SSL Certs - Pricing issues

[janissaire]

Hi All,

I'm going to be going for an SSL on my site but in researching it - I'm seeing some real wide price fluctuations - $19.00 to $2000.00 USD.

Is there an average I should be paying?

What type do I need to get as I am seeing different standards too - meaning what's the minimum? What do I need to protect?

[kuroi]

The top end is securing multiple domains on a whole server. It's unlikely that you need this.

Indeed, I'm hugely unconvinced that most people need to pay more than the minimum. Higher prices typically result in higher guarantees, but I've never heard of any certificate provider paying out anyway, so that doesn't seem very relevant.

Higher prices bring you more recognisable "security logos", but I wonder how much notice people outside of the industry really take of the differences.

If the cert will properly encrypt the traffic that needs to be encrypted, causing the browser padlock to appear, that's really all you need. And they all do that.

[KidPub]

Hi All,

I'm going to be going for an SSL on my site but in researching it - I'm seeing some real wide price fluctuations - $19.00 to $2000.00 USD.

Is there an average I should be paying?

What type do I need to get as I am seeing different standards too - meaning what's the minimum? What do I need to protect?

I think the only thing to look for is that the signing authority for your certificate is pre-installed in most browsers. For example, I use RapidSSL certificates...they are about $20 a pop for a single domain...and the certificate authority is Equifax, which is pre-installed in 98+% of browsers. An additional advantage is that they are sold online, and you can receive and set one up in about 15 minutes.

I use them in conjunction with First Data (Linkpoint) gateways and have had no problems.

The only time I'd buy a more expensive certificate is if I wanted a 'wildcard' certificate to handle several subdomains. Even then, it's a qucik bit of math to figure out if a wildcard or several individual certificates is more cost-effective.

Perry

[barco57]

there is a difference in pricing between certs because cheaper certs are generally have 1024 bit keys and more expensive ones are 2048 bit keys.

[janissaire]

what's the difference in the keys?

[kuroi]

The longer the key, the more difficult it is to break the encryption. Not something I'd worry about personally. I think most hackers would simply move onto sites that don't use encryption than spend time working out how profound the encryption is.

[janissaire]

Ok great - thanks for all the help!

With all of your advice I just bought one

In looking at it I'm being asked:

Where will this certificate be hosted?

What do I tell them?

[Merlinpa1969]

you may want to refer to your host for this one

[janissaire]

you may want to refer to your host for this one

Thanks I will send them all of this wierd tech looking stuff I have

[SilverKop]

I think the only thing to look for is that the signing authority for your certificate is pre-installed in most browsers. For example, I use RapidSSL certificates...they are about $20 a pop for a single domain...and the certificate authority is Equifax, which is pre-installed in 98+% of browsers. An additional advantage is that they are sold online, and you can receive and set one up in about 15 minutes.

I use them in conjunction with First Data (Linkpoint) gateways and have had no problems.

The only time I'd buy a more expensive certificate is if I wanted a 'wildcard' certificate to handle several subdomains. Even then, it's a qucik bit of math to figure out if a wildcard or several individual certificates is more cost-effective.

Perry

Thats great, I just paid my host UK£58 for a RapidSSL certificate and it has taken 3 days to get it installed.
I know where I will go next year.