Certbot vs acme.sh
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Certbot and acme.sh.
Quick Verdict
4.6/5
Certbot
52 reviews
3.9/5
acme.sh
71 reviews
Certbot is rated higher (4.6 vs 3.9). Certbot is the official ACME client for Let's Encrypt certificates. Automates certificate issuance and renewal for Nginx, Apache, and standalone mode on Linux servers. Lightweight shell script that automates Let's Encrypt certificate issuance and renewal. Works with 200+ DNS providers and web servers without requiring root privileges or complex dependencies.
Certbot ACME client for Let's Encrypt automation | acme.sh Free ACME client for automated SSL/TLS certificate management | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.6 (52 reviews)✓ | 3.9 (71 reviews) |
| Pricing model | free | free |
| Starting price | Free | Free |
| Best for | System administrators who want automated Let's Encrypt certificate management on Linux servers | DevOps engineers and sysadmins managing Let's Encrypt certificates across multiple domains and DNS providers in resource-constrained or Unix-native environments. |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tieropen source | free tieropen source |
| Visit Certbot → | Visit acme.sh → | |
Certbot
Pros
- + Official EFF-maintained ACME client
- + Nginx and Apache plugins for automated config
- + Free and open source
Cons
- - Requires Linux server access
- - Some server configurations need manual adjustment
acme.sh
Pros
- + Deploy to 200+ DNS and hosting providers with minimal configuration
- + Renew certificates automatically without manual intervention
- + Run without root access or external dependencies
- + Support wildcard and multi-domain SAN certificates
- + Generate standalone certificates for non-web services
Cons
- - Shell-based implementation may be slower than compiled alternatives on high-volume deployments
- - Requires manual DNS API credential setup for DNS-01 validation
- - Limited GUI or web interface options for certificate management
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