S
SLet's Encrypt vs ZeroSSL
Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.
L
Choose Let's Encrypt if…
- you're in its core audience: website owners, web developers
Z
Choose ZeroSSL if…
- you work on Web
- you're in its core audience: website owners, developers
Side by side
Feature Let's Encrypt ZeroSSL
Pricing modelFreeFreemium
Starting priceFree$14.99/mo
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
PlatformsAPIWeb, API
CompanyInternet Security Research Group (ISRG)HID Global Corporation
Full feature lists
L Let's Encrypt
- Free TLS/SSL certificates for websites
- Automated issuance and renewal via the ACME protocol
- Domain control validation
- List of recommended ACME clients
- Public service status and statistics pages
- Community support forum
- Documentation in many languages
Z ZeroSSL
- Free 90-day SSL certificates
- Annual, wildcard and multi-domain certificates
- Domain validation by email, server upload or CNAME
- Automated renewal through ACME clients
- REST API for issuance and CSR validation
- SSL monitoring and installation checks
- Audit log and management console
- Protect scans for malware, XSS and SQL injection
Their home pages
What each vendor shows first: the pitch, the plans and the sign-up.
ZeroSSL · zerossl.comWhat you'd pay
The cheapest plan that fits, per month, billed yearly where the plan offers it.
Let's Encrypt
FreeFree
ZeroSSL
Free$0
Basic$19.99/mo or $14.99/mo billed yearly
Premium$92.49/mo or $68.99/mo billed yearly
Business$174.99/mo or $129.99/mo billed yearly
Platinum$249.99/mo or $219.99/mo billed yearly
Strengths and limitations
Let's Encrypt
- Certificates are completely free
- Fully automated through ACME clients
- Run by a nonprofit and used by more than 700M websites
- Site is available in many languages
- Certificates are short-lived, so automated renewal is effectively required
- Support is through a community forum
ZeroSSL
- Free plan with 3 90-day certificates and no credit card
- Works with ACME clients and offers a REST API
- Paid plans include unlimited 90-day certificates
- Three domain validation methods
- Free plan is self-service only, with no support
- Annual and wildcard certificates require paid plans
- Annual certificates must be renewed by day 199 under Ballot SC-081v3
More comparisons
Other options to consider
SS
Free trial
C
CGlobal network for CDN, DDoS protection, Zero Trust and serverless compute
Free, from $5/mo
C
Free, from $5/mo
C
Global network for CDN, DDoS protection, Zero Trust and serverless compute
DDoS protection & WAFFree plan
Facts from each vendor's public pages, prices checked Nov 10, 2026. Editorial policy