DigiCert vs ZeroSSL
A detailed comparison to help you choose between DigiCert and ZeroSSL.
Quick Verdict
3.8/5
DigiCert
0 reviews
3.5/5
ZeroSSL
0 reviews
DigiCert is rated higher (3.8 vs 3.5). DigiCert is the world's leading enterprise SSL/TLS certificate authority. OV, EV, wildcard, and multi-domain certificates with industry-leading validation speed and $1.75M warranty. OV/EV and full certificate lifecycle management are offered through parent company HID Global's Enterprise SSL product, not as standard ZeroSSL plans.
DigiCert Enterprise SSL and TLS certificate authority | ZeroSSL Free SSL alternative to Let's Encrypt | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.8 (0 reviews)✓ | 3.5 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | paid | freemium |
| Starting price | From $372/mo | Free tier available✓ |
| Best for | Enterprises, e-commerce and regulated industries buying validated organisational identity, warranty coverage and managed PKI — especially large certificate inventories that need CertCentral automation. | 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 | team featuressso | free tierapi access |
| Visit DigiCert → | Visit ZeroSSL → | |
DigiCert
Pros
- + Enterprise-grade validation quality and universal browser trust — the CA procurement teams accept without debate
- + Public list pricing and clear product tiers, unusual at the enterprise end of the market
- + CertCentral management portal with ACME/REST automation, RBAC and private PKI for large certificate inventories
- + Warranty coverage up to $1.75 million on Secure Site products, with unlimited reissues inside the subscription term
- + Validation support staffed by real engineers — 24x5 standard, priority handling on Secure Site tiers
Cons
- - Several multiples of budget CAs for the same encryption — $372/yr entry versus $50 competitors and free DV certificates
- - Product families, validation levels, SAN pricing and reseller discounts make fair pricing hard to navigate
- - 199-day maximum certificate validity since February 2026 means multiple issuance cycles per year per certificate
- - No free tier or trial; EV's browser trust indicators have depreciated, weakening the flagship argument
- - Warranties are procurement signals more than realistically claimable coverage
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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