An SSL/TLS certificate encrypts traffic and shows the padlock. The certificate type controls how much your organisation is validated — not how strong the encryption is.
For almost every site the answer is the free certificate: our hosting issues and auto-renews a Let's Encrypt Domain Validation (DV) certificate at no cost.
Domain Validation (DV) — free & live
- Proves you control the domain; issued automatically in minutes.
- Included free on our Web Hosting and auto-renewed for you — no purchase, nothing to install.
- Issued by Let's Encrypt, trusted by every modern browser.
- Right for blogs, business sites, apps and stores — the vast majority of use cases.
Organisation & Extended Validation
- OV (Organization Validation) also validates your registered business; suited to company sites. Carries a $250,000 relying-party warranty.
- EV (Extended Validation) adds the most rigorous business vetting; for high-trust finance and checkout. Carries a $1,000,000 warranty.
- Paid OV/EV (and OV wildcard) are available now on the SSL page; free DV still covers secure HTTPS for everything else.