Where to buy an SSL certificate?

This rating contains 2591 genuine user reviews about 529 hosting companies, also our experts (15) performed tests (99)

In this rating you can find the best hosting companies as well as domain registrars that offer affordable SSL certificates and superb customer support. (read more)

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These hosting companies are rated the best in March 2024
1
4.5
Users
5.0
hostings.info
  • Country: Europe
  • Founded: 2004
  • Customers: 100000 (~5.86 % market)
  • Servers: Asia, Brazil, Europe...
  • Control panel: hPanel, cPanel, Plesk...
  • Free/Moneyback period: 30 days
Price: 4.5
Speed: 4.4
Reliability: 4.4
Support: 4.5
2
4.8
Users
4.9
hostings.info
  • Country: USA
  • Founded: 2003
  • Customers: 101025 (~0.19 % market)
  • Servers: Asia, Australia, Canada...
  • Control panel: cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin...
  • Free/Moneyback period: 30 days
Price: 4.6
Speed: 4.8
Reliability: 4.8
Support: 4.8
3
4.3
Users
4.9
hostings.info
  • Country: USA
  • Founded: 2013
  • Customers: 50000 (~0.10 % market)
  • Servers: Australia, Canada, Germany...
  • Control panel: cPanel
  • Free/Moneyback period: 45 days
Price: 4.3
Speed: 4.2
Reliability: 4.2
Support: 4.6
4
4.0
Users
4.9
hostings.info
  • Country: USA
  • Founded: 2003
  • Customers: 2000000 (~3.85 % market)
  • Servers: North America, USA
  • Control panel: cPanel, Custom built
  • Free/Moneyback period: 30 days
Price: 4.1
Speed: 4.0
Reliability: 4.2
Support: 3.9
5
4.8
Users
4.8
hostings.info
  • Country: USA
  • Founded: 2018
  • Customers: 52065 (~0.10 % market)
  • Servers: Asia, Brazil, Canada...
  • Coupon: UltaHostingS23

    UltaHostingS23 - 10% Discount for all shared + WordPress Linux and windows plans

    UltaHostingV23 - For VPS Linux + Windows VPS + MAC Hosting  Discount up to 25% Yearly invoice 

    UltaHostingD23 - For Dedicated Servers Discount up to 25% Yearly invoice

  • Control panel: cPanel, ISPManager, Vesta...
  • Free/Moneyback period: 30 days
Price: 4.9
Speed: 4.8
Reliability: 4.8
Support: 4.8
6
4.7
Users
4.8
hostings.info
  • Country: USA
  • Founded: 2007
  • Customers: 50000 (~0.10 % market)
  • Servers: Europe, North America, USA
  • Coupon: SHBONUS10

    10% discount on all hosting services on top of all other discounts listed on website

  • Control panel: cPanel, SPanel
  • Free/Moneyback period: 30 days
Price: 4.5
Speed: 4.7
Reliability: 4.8
Support: 4.9
7
4.3
Users
4.8
hostings.info
  • Country: USA
  • Founded: 2003
  • Customers: 100000 (~0.19 % market)
  • Servers: USA
  • Coupon: SAVE15

    Save 15% on first order

  • Control panel: cPanel
  • Free/Moneyback period: 30 days
Price: 4.2
Speed: 4.5
Reliability: 4.5
Support: 3.9
8
4.2
Users
4.8
hostings.info
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Founded: 2000
  • Customers: 1000000 (~39.68 % market)
  • Servers: United Kingdom
  • Coupon: MAYUK

    25% off Web Hosting

  • Control panel: cPanel, Plesk
  • Free/Moneyback period: 14 days
Price: 4.1
Speed: 4.3
Reliability: 4.4
Support: 3.9
9
4.2
Users
4.8
hostings.info
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Founded: 1998
  • Customers: 320000 (~12.70 % market)
  • Servers: Europe, Germany, Spain...
  • Control panel: Custom-built, Plesk
  • Free/Moneyback period: 30 days
Price: 4.0
Speed: 4.2
Reliability: 4.2
Support: 4.5
10
4.1
Users
4.8
hostings.info
  • Country: USA
  • Founded: 2000
  • Customers: 2000000 (~3.85 % market)
  • Servers: Europe, Netherlands, United Kingdom...
  • Control panel: cPanel, Webuzo, Interworx
  • Free/Moneyback period: 30 days
Price: 4.4
Speed: 3.9
Reliability: 4.1
Support: 4.0

What is an SSL certificate?

An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate is a digital certificate that authenticates the identity of a website and enables an encrypted connection between the web server and the user's browser. SSL certificates are essential for securing sensitive information transmitted over the internet, such as login credentials, personal information, and payment details. An SSL certificate is issued by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) and contains information about the website's owner, the certificate's public key, the certificate's expiration date, and a digital signature from the CA.

Why is an SSL certificate important for a website?

An SSL certificate is crucial for a website for the following reasons:

  • Security: It encrypts the data transmitted between the user's browser and the web server, ensuring that sensitive information remains private and secure.
  • Trust: An SSL certificate authenticates the website's identity, assuring users that they are communicating with a legitimate website and not a fraudulent one.
  • SEO: Search engines, like Google, consider SSL certificates as a ranking factor, which means that having an SSL certificate can help improve a website's visibility in search results.
  • Compliance: Certain regulations and industry standards, such as PCI-DSS for e-commerce websites, require SSL certificates for compliance.

How can I obtain an SSL certificate for my website?

To obtain an SSL certificate for your website, follow these steps:

  • Generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR): A CSR is a block of encoded text containing information about your website and organization. You can generate a CSR using your web hosting control panel or server software.
  • Choose a Certificate Authority (CA): Select a trusted CA, such as Let's Encrypt, DigiCert, or GlobalSign, from which to purchase or obtain a free SSL certificate.
  • Submit the CSR: Provide the CSR to the CA, along with any additional required information, such as domain ownership verification.
  • Install the SSL certificate: Once the CA issues the SSL certificate, install it on your web server or hosting account. Your hosting provider may offer tools or assistance for installing the SSL certificate.
  • Update website links and settings: Ensure all internal and external links on your website use HTTPS, and configure your website to automatically redirect HTTP requests to HTTPS.

What are the different types of SSL certificates?

There are several types of SSL certificates, which vary in terms of validation levels and features:

  • Domain Validation (DV): DV certificates provide basic encryption and are the easiest and quickest to obtain. They only require domain ownership verification and do not include any information about the website's owner or organization.
  • Organization Validation (OV): OV certificates require additional validation, including verifying the organization's existence and physical location. These certificates display the organization's information in the certificate details.
  • Extended Validation (EV): EV certificates have the highest level of validation and require a rigorous vetting process. These certificates display the organization's name in the browser's address bar, providing a visual indicator of trust.
  • Wildcard SSL Certificates: Wildcard certificates secure a domain and an unlimited number of its subdomains with a single certificate.
  • Multi-Domain SSL Certificates: Multi-Domain certificates, also known as SAN or UCC certificates, allow you to secure multiple domains or subdomains with a single certificate.

How can I tell if a website has an SSL certificate?

You can determine if a website has an SSL certificate by looking for the following indicators in your web browser:

  • The URL starts with "https://" instead of "http://".
  • A padlock icon is displayed next to the URL in the browser's address bar.
  • For EV certificates, the organization's name is displayed in the browser's address bar, typically with a green background.
  • You can click on the padlock icon or the organization's name to view
Ratings of hosting providers by site tasks
Hosting price

We highly recommend not to purchase the cheapest hosting package. Usually, they come with a row of issues: the server is often down, the hardware is outdated, lousy and slow support, registration and payment errors, etc.

For your convenience, we have created a tool that can help you to choose the right hosting package for you just by answering a few simple questions.

CMS

CMS is a content management system. A lot of hosting providers offer so-called CMS optimized packages. However, this is a marketing trick because most CMSs do not have special software or hosting requirements.

Free trial

Trial period is a period of time, usually from 7 to 30 days, during which you can use the hosting services for free to test them.

Moneyback policy allows the customer to receive a refund for his order within a certain period after the purchase.

OS

OS means the operating system is installed on the server. We recommend to choose Linux hosting unless your website requires another OS.

Other

Bulletproof hosting - it’s a type of service that allows to host almost any type of content, even the restricted one (adult content, warez, spam etc). Bulletproof hosting providers do not remove your content in case someone reports an abuse.

Unlimited hosting - refers to companies that provide packages with unlimited disk space, bandwidth, number of domains, databases or email accounts, etc. This is usually a marketing trick but sometimes you can find something worth a try.

Secure hosting - it’s a type of service when the hosting provider is mostly responsible for the security of the user’s account: updates the software installed on their servers, provides an antivirus and malware scanner, firewalls and basic anti-DDoS protection, etc.

DDoS-protected hosting - companies that provide packages that include anti-DDoS protection. These packages are considerably more expensive than regular ones. Nevertheless, they’re totally worth their price because the company will ensure that your website is secured from cyber attacks.

Technologies

Most websites require MySQL and PHP installed on the server to work correctly. Almost all hosting providers support these technologies.

ASP.NET is a Microsoft web application development platform.

Control panel

The more comfortable the control panel is, the easier will it be for you to change the website and hosting account settings.

Most hosting providers that are in TOP20 in our rating offer user-friendly control panels, such as cPanel, Plesk or DirectAdmin. That’s why we recommend to pay attention to other, more important parameters, while choosing a hosting provider.

Disk type
  • In order to provide you with the best online experience this website uses personal data (cookies, IP, email, photo, name, website, etc). By using our website, you agree to our use of your personal data. More info we receive some monetary compensation from hosting companies, however, this does not influence their positions in our ratings, test results, the direction or conclusions of our reviews in any way. We use this amount to provide better services, improve our website, to cover hosting testing account fees and team salaries. Ok

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