SSL Certificates VS Let’s Encrypt

January 21, 2022

SSL Certificates VS Let’s Encrypt

Internet security has become a crucial aspect with the ever-increasing online presence of businesses and individuals. In this regard, SSL Certificates and Let's Encrypt serve as the most popular forms of security protocols to protect users' data. But how do these two compare? Are they really as similar as they seem?

SSL Certificates

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificates have been around for a long time, having been used since the introduction of HTTPS protocol in 1995. SSL certificates validate the authenticity of a website and encrypt the communication between the user's browser and the webserver. This encryption ensures that any information exchanged between the user and the webserver remains confidential.

While SSL certificates offer unparalleled security, they can be expensive. They come in different levels of validation, with Domain Validated (DV) SSL, Organization Validated (OV) SSL, and Extended Validation (EV) SSL being the most common.

Those levels of validation take different amounts of time to validate, which makes DV SSL the easiest and quickest to obtain, EV SSL the most thorough but, with that, the most expensive. According to SSLshopper, the average cost of an SSL certificate is around $50 per year.

Let's Encrypt

In contrast, Let's Encrypt is a free and open Certificate Authority that issues SSL/TLS certificates. It aims to break down the economic barriers that SSL/TLS certificates pose to websites, particularly small businesses and start-ups.

Let's Encrypt uses an automated, domain-validated system, thereby enabling users to obtain SSL certificates with ease. Besides, users can choose to set up automatic certificate renewal, making the entire process of obtaining SSL certificates more efficient.

Comparison

The primary difference between SSL Certificates and Let's Encrypt lies in cost and level of validation.

While the SSL certificate offers comprehensive validation and comes at a price, Let's Encrypt provides domain-validation only, which usually is enough for standard websites. Therefore, Let's Encrypt certificates are free.

When it comes to speed and ease of obtaining the certificates, Let's Encrypt is the winner. It is the perfect choice for smaller websites, startups, and developers who cannot afford premium SSL certificates.

References

SSLshopper. (2022). Cheap SSL Certificates – Buy SSL Certs from $8.67/yr. [online] Available at: https://www.sslshopper.com/cheap-ssl-certificates.html [Accessed 21 Jan. 2022].
Let's Encrypt. (2022). About Let's Encrypt. [online] Available at: https://letsencrypt.org/about/ [Accessed 21 Jan. 2022].