Every site gets HTTPS free. A few need a warranty behind it.
A free certificate is issued and auto-renewed on every hosting plan, and for most sites that is genuinely the end of it. Paid certificates buy you two things a free one cannot: cover for subdomains on a single certificate, and a financial warranty.
GeoTrust Simple SSL
For a domain hosted somewhere else.
$64/yr
- Validation
- Domain
- Covers
- One domain
- Issuance
- Minutes
- Reissues
- Unlimited
- Works with any DNS provider — you do not have to move your nameservers
- Domain validation, issued within minutes
- 256-bit encryption over TLS 1.3
- Free unlimited reissues for the life of the certificate
- Installed for you on CodexaCloud hosting
GeoTrust Rapid SSL Wildcard
One certificate for every subdomain.
$179/yr
- Validation
- Domain
- Covers
- Unlimited subdomains
- Warranty
- $10,000
- Reissues
- Unlimited
- Covers every subdomain of one domain on a single certificate
- $10,000 warranty against a breach caused by certificate failure
- One certificate to install and renew instead of a dozen
- Issued within minutes
- Free unlimited reissues
GeoTrust Extended SSL
When someone needs to verify who you are.
$429/yr
- Validation
- Extended
- Covers
- One domain
- Warranty
- $1,500,000
- Reissues
- Unlimited
- Strictest identity vetting the certificate authorities perform
- $1,500,000 warranty — the highest cover available
- Your verified company details recorded in the certificate
- Often required by enterprise procurement and some regulators
- Free unlimited reissues
Prices exclude any applicable tax. Certificates are issued for one year and billed annually.
What you're actually buying
Free covers most sites. Here's when it doesn't.
We would rather tell you when not to spend money, so this page is the honest version rather than the scary one.
Free SSL on every plan
A certificate is issued automatically when your domain points at us, and renewed for you. Most sites need nothing beyond this — including online shops.
Wildcard subdomain cover
One certificate for app., api., staging. and everything else on your domain. One thing to install, one thing to renew, instead of a dozen.
A warranty behind it
Paid certificates carry cover from the issuing authority — $10,000 on the wildcard, $1.5 million on extended validation.
Verified identity
Extended validation records your vetted company details inside the certificate. Some enterprise procurement teams and regulators insist on it.
Fast issuance
Domain-validated certificates are usually live within minutes. Extended validation takes several days — the delay is the vetting, which is the point.
Unlimited reissues
Changed servers, rotated a key, lost the file? Reissue as often as you need for the life of the certificate, at no extra cost.
Always included
What you get either way
- 256-bit encryption over TLS 1.3 on every certificate, free or paid
- Automatic renewal for the free certificates included with hosting
- One-click installation on CodexaCloud hosting
- Free unlimited reissues for the certificate's lifetime
- HTTP/2 and HTTP/3 enabled by default
- A renewal reminder before any paid certificate expires
Questions, answered
Do I actually need to buy one?
Usually not, and we would rather say so. The free certificate included with hosting gives identical encryption and the same padlock as a paid domain-validated certificate. Buy a paid one for a specific reason: you need one certificate covering many subdomains, you want a warranty, or somebody in a procurement process has asked for validated company details.
What is the difference between these three?
Simple SSL covers one domain and proves you control it. Rapid SSL Wildcard covers that domain plus every subdomain on a single certificate, and adds a $10,000 warranty. Extended SSL applies the strictest identity vetting and carries a $1.5 million warranty. The encryption is identical in all three — what differs is coverage, warranty and how thoroughly you were checked.
Why would I pay for Simple SSL when the free one exists?
One case, mainly: the free certificate is issued through our DNS, so it suits domains using our nameservers. Simple SSL is issued independently, which makes it the option when your DNS lives elsewhere and you would rather not move it.
Will extended validation show a green address bar?
No. Browsers removed that treatment years ago, and any host still advertising it is selling you something that does not exist. Extended validation still records verified identity in the certificate and carries the largest warranty, and some sectors require it — but do not buy it expecting a visual change.
Can I use these on hosting elsewhere?
Yes. You receive the certificate files and can install them on any server. We will help with the installation or walk you through it if you get stuck.
How does renewal work?
Certificates are issued for one year and billed annually. We remind you before expiry and reissue on renewal. The free Let's Encrypt certificates on hosting plans renew automatically with no invoice and no action from you.
Not sure which one you need?
Tell us what the site does and who has asked you for a certificate, and we'll tell you the cheapest thing that satisfies them — including when that's the free one.