acme.sh vs ZeroSSL
A detailed comparison to help you choose between acme.sh and ZeroSSL.
Quick Verdict
4.2/5
acme.sh
0 reviews
3.5/5
ZeroSSL
0 reviews
acme.sh is rated higher (4.2 vs 3.5). Lightweight shell script that automates ACME certificate issuance and renewal across Let's Encrypt, ZeroSSL, Google Trust Services and more. Integrates with 100-170+ DNS providers (counts vary by source) without requiring root or external dependencies. OV/EV and full certificate lifecycle management are offered through parent company HID Global's Enterprise SSL product, not as standard ZeroSSL plans.
acme.sh Free ACME client for automated SSL/TLS certificate management | ZeroSSL Free SSL alternative to Let's Encrypt | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.2 (0 reviews)✓ | 3.5 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | free | freemium |
| Starting price | Free | Free tier available |
| Best for | DevOps engineers and sysadmins automating free TLS certificates across many domains and DNS providers — especially wildcards, scripted fleets, and resource-constrained Unix environments where Python-based clients do not fit. | Freelancers and agencies managing certificates across many client domains who want a browser console, email validation, a REST API and one invoice — or teams wanting a second CA for diversification |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ✓ | |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tieropen source | free tierapi access |
| Visit acme.sh → | Visit ZeroSSL → | |
acme.sh
Pros
- + Free GPLv3 tool with no runtime dependencies beyond a POSIX shell — runs on servers, routers, NAS boxes, and containers alike
- + Broadest DNS-01 provider coverage of any ACME client, plus DNS alias and stateless modes for awkward zones
- + Wildcard, SAN, RSA and ECDSA (default) certificates with HTTP-01, DNS-01 and TLS-ALPN-01 challenge support
- + Multi-CA support (Let's Encrypt, ZeroSSL default, Google Trust Services, SSL.com, Actalis) with a single --server flag
- + Self-installing daily renewal cron and deploy hooks with service reload commands — automation once configured
Cons
- - No support contract, no SLA, and community-only help (wiki, GitHub issues, Gitter) when renewals break
- - Learning curve beyond the basic case: shell flags, environment credentials, DNS propagation behavior
- - DNS API tokens stored on the renewing host are a standing credential — scoping and protecting them is on you
- - GPLv3 copyleft complicates embedding in closed commercial products
- - High maintainer concentration and the curl|sh install idiom warrant release pinning and verification in production
ZeroSSL
Pros
- + Genuine free tier with no credit card: 3 × 90-day certificates plus multi-domain, wildcard and ACME support
- + Strong automation story for a UI-first CA: REST API, ACME clients, monitoring and installation checks
- + Vienna-founded CA (2016) backed by HID Global since 2024, with a clear enterprise path for OV/EV and lifecycle management
- + Transparent published pricing including fixed Platinum tiers up to $6,719.90 per year
Cons
- - Paying for DV certificates is hard to justify when Let's Encrypt is free and equally trusted in browsers
- - Vendor's own pages disagree on free certificate count and on issuance/client volume
- - No published uptime SLA outside HID's enterprise offering; support priority scales with plan price
- - Credit-based annual certificate quotas and Basic/+ Protect variants make the plan matrix hard to compare
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