RankingRight
Home / Business tools / SSL Certificates / Best Wildcard SSL Certificates

Best Wildcard SSL Certificates

Only the providers that fit "wildcard ssl certificate", each used to issue a real certificate on our test domain.

Last Updated: Sep 2026
Suggested ssl certificates for you
Internet Security Research GroupLet's Encrypt Good 8.3
Free, and the encryption is identical to any pai...Learn More
We Recommend
NamecheapSSLs.com Very Good 8.5
Under $4 a year for a warrantied DV certificate...Learn More
DigiCertDigiCert Fair 7.9
OV validation completed in four hours — days fas...Learn More
1

SSLs.com (PositiveSSL DV) - Namecheap's discount certificate storefront: Sectigo certificates at the lowest paid prices here, with a warranty and a support desk Tested Aug 2026 by Team RankingRight

  • Under $4 a year for a warrantied DV certificate — nothing paid comes close
  • Sectigo roots, trusted everywhere
  • DV issued in six minutes in our test, fully automated
Very Good 8.5 Visit Site
$3.88 · checked Sep 11 3.88 USD/yr DV, OV, EV
2

Let's Encrypt (Free DV, 90-day) - Free, automated, trusted by every browser, and already built into almost every host and control panel — the reason most sites should not buy a certificate Tested Aug 2026 by Team RankingRight

  • Free, and the encryption is identical to any paid certificate
  • Issued in under a minute; renews itself every 90 days with no action
  • Built into cPanel, Plesk, CloudPanel, Caddy, Cloudflare and most hosts
Good 8.3 Visit Site
$0 · checked Sep 11 0 USD/yr DV
3

DigiCert (Secure Site / Basic OV) - The certificate authority large enterprises and banks buy from: fastest validation of the OV providers, the biggest warranty, and phone support that answers Tested Aug 2026 by Team RankingRight

  • OV validation completed in four hours — days faster than the cheaper resellers
  • Warranties up to $2m and the strongest compliance paperwork
  • CertCentral manages large certificate estates properly, with an API
Fair 7.9 Visit Site
$268 · checked Sep 11 268 USD/yr DV, OV, EV
4

Google Trust Services (Free public CA) - Google's own certificate authority, free over ACME — the natural choice if your infrastructure already lives in Google Cloud Tested Aug 2026 by Team RankingRight

  • Free, including wildcards, from one of the most widely trusted roots
  • Standard ACME, so Certbot and friends work unchanged
  • Automatic on Google Cloud Load Balancing and App Engine
Fair 7.7 Visit Site
$0 · checked Sep 11 0 USD/yr DV
5

Sectigo (PositiveSSL / InstantSSL) - The certificate authority behind most cheap resellers, sold direct — the same roots, more money, and a proper enterprise management console Tested Aug 2026 by Team RankingRight

  • One of the most widely trusted roots, in every device store
  • Sectigo Certificate Manager handles large estates and private CAs
  • Full DV, OV and EV range with high warranties
Fair 7.6 Visit Site
$87 · checked Sep 11 87 USD/yr DV, OV, EV

Frequently asked questions about ssl certificates

Do I need to pay for an SSL certificate at all?
Usually not. Let's Encrypt and ZeroSSL issue free domain-validated certificates that every modern browser trusts exactly as much as a paid one, and most hosts install and renew them automatically. Encryption strength is identical. You pay for three things a free certificate does not give you: organisation or extended validation that shows your verified company name, a warranty, and a support line when installation goes wrong.
Does a paid certificate make my site rank better or look safer?
No on both counts, for a standard site. Google treats HTTPS the same regardless of who issued the certificate, and browsers stopped showing the green company name for EV certificates years ago. A paid OV or EV certificate still makes sense when a procurement team, a payment processor or a compliance auditor asks to see verified organisation details in the certificate.
What is a wildcard certificate?
One certificate covering every subdomain at one level — shop, blog, app and the rest — instead of one per host. Let's Encrypt issues wildcards free but requires a DNS challenge, which is fiddlier to automate. Paid wildcards run $50 to $200 a year and come with a simpler tool.
How do you test SSL providers?
We buy the cheapest certificate each provider sells, run the validation, install it on the same test domain and record the total time from payment to a trusted padlock. We read the warranty terms and refund window, test the CSR generator and any installation tooling, and send support the same real installation question.

*Scores: Issuance & validation 25 · Coverage 20 · Warranty & assurance 15 · Support & tooling 15 · Value 25; score = Σ ÷ 10, ties break on the earlier test date. Prices shown were checked on the date beside each and may change. Affiliate links are added only after a score is locked and can never change it. How we rank.

#1 SSLs.com8.5 · $3.88
Visit Site