Subject Alternative Name is an SSL protocol extension. It enables multiple values about an SSL certificate via alternative names, like:

• Fully Qualified Domain Names
• IP addresses
• Multiple Websites
• Common name RDN or DNS names
• Distinguished names or Directory names

SAN SSL Use Cases

We have already explained the use cases of Wildcard SSL, now let’s take a look at the use cases of SAN SSL certificates:

• It is used for applications that need Client Authentication certificates. These comprise several enterprise application services like 802.1x EAP-TLS servers, VPN clients, and more.
• SAN is used in every application that offers services over HTTPS and needs an X.509 certificate. To get a SAN DnsName entry, almost all the applications need these certificates so that the entry matches the hostname.
• You can also add SANs in the CSR (Certificate Signing Request) while submitting it to a Certificate Authority. This is done to ask the CA to make additions to the issued certificate and incorporate those SANs. However, the decision to incorporate all or any of the SANs in the CSR is totally up to the CA.

Top SAN SSL Certificates

Comodo Multi-Domain SSL Certificate

The Comodo Multi-Domain SSL certificate is one of the best SAN SSL certificates. It is a one-of-a-kind SSL certificate that comes with several powerful features like unlimited server license, Up to 256-bit SSL security, and more.

Sectigo Multi-Domain SSL Certificate

Even though this certificate is explicitly made for Microsoft Exchange & Communication servers, they work seamlessly with other servers too. This lets you secure unlimited subdomains and up to 250 main domains.

Comodo UCC SSL Certificate

This certificate comes with several unique features. Besides MS exchange and communications, this certificate can also be deployed on other servers.

Wildcard SSL Vs. SAN Certificate: Outlining The Differences

Let’s quickly review how they differ from one another:

• SAN certificates cover multiple FQDNs and SANs. For a few brands, this can go as high as 250 domains.
• On a single level, wildcard certificates can protect an infinite number of subdomains.
• Only the OV and DV validation choices are available for wildcard certificates.
• Any level of elementary or commercial validation is possible for SAN certificates (DV, OV, or EV).

SAN Certificate Vs. Wildcard SSL Certificate – Features, Benefits, And Drawbacks

Particulars	SAN SSL Certificate	Wildcard SSL Certificate
Features	Secures numerous subdomains and domains and comes with all SSL types: DV, OV, and EV.	Secures unlimited subdomains and comes with OV and DV SSL type but no EV type
Domain Coverage	Secure a maximum of 250 domains	Secures unlimited sub-domains
Server License	Unlimited	Unlimited
Reissuance	Unlimited	Unlimited
Benefits	A single SAN certificate lets you secure both primary domains and subdomains without any hassle. Similarly,	You can incorporate as many subdomains as you want without the need to reissue them.
Encryption Length	it provides 256-bit encryption for your website’s optimal security and protection.	It offers 256-bit encryption, ensuring the maximum level of protection.
The Browsers and Mobile OS Compatibility	Compatible with over 99% of desktop and mobile browsers	Over 99% of mobile phone and desktop browsers recognize this certificate.
Price	It starts at $10.99	It starts at $39.99
Refund Policy	30 Days	30 Days
	Buy SAN SSL Certificates	Buy Wildcard SSL Certificates

Conclusion

With this comprehensive comparison, you can now better decide which certificate to choose. Nevertheless, here’s what you should summarize and remember while making a decision:

• Go for the Wildcard SSL certificate if you want top-notch encryption security for numerous subdomains while having the likelihood of incorporating more subdomains in the near future. This will surely provide the flexibility you seek.
• The multi-domain SSL certificate (SAN) is the ideal choice if you have two or more primary domains. This will be a cost-effective choice in such a scenario.