SSL certificates have become a necessity for all types of websites. From small blogs to large e-commerce enterprises, everyone needs SSL to secure visitors’ sensitive data and remain accessible via popular browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, or Safari. In this article we’ll show you where to buy an SSL certificate so you can save money and get the ideal product for your project. But first, a brief mention about HTTPS and its importance.
From HTTP to HTTPS
The HTTPS transition is now part of website building fundamentals. Along with domain name registration and hosting setup, SSL certificate installation is a priority for every website owner.
When you create a new website, you may find it convenient to buy your domain, hosting, and SSL certificate from one place. Sure, it saves you time, but not money, as far as SSL certs are concerned.
For novice users, buying the right certificate for their project is quite tricky. The sheer number of options may overwhelm you, not to mention the big discrepancy in prices across various brands and vendors.
The truth is, all SSL certificates, regardless of price, validation type, and specifications, follow the same TLS (Transport Layer Security) protocol. What makes a cert more expensive than another is the brand, extra features, the SSL warranty, and the place form where you buy it.
As a rule of thumb, you should always get your certificates from an SSL reseller. It’s cheaper, and the support is better. SSL resellers are third-party companies that offer a wide range of affordable SSL certificates for every need.
At SSL Dragon, we’ve forged exclusive partnerships with Sectigo (formerly Comodo), RapidSSL, GeoTrust, Thawte, and DigiCert, which allow us to buy SSL certificates in bulk at highly discounted prices, and then pass the savings onto you. Besides this, here are a few more reasons why an SSL certificate reseller is a better option than your hosting provider.
Narrow specialization creates superior customer support
We specialize in SSL certificates only, while for hosting providers, SSL certificates are just an upsell on top of their main service. If something goes wrong with your SSL certificate, you’re more likely to get a faster and dedicated response from an SSL reseller rather than from a hosting company.
We’re transparent about the price. What you see is what you pay
On many hosting providers, the SSL certificate price for the first year is very tempting. However, the renewal for the second year is much more expensive. Some companies hide this information in the fine print, and customers are left fuming when they’re charged more than expected. At SSL Dragon, it’s the exact opposite. You pay less when you buy an SSL cert for maximum validity.
We have the complete range of SSL certs for any project
No matter what type of site you want to secure, we’ve got you covered. From regular blogs to huge e-stores and complex infrastructures, our vast selection of certificates will satisfy any need and budget. Unlike hosting providers that may not offer all kinds of SSL certs, we deliver the entire SSL spectrum, including Email and IP Address SSL certificates.
Let’s compare our SSL prices with GoDaddy’s, one of the most popular domain registrars and hosting providers. GoDaddy is also a Certificate Authority, and they offer a wide range of certificates too. If you host your website with them, you may be tempted to buy a certificate as well, but if you care about your wallet, you’ll give them a pass. Here’s why:
A Domain Validation (DV) certificate from Godaddy is $63,99 at the time of writing this article. The cost rises to $79.99 for the second year. In comparison, our cheapest DV certificate starts at a mere $7.59 per year and is just $6.99 per year if you get it for multiple years. Moreover, all our single domain DV certificates are low-priced compared to Godaddy’s offer.
The price difference is much bigger for Wildcard certs. The cheapest Wildcard certificate at SSL Dragon is $66.99 for the first year and $51.99 per year for three years. At Godaddy, a Wildcard certificate starts at $295.99 per year and is a whopping $369.99 when you renew.
The same goes for Business Validation, Extended Validation, and Multi-Domain certificates. They’re all more expensive at Godaddy either from the start or during renewal.
We’ve gathered more popular hosting providers and compared their SSL prices and offers to ours. Not a single one has outdone us. Check the table below:
| Secures/Validation | SSL Dragon | GoDaddy | A2Hosting | SiteGround | Hostgator | Inmotion Hosting |
| DV SSL | Starting at $6.99/yr | Starting at $63.99/yr | Starting at $49/yr | N/A | $39.99/yr | N/A |
| BV SSL | Starting at $23.33/yr | Starting at $135.99/yr | Starting at $99/yr | N/A | N/A | $99/yr |
| EV SSL | Starting at $77.49/yr | Starting at $124.99/yr | Starting at $199/yr | $499/yr | $269.99/yr | N/A |
| Wildcard SSL | Starting at $51.99/yr | Starting at $295.99/yr | Starting at $149/yr | $90/yr | $119.99/yr | N/A |
| Multi-Domain SSL | Starting at $18.99/yr | Starting at $159.99/yr | N/A | N/A | $79.99yr | N/A |
| Code Signing | Starting at $66.66/yr | Starting at $124.99/yr | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Email/Docs | Starting at $10.66/yr | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| IP Address | Starting at $42.66/yr | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
As you can see, we have the cheapest prices across all SSL categories. Moreover, unlike hosting providers, we also offer exclusive certificates to digitally sign emails and documents, and SSL certs to secure a public IP address.
If you were still undecided about where to buy SSL certificates, we hope this article has shown you the pros of an SSL reseller when compared to a hosting company.
*All prices and offers valid at the time of publishing this article.
