SSL.com Review – Secure Your Website with an SSL Certificate

When sensitive information like credit card details, passwords, usernames and other private information are sent over the internet, an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is used as a method to secure and encrypt private data. Websites that use SSL certificates feature HTTPS in their website URL, as well as a padlock symbol.

SSL.com is a leading authority in SSL certificates and this SSL.com review will provide a useful overview of the digital certificates you can purchase from them, the features that comes with these certificates, and other aspects of their services including customer support proficiency.

SSL.com Company Overview

SSL.com is headquartered in Houston, Texas, USA and was founded in 2002. It’s relied upon by organizations and governments in over 120 countries. SSL.com provides digital certificates for a wide range of use cases including SSL/TSL server certificates, document signing code signing, and S/MIME email certificates. They are a 5-star rated certificate authority with outstanding support that extends beyond the issuance of certificates to include installation and configuration related support as well.

In this SSL.com review, we’re going to focus on the types of SSL certificates offered by this company and the features that come standard with these products.

SSL.com Plans & Pricing

Those in the market for SSL certificates have 7 SSL certificate iterations they can choose from. Let’s see what use case each certificate is designed to serve and how much are you expected to pay for yearly plans or plans with longer durations.

Basic SSL

The Basic SSL certificate is issued for a single, fully-qualified domain name (e.g. domain.com or mail.domain.com) using a dedicated IP address. It can be used on multiple servers at the same time. Following a successful validation, the SSL certificate is issued within 5 minutes. The Basic SSL will also secure the www. version of a domain (www.domain.com or www.mail.domain.com) and you can purchase it for a duration of up to 5 years in which case you’re expected to pay $183.75 ($36.75/year). If you purchase the Basic SSL for a duration of 1 year, the price is $49/year. The Basic SSL certificate also includes unlimited reissues should anything happen to your SSL certificate during its lifetime.

The certificate comes with a $10,000 warranty, it supports the signing of 2048+ Bit certificates, and it uses SHA2 hashing algorithm.

Premium SSL

SSL.com’s Premium SSL was created to meet the needs of smaller businesses, it will secure up to 3 subdomains that share a primary domain name, supports Microsoft Exchange’s Autodiscover service, it can be used on multiple servers at the same time, and features unlimited reissuances and private keys. The Premium SSL certificate includes a $10,000 warranty.

The purchase price for a duration of up to 5 years comes out at a total of $371.25 ($74.25/year), which is a 25% saving compared to the price of $99/yr if you purchase it for one year only.

High Assurance SSL

This High Assurance SSL certificate allows you to have your company name appear in the details of your SSL certificate. It offers protection for a fully-qualified domain name including its www variant, and comes with the same features as the Premium SSL.

The certificate costs $242 for 5 years ($48.40/year) or $69 if you purchase it year-to-year.

Wildcard SSL

The Wildcard SSL was designed to protect the root domain and any number of subdomains with a single solution, and it requires organization validation.

This certificate is great for hosting and virtual hosts as it can be used on unlimited IP addresses with multiple, concurrent private keys and like the Basic SSL certificate, it can be used concurrently on multiple servers.

The warranty that comes with this certificate amounts to $1,250,000. This certificate can be purchased for a duration of up to 5 years, costing $1,121.25 ($224.25/year), which will allow you to save 25% as opposed to purchasing it for a duration of only 1 year, which costs $299.

SAN/UCC SSL

This certificate was created to meet enterprise customer needs and it works with various Microsoft Exchange services.

A single UCC/SAN certificate will provide security for multiple domains (up to 2,000 unique domains and/or subdomains) on a shared IP address.

The SAN/UCC certificate comes with unlimited server licenses and unlimited reissuances and key pairs. The insurance guarantee for this plan amounts to $1,250,000.

Purchasing the UCC/SAN certificate for a duration of 5 years will sell at $141.60/year (or $177 if the chosen duration is 1 year) or $708 billed every 5 years. This includes a SAN certificate for 3 non-wildcard domains. Every additional non-wildcard domain will set you back with $196. If you decide to add a wildcard domain, it will cost you $645.

EV SSL

If you’re looking for the highest available validation, SSL.com’s enterprise Extended Validation (EV) certificate provides industry-leading identity assurance. In order to be issued an EV SSL, your company is thoroughly vetted beyond the standard domain validation methods. This type of SSL certificate automatically enables a green address bar, and the certificate details will display your organizational information.

The EV SSL certificate secures a fully-qualified domain name including the www variant of that domain, it can be used on multiple servers at the same time, you can get unlimited reissuing during its lifetime, and comes with a $2,000,000 warranty.

You can purchase this certificate for a duration of up to 2 years, which costs a total of $479 ($239.50/year) or you can purchase it for a duration of 1 year, which costs $299.

EV UCC / SAN SSL

The EV UCC / SAN SSL offers the highest assurance multi-site SSL protection, which will enable a Green Bar and your company name appearing in the address bar. It’s suitable for enterprises wanting to secure multiple sites and domains.

This certificate is suitable for securing fully qualified domain names, and it costs $638.40 for first 3 domains ($206.40 each domain after 3^rd) if you purchase it for 2 years (1 year costs $399/yr for first 3 domains, $129 each domain after 3^rd).

Free SSL

SSL.com has a free SSL certificate as well, which is essentially a 90-day trial version of the Basic SSL certificate. This will give you plenty of time to see the advantages of an SSL certificate in action (better SEO, higher conversion rates, better security, business credibility, etc.).

SSL.com Features & Value

SSL.com rolls out a set of features that are standard on all SSL.com certificates:

• Compatibility with 99% of all browsers;
• Padlock symbol and “https” domain;
• 256-bit SHA2 https AES encryption;
• Meeting HIPAA and PCI compliance requirements;
• Free unlimited certificate reissues during the lifetime of the certificate;
• Full mobile support;
• 30-day no-quibbles money-back guarantee;
• Free SSL.com Site Seal;
• 24/7 email, phone and chat support;
• User-friendly Account Manager.

An SSL.com Site Seal that activates with all SSL certificates signals to your customers or visitors that your site is secure, which will increase visitor retention and conversion rates. An SSL certificate will also improve your site’s search engine rankings.

Not all digital certificate providers support unlimited lifetime certificate reissues or offer support for installing or configuring certificates. SSL.com also has the advantage of being a reputable and recognisable brand.

Customer Support at SSL.com

Customer support can be contacted on three channels – phone, ticketing system and live chat. All channels are open 24/7.

SSL.com customers have signaled out the company’s customer support as outstanding, knowledgeable and very helpful.

The company’s website maintains a Knowledgebase as well, which helps users find answers to basic and advanced questions about SSL certificates, their installation and configuration.

Moreover, users have the option to post questions or solutions at the SSL.com IT Security Q&A community site, which is free for any visitor.

Pros & Cons fo SSL.com

Since SSL.com is such an authority in the digital certificate landscape it’s hard to compete against it or find fault in their services. Nevertheless, let’s see the pros and cons of SSL.com:

Pros

• Fast and effective support;
• Multiple SSL certificate types;
• 30-day no-questions asked money-back guarantee;
• Easy-to-use interface.

Cons

• Higher prices than what some competitors charge.

SSL.com is a bit more expensive than some of its competitors, but SSL.com offers a lot of bells and whistles with their services, including best-in-class support that comes highly recommended by customers. Since they have been in the business for far longer than many of their competitors, SSL.com is also a more established and trusted brand.

SSL.com Review Conclusion

SSL.com makes switching to “https” achievable in a few easy steps. They line up a great variety of SSL certificates meant to respond to the needs of various customers from small businesses that need to secure a single fully-qualified domain name to large enterprises that need multi-site SSL protection. Issuance of the chosen certificate occurs within minutes following a successful verification or validation.

With the “HTTPS everywhere” mantra, Google is decidedly shifting towards the era of secure Internet communications first labelling sites that still accept passwords and credit card info through HTTP as not secure. If you want to be in line with the security changes rolled out by Google, using HTTPS with one of SSL.com’s digital certificates will ensure that your domains are secured.