Best SSL & TLS Certificate Tools
A transport layer security (TLS) certificate is a standard method of authenticating the identity of a server and initiating encrypted connections between servers and clients. TLS connections are established based on TLS certificates, which generate unique encryption keys to create encrypted links between sites and visitors.
Companies use TLS certificates to ensure their website provides visitors with encrypted, private browsing. TLS certificate tools may utilize another company’s certificates but add value through their certificate lifecycle management capabilities.
Another type of certificate, secure sockets layer (SSL), is no longer in use, and many modern browsers no longer support SSL certificates. SSL was deprecated in favor of the more secure TLS certificate. Some use SSL to refer to TLS because of SSL’s name recognition. So, buyers searching for TLS certifications will often find what they need to be labeled as SSL.
TLS certificate solutions generate and provide companies with certificates for visitors across their sites. Companies use these tools to ensure the security of their visitors’ information and abide by current standards put forward by search engines. Sites without TLS may be penalized or not appear in major search engines, inevitably impacting site traffic. They are a critical component of web security, especially for sites where sensitive data is exchanged, such as e-commerce sites and online financial services.
TLS certificate technology relies on the same principles as encryption software products. However, TLS certificate solutions are unique to website browser and visitor security and will offer very different functionality than generalized encryption tools.
Further, there are other ways to encrypt and secure web communications, such as internet protocol security (IPsec) and secure shell (SSH). However, those alternatives work in different contexts and do not facilitate hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS), which is tailored for web transactions. Certificate resellers are not included in this category and are instead listed in a separate category.
Products listed in SSL and TLS certificate tools either issue their own certificates or utilize certificates from a certificate authority while offering substantial certificate management capabilities.
To qualify for inclusion in the SSL and TLS Certificate Tools category, a product must:
Best SSL & TLS Certificate Tools At A Glance
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- Overview
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
AWS Certificate Manager is a service that lets you easily provision, manage, and deploy Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) certificates for use with AWS services to secure network
- Information Technology and Services
- Computer Software
- 45% Mid-Market
- 24% Enterprise
2,232,026 Twitter followers
- Overview
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Sectigo Certificate Manager (SCM) is a robust, cloud-native platform that streamlines certificate lifecycle management (CLM) with advanced automation and centralized oversight. By eliminating the inef
- Financial Services
- Retail
- 46% Mid-Market
- 41% Enterprise
2,968 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Cloudflare is the cloud for the “everywhere world”. At Cloudflare, we have our eyes set on an ambitious goal -- to help build a better Internet. Today, everything needs to be connected to everything
- Web Developer
- Software Engineer
- Information Technology and Services
- Computer Software
- 64% Small-Business
- 26% Mid-Market
213,620 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Say goodbye to passwords and legacy MFA for network and application security. Our agentless, 100% cloud-native, certificate-based solutions deliver smarter, seamless, and scalable security that elimin
- Computer Software
- Primary/Secondary Education
- 49% Mid-Market
- 48% Enterprise
85 Twitter followers
- Overview
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
All-in-one: SSL, firewall and malware protection. Comprehensive protection and security for your site.
- 61% Small-Business
- 28% Mid-Market
282,714 Twitter followers
- Overview
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
CertCentral facilitates better certificate lifecycle management by consolidating tasks for issuing, installing, inspecting, remediating, and renewing certificates into one scalable software suite.
- Information Technology and Services
- 39% Small-Business
- 32% Mid-Market
6,681 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
Lets Encrypt is a free, automated, and open certificate authority brought to you by the non-profit Internet Security Research Group (ISRG).
- 80% Small-Business
- 20% Mid-Market
87,225 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
SSL.com is an integral component of an organization’s layered cybersecurity defense strategy. As a Digital Identity and Trust Services Provider, SSL.com provides publicly trusted digital certificates,
- 63% Small-Business
- 33% Mid-Market
2,516 Twitter followers
- Overview
- Pros and Cons
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
1&1 IONOS is a leading provider of cloud infrastructure, cloud services, and hosting with more than eight million customer contracts. The product portfolio offers everything that companies need to
- Software Engineer
- Marketing and Advertising
- Information Technology and Services
- 73% Small-Business
- 15% Mid-Market
- Overview
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
RapidSSL is a certificate authority, providing secure socket layer (SSL) encryption.
- 64% Small-Business
- 36% Mid-Market
6,681 Twitter followers
- Overview
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
ZeroSSL is a one-stop solution for SSL certificate creation and management, allowing users to create website security certificates issued by ZeroSSL either using a fast and straightforward user interf
- Computer Software
- Marketing and Advertising
- 71% Small-Business
- 21% Mid-Market
12,111 Twitter followers
- Overview
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
DigiCert Trust Lifecycle Manager is a converged public and private digital trust solution for CA-agnostic certificate management and PKI services. Trust Lifecycle Manager centralizes visibility and co
- 45% Mid-Market
- 36% Enterprise
6,681 Twitter followers
- Overview
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
OpenSSL is an open source project that provides a robust, commercial-grade, and full-featured toolkit for the Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocols.
- 46% Small-Business
- 31% Enterprise
1,446 Twitter followers
- Overview
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
GeoTrust provides SSL certificates for online customer security.
- 67% Small-Business
- 33% Mid-Market
6,681 Twitter followers
- Overview
- User Satisfaction
- Seller Details
GlobalSign's cloud-based certificate management platform offers unique features and functionality that give you complete control of your certificate needs from one centralized account.
- 58% Mid-Market
- 50% Enterprise
14,426 Twitter followers
Learn More About SSL & TLS Certificate Tools
What is SSL and TLS Certificate Software?
Secure sockets layer (SSL) and transport layer security (TLS) are standard methods of initiating encrypted connections between servers and clients. SSL and TLS connections are established based on SSL and TLS digital certificates. These digital certificates authenticate a website’s identity and then utilize public key infrastructure (PKI) to create links between web servers and clients. These encryption keys secure website visitor information, building digital trust by preventing cyber criminals from reading data they may attempt to steal as it's transferred from the server to the client.
Unlike general encryption software, which allows users to encrypt and transmit data between two parties, SSL and TLS technologies establish connections between servers and clients by creating a TLS/SSL certificate with a unique digital signature. These certificates authenticate the domain requesting the data. If the server accepts the certificate, the data is encrypted using this client’s public key, transferred to the client, and decrypted using the client’s private key. This process is called an SSL or TLS “handshake.”
There are several different types of SSL and TLS certificates which all allow for a website to utilize HTTPS encryption. Different types of certificates are suited for different purposes and require varying degrees of validation processes, which yields correspondingly secure encryption capabilities. The most secure and rigorously obtained SSL and TLS certificates are often used by large, global organizations that handle incredibly sensitive information, including healthcare organizations, financial institutions, and insurance companies.
What Do SSL and TLS Stand For?
SSL and TLS software, respectively, stand for secure sockets layer and transport layer security software. SSL is the predecessor to TLS, though the two terms are closely related and sometimes used interchangeably.
What Types of SSL and TLS Certificates Exist?
Single-domain SSL certificates: These authenticate precisely one domain and will not authenticate any other, including subdomains associated with the one domain it has been issued to authenticate.
Wildcard SSL certificates: These authenticate a domain and all of its subdomains.
Multi-domain SSL certificates: These authenticate multiple domains and their subdomains on the same certificate.
In addition to the different types of certificates, there are three distinct levels of certificate validation, as mentioned below:
Domain validation (DV) certificates: These are the least stringent to acquire and simply prove an organization controls a particular domain and are not recommended for commercial use.
Organization validation (OV) certificates: The issuing CA authenticates these against a government-hosted business registry database to authenticate an organization.
Extended validation (EV) certificates: The most expensive and most-vetted SSL and TLS certificate level to obtain. Leading businesses and organizations often use EV certificates to ensure digital trust in their domains.
What are the Common Features of SSL and TLS Certificate Software?
The following are some core features within SSL and TLS certificate products that can help users in multiple ways:
Provide SSL and TLS certificates: A core feature of SSL and TLS certificate software is their ability for domains to present servers with certificates that authenticate their identities. SSL and TLS certificates rely on public-key cryptography, which means one or both parties knows precisely whom they are interacting with. Once the sensitive data has been transferred from the server to the client, the client’s private key is used for decryption.
Implementing SSL and TLS certificates allows data requested from servers to be encrypted using HTTPS. Website visitors can ensure the page is encrypted by checking the padlock icon in the web domain bar.
Delegate certificates across an entire domain: For organizations that use multiple servers, detecting when private keys have been compromised can be challenging. To mitigate this, SSL and TLS certificate software can delegate certificates across an entire domain. This means private keys are stored in a secure, more easily monitored location.
Securing the certificate’s key in this manner also means there’s no need for certificate revocation if the delegated certificate used in the handshake is stolen. This is because delegated digital certificates are short lived, typically expiring after a few hours or days. This capability also means organizations do not need to expose their private keys to servers. Instead, they merely supply the delegated certificate, which the server uses to authenticate the client through code signing.
Utilize trusted certificate authorities: Certificate authorities are the organizations responsible for issuing SSL and TLS certificates. They are trusted organizations that issue different types of SSL and TLS certificates based on which type the domain has requested for its particular needs. The SSL and TLS certificates that the certificate authorities issue certifies that the named domain or subject on that certificate is the owner of the associated public key. This authentication builds digital trust between servers and clients, as sensitive information and transactions are known to go to the proper parties through a secure encryption and decryption process using HTTPS.
What are the Benefits of SSL and TLS Certificates Software?
A few crucial benefits of SSL and TLS certificates software are mentioned below:
Improves website security: SSL and TLS certificates improve domain security through encryption, which enables secure connections. Transferring data from servers to clients creates vulnerabilities that attackers exploit through malware and denial-of-service attacks. Without the certificate’s private key, however, even if attackers capture data during its transfer, they cannot read it.
Organizations use SSL and TLS certificates to encrypt their proprietary information, including trade secrets and financial details. Other commonly encrypted information through SSL and TLS certificate implementations include employee, customer, and transaction information.
Enables compliance: Though not legally required, since 2017, web browsers have strongly urged domains to acquire an SSL or TLS certificate. Through self regulation, browsers now often label websites as having an unsecured connection if they don’t have an SSL or TLS certificate and ask for the user’s consent to continue to the domain. In addition, search engines favor results from websites with SSL and TLS certificates, and domains with secure connections more frequently populate SEO-driven searches.
Who Uses SSL and TLS Certificates Software?
Hospitals, medical systems, and healthcare offices: Healthcare services that record patient information are subject to various regulations regarding patient privacy, including the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). To remain compliant with these regulations, patient information must be kept secure through encryption when healthcare data, including diagnoses, prescription details, and test results, is transferred from servers to clients.
Financial institutions: Bank and credit union members depend on security to keep their financial information out of the hands of bad actors, which necessitates the use of encryption during online banking transactions. SSL and TLS certificates bolster this security through encryption.
Online retailers: Payment processing information must be kept private for e-commerce shoppers to keep information like credit card numbers private. SSL and TLS-facilitated encryption methods protect this information through encryption and guarantee that the money website visitors spend is being sent to the proper business through the certificate’s primary function of domain authentication. Payment card industry (PCI) standards recommend online retailers remain up-to-date with their digital certificates to keep payment information secure.
Blogs and content-driven websites: Since 2017, web browsers have preferred to populate SEO-powered searches with domains secured with HTTPS encryption, which SSL and TLS certificates enable. Website owners whose business models depend on ad sales and, therefore, organic web traffic will be able to generate more revenue with a secure site that appears higher in search engine queries. Also, even though blogs and content-driven websites don’t necessarily collect payments or particularly sensitive data, it is beneficial for site visitors if their activity is kept private.
Challenges with SSL and TLS Certificates Software
Certificate expirations: SSL and TLS certificates don’t last forever, meaning security teams need to be aware of pending expiration dates for their certificates. Some SSL and TLS certificate products have built-in features to track expiration dates, though not all do. In the latter case, certificate lifecycle management (CLM) software can help organizations take a centralized approach to monitoring their certificates. By streamlining and automating the lifecycle management process, organizations can secure new SSL and TLS certificates before the expiration of their current certificate.
Vulnerabilities: Older SSL and TLS certificates have known vulnerabilities that can compromise the integrity of their encryptions, so it is imperative to use the most up-to-date SSL and TLS certificate software. Weak ciphers can make it easy for attacks to decrypt sensitive data. Additionally, if an attacker acquires the private key that the SSL or TLS encryption uses, they can decrypt past transactions even long after they’ve happened.
How to Buy SSL and TLS Certificate Software
Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for SSL and TLS Certificate Software
When choosing an SSL or TLS certificate software, buyers should consider several factors to ensure their needs are being met to secure private browsing for users on their websites. Buyers should keep the following considerations in mind:
Type: Buyers should understand the type of SSL or TLS certificate they need to secure to best safeguard sensitive information against bad actors. Requesting information from potential SSL and TLS certificate software vendors about the types of certificates they can secure and assessing which certificates adequately address the buyer’s needs is a good starting point.
Level: The level of the certificate the buyer’s organization needs to validate their identity and control of a domain is critically important. Levels of organization validation that are less stringent to obtain are typically not as complexly encrypted as levels that require manual validation against government-hosted databases. Buyers should ensure the SSL or TLS certificate software they choose can secure the proper level of validation for their needs.
Certificate management: Some organizations already implement CLM software to keep certificate management centralized, so managing SSL and TLS certificates can be included in these pre-existing infrastructures. However, companies that do not already employ CLM software will either have to manually track expiration dates or consider getting it to automate the process. Some SSL and TLS certificate software now come with built-in lifecycle management, making it easier for enterprises to manage them and employ certificate renewals.
Compare SSL and TLS Certificate Software Products
Create a long list
There is a multitude of SSL and TLS certificate software available, making it difficult for buyers to narrow down which among them best suits their needs. It’s best to begin the selection process by determining which products offer the certificates the buyer needs for their industry, their organization’s size, which products best integrate with existing workflows, and the sensitivity of the information they’re protecting with HTTPS encryption.
Built-in features that may best suit the operations of the purchasing organization should also be considered when creating a long list. Does the buyer already have a system for tracking certificate lifecycles? Does the buyer want an SSL or TLS certificate software that can track the expiration dates of its own certificates?
Create a short list
To further narrow the pool of potential products, buyers should leverage user reviews from g2.com. User reviews speak to the ease of implementation, potential costs, intuitive interfaces, and overall functionality of the certificate software. Most certificates also come with a warranty, but buyers must be sure to inquire with vendors about the warranty’s details when choosing to secure certificates through them. Beyond reading the reviews, buyers are also empowered to leverage the G2 Grid® to see how competing SSL and TLS certificate software stack up against each other.
Conduct demos
Buyers can contact many vendors directly on g2.com to request demos by selecting the “Get a quote” button. At each demo, buyers must ask the same questions to best evaluate each product. Buyers should ask vendors about the types of certificates they can secure and the average time to secure them.
Selection of SSL and TLS Certificate Software
Choose a selection team
The team responsible for selecting the SSL or TLS certificate software should include the organization's ultimate decision maker, IT department members, software engineers, and the parties responsible for the certificate and digital key management. Including a representative from the organization’s DevOps team may also be beneficial.
Negotiation
Typically, longer-length contracts can improve the chances of securing better pricing when negotiating a contract. Furthermore, the total number of certificates and their types and level of validation may give buyers flexibility when negotiating a rate with vendors.
Final decision
The final decision will come down to whether or not the product offers the appropriate certificates the buyer needs for their industry, organization size, and the sensitivity of the data they transfer between servers and clients. A final decision should also be made only once the person responsible for managing the certificate’s lifecycle unless the buyer has chosen an SSL and TLS certificate product with built-in lifecycle management.
