ZeroSSL Certificates

ZeroSSL issues SSL/TLS certificates and gives you several ways to get them. You can create a certificate in the web console and validate it in one step, use any ACME client to automate issuing and renewal, or work through its REST API. It is also the default certificate authority in the popular acme.sh client.

The free plan needs no credit card and includes three 90 day certificates, so it suits a small site or a test setup. Paid plans are billed yearly. The Basic plan is $14.99 a month and adds unlimited 90 day certificates, five annual certificates, multi-domain and wildcard options, REST API access, basic support and an audit log. Premium and higher plans raise the annual certificate and wildcard allowances.

The pricing page explains a change that affects anyone buying longer certificates. Under the CA/Browser Forum ballot SC-081v3, certificates must now be renewed no later than day 199. ZeroSSL handles this by letting the first renewal of an annual certificate use no extra credits, so the certificate still covers about a year in total.

Beyond certificates, ZeroSSL sells SSL monitoring and a Protect add-on that runs surface and core scans for malware, cross-site scripting and SQL injection, with risk analysis and SSL/TLS reports. An enterprise option and a partner programme are available for larger users and resellers.

For most webmasters the useful choice is between the free ACME route, which works like any free CA once automated, and a paid plan when you want annual certificates, a dashboard for many domains, or API access without running your own client.