DigiCert vs Comodo SSL Comparison – Which One is Good for You?

When you decide to purchase an SSL certificate for your business, you will hear about two major brands – DigiCert and Comodo. And that is because both brands have built a solid reputation in the industry and have been able to retain customers’ trust for a long time. But that leaves you in a dilemma: which vendor to choose among them for getting your SSL certificate?

Fortunately, that dilemma will not keep you clueless for too long because you have arrived at the right place to clear your doubts.

In this article, we will take you through a side-by-side comparison of DigiCert VS Comodo so you can decide which SSL vendor is best for your business.

DigiCert vs Comodo SSL Certificates Comparison

Before mentioning DigiCert vs Comodo, there are several things that should be considered while choosing an SSL certificate. Here is a quick look at all of them:

#1. Validation Level

First, it is essential to consider the validation level of certificates offered by both these vendors.

In case you do not know about it, the validation level refers to the level of business information that is verified by the certifying authority before issuing a certificate.

There are three levels of validation in SSL certificates, which are something like this:

• Domain validation: In this type of validation, only your domain ownership is verified before issuing the certificate. If you prove that you are the rightful owner of a domain name, the certificate is issued.
• Organization Validation: This requires slightly more details to be checked and verified before your certificate is issued. Besides domain ownership, the CA also tries to ensure that your business has a real and legal existence before issuing an OV SSL certificate. Therefore, you are asked to provide the documents proving the existence of your business.
• Extended Validation: This kind of validation requires you to submit not only your business proof documents but also some documents that prove that your business has been in existence for a certain period (usually 2-3 years). These certificates are the most difficult ones and challenging to spoof, and they also enjoy the highest reputation. Therefore, your business can increase its credibility immensely by choosing this kind of certificate. You can learn more about Extended Validation in this article.

Both Comodo and DigiCert offer SSL certificates in all three types of validation, so there is no significant difference between them.

#2. Number of Domains and Subdomains

The number of domains and subdomains that you can protect with an SSL certificate is determined by the type of certificate chosen. There are three types of SSL certificates based on the number of domains and subdomains they can protect. They are:

• Single domain SSL certificates: This type of certificates, as you can conclude from their name, protect only a single domain. They do not cover even a subdomain created by you under that domain.
• Wildcard SSL certificates: These certificates protect a root domain and all the subdomains that you create under that domain. So, they expand the scope of protection from ‘one domain and no subdomains’ to ‘one domain and all its subdomains’.
• Multi domain SSL certificates: Finally, these certificates can protect all your domains and subdomains. That is right – you can save multiple domains and all the subdomains created under them with multi-domain SSL certificates, which are also popularly known as Subject Alternative Name (SAN) SSL certificates.

Both DigiCert as well as Comodo offer SSL certificates in all these three types, which means that you can purchase a certificate suiting your requirements from either of them. No significant difference here as well.

#3. Issuing Authority Reputation

Now we are moving into some territory that shows a substantial difference between DigiCert and Comodo. While both these vendors are reputed sellers of SSL certificates, Comodo has a stronger brand and reputation in the industry due to its long existence in the market and a more comprehensive portfolio of products. They have gotten a web browser, an internet security suite, a mobile security suite, and many other cybersecurity products. Thanks to the success of these products, Comodo is a globally recognized brand. Anyone working with computers for a few years would know about it because they might have used some of its products.

DigiCert, on the other hand, is solely in the business of certificates. It has earned some serious reputation within a few years of its existence, but its importance is still much less than Comodo.

#4. Warranty and Other Benefits

Every technology may break down at some point in time. No technology is 100% foolproof, and that applies to SSL certificates too. Though it happens rarely, there may come a time when the CA fails to validate your certificate at the request of web browsers, and a ‘Certificate Not Valid’ error may be generated on their end. In such a situation, you may not only lose customers but also face serious legal challenges if someone steals confidential information of your customers through a Man-in-the-Middle attack, and they become victims of fraud. That is where a warranty offered by the certifying authority comes into the picture.

Both Comodo and DigiCert offer warranties ranging between $1.75 and $2 million for such circumstances. That means if any lawsuit arises out of your certificate failing to protect the information of users due to an error in validation from CA’s end, your losses will be covered up to $2 million.

#5. SSL Price

Finally, let us talk about the price. Comodo SSL certificates start from $8/yr and go all the way up to $2,351 per year depending on the type of certificate, providers, and validation method chosen by you.

DigiCert SSL certificates, on the other hand, start from $272.41/yr and go up to $1,500. Looking at these basic price ranges, it may be clear to you that DigiCert certificates are costlier while Comodo certificates are costlier in their comparison. But why exactly are Comodo certificates cheaper than DigiCert SSL certificates? Let us find out.

Why are Comodo SSL Cheaper than DigiCert SSL Certificates?

One of the reasons why Comodo SSL certificates are cheaper than DigiCert certificates is because Comodo is also involved in a variety of other businesses, which allows it to offer competitive pricing than others as it is not dependent on SSL certificates alone for its revenue. In addition to that, Comodo also has a network of authorized resellers (i.e., clickssl.net) that subsidize the pricing further through a variety of unique business models. That is what gives Comodo SSL certificates a clear edge in pricing over DigiCert.

Conclusion: Which SSL certificates are better?

By now, it may be clear to you that neither Comodo nor DigiCert have much difference in the type of certificates and level of security offered. Both also offer a similar warranty and technical support. But looking at the reputation of these vendors and the pricing, it becomes evident that Comodo provides a much better deal than DigiCert. And that is what makes it a more successful issuer of SSL certificates than DigiCert and all other competitors.

We hope this comparison cleared all your doubts and questions regarding the SSL certificates being sold by these two leading brands. Now the choice is yours, and you can choose whichever vendor you want to choose!

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