How Much Does an SSL Certificate Cost in 2024?

On an average SSL certificate cost starts from $8 per year to $1034 per year. This price can be vary according the SSL certificate types and validation.

When you decide to buy an SSL certificate, the SSL certificate cost plays a significant role in determining your choices. SSL certificates for your website are no different. Naturally, you try to get an idea of SSL certificate price before choosing one of them for your site.

So here we’re going to tell you everything about how much an SSL certificate cost, what are their significant benefits, and what are factors affect their prices. We’ve got a lot of stuff to explore, so without taking any more time, let’s get straight into it!

How Much Does an SSL Certificate Cost?

Technology keeps getting more and more affordable with time, and that phenomenon has applied to SSL certificates too. Today they’re much cheaper than they were about a few years ago.

• The cost of Single domain SSL certificates and DV certificates starts at $8 per year. These are cheap price SSL certificates, as you can see.
• Then there are Wildcard SSL certificates, whose prices start at $45 per year, and multi-domain SSL certificates, whose prices start at $30 per year.
• The OV SSL certificate cost starts at $60.03 per year, while EV SSL certificate price starts at $60 per year.

These certificates can safely be considered the best SSL certificate out in the market.

Now we’re well prepared to understand how much each of these certificates costs and why. So, let’s dive into those details now.

SSL Certificate Cost by Types

SSL certificates are divided into 6 different categories based on two criteria: the number of domains and subdomains they can protect, and the kind of validation process involved in getting them. This categorization also affects the pricing of SSL certificates, as you’ll see in the next few minutes. But first, let’s look at the types of SSL certificates that are out in the market. Here they’re based on the number of domains that they can protect:

#1. Single Domain SSL Certificate Cost – Starts from $8

As per their name, these certificates protect only a single domain and subdomain in its hierarchy. You can secure www/non-www and subdomain.maindomain.com with this certificate.

Here is single domain SSL certificate price comparison

#2. Wildcard SSL Certificate Cost – Starts at $45

Wildcard SSL certificates expand upon single-domain SSL certificates and protect a domain along with all first-level subdomains coming under its hierarchy. However, even these certificates can’t protect the subdomains that are more than one level away from the root domain. For instance, a wildcard certificate purchased for example.com can protect blog.example.com, about.example.com, and other similar subdomains. But it cannot safeguard corporate.blog.example.com, because this subdomain (corporate) is two levels away from the root domain (example.com).

Here is the Wildcard SSL certificate price comparison

#3. Multi-domain SSL Certificates Cost – Starts at $30

Multi-domain SSL certificates can protect any of your domains/subdomains. No limits of any kind. You can protect different domains and all their associated subdomains without any limitations related to distance from the root domain and so on.

Now, each of these certificates comes in 3 variants. These variants are derived from the validation process that is followed by the Certificate Authorities (CAs) to issue them.

Here is Multi-domain SSL certificate price comparison

SSL Certificate Cost By Validation

#1. Domain validation (DV) certificate Cost – Starts at $8

DV SSL certificate can be obtained through a straightforward validation process. The only thing validated before the issuance of these certificates is your ownership of the domain name for which you’re purchasing the certificate.

 

#2. Organization Validation (OV) Certificate Cost – Starts at $60.03

OV SSL certificates are issued after checking the authenticity of your organization. The CAs may ask you to provide various proofs of business existence duly authenticated by regulatory authorities before issuing this type of certificate. That OV certificates carry greater reliability and are seen with more trust.

 

#3. EV SSL Certificate Cost – Starts at $60

EV certificates are issued after the most rigorous type of due diligence. However, it’s also a truth that you should provide the business-related documents required to obtain these certificates, and the CA itself does the due diligence. As a result of their robust validation process, Extended Validation SSL certificates carry the highest amount of trust and reliability across industries.

 
We can go on and on about the benefits of installing an SSL certificate, but we’re keeping it short and straightforward.

Benefits of SSL Certificates

First, let’s go through a quick overview of SSL certificate benefits. You can skip this section if you’re aware of this subject. The three most prominent benefits of SSL certificates are as follows:

#1. Protects the data of your visitors

The main job of an SSL certificate is to protect the data that your visitors send to you. In the absence of this encryption, cybercriminals can steal the data of your users while it’s being transferred between their computers and your web server through packet sniffing attacks.

#2. Saves your site from being branded as insecure

You might have seen already that Google shows a ‘Not Secure’ label in the address bar for all those sites that are not over HTTPS. This sends out the wrong message regarding your site to all your visitors and gives them a feeling that they’re dealing with some shoddy business. By installing an SSL certificate, you can save your website from that.

#3. Improves your SEO

Google doesn’t only show your site as ‘Not Secure’ in its browser if it’s not loading over HTTPS. But it also ranks your site down in its result pages for this reason. This was accepted by them a long time ago and they use HTTPS as a ranking signal. So, your site not having an SSL certificate may also be affecting your SEO.

There are also some special Exchange SSL certificates for MS Exchange or Office Communication Servers, which start from $63.92/yr. per year. Again, this certificate is best in class and if you have multiple domains, you can go for it.

Conclusion for SSL Certificate Cost

 
So that is how much is an SSL certificate going to cost you and why. Now you can easily make the right choice for your business depending on your budget and requirements. Installing an SSL certificate and getting your site to load over HTTPS is critically essential. So, why wait now? Grab the opportunity and purchase the right certificate as soon as possible from ClickSSL. You and your visitors will start reaping the benefits of this decision immediately!

Related Post:

• What is Multi Domain Wildcard SSL?
• What Is Wildcard SSL Certificate?