Free vs Commercial SSL
Let's Encrypt vs Paid SSL: What the Free 90-Day Certificate Doesn't Include
Let's Encrypt encrypts traffic exactly as well as a certificate costing hundreds of dollars a year — the differences that remain are warranty, validation depth and how long a certificate lasts before it renews.
Free
Let's Encrypt certificate cost
90 days
Let's Encrypt validity and renewal cycle
$10,000
Paid DV certificate relying-party warranty
$59.99/yr
Paid DV SSL starting price
In short
Let's Encrypt vs paid SSL isn't a question of encryption strength — both use the same TLS protocols and the padlock looks identical. Let's Encrypt is free, domain-validated only, and issued on a 90-day cycle that renews automatically without you doing anything. Paid commercial certificates add a relying-party warranty, the option of organization or extended validation, and — depending on the issuer — longer validity terms. Hosting Cheap includes free auto-renewing SSL on every plan, with paid DV from $59.99/yr and EV from $379.99/yr for sites that need more.
For the overwhelming majority of sites, free auto-renewing SSL is functionally complete; paid certificates solve for warranty coverage and business-identity verification specifically, not for stronger encryption.
Let's Encrypt changed the SSL market by making domain-validated certificates free and automatable, and it's genuinely responsible for HTTPS becoming the web's default rather than an expensive add-on. The certificates it issues encrypt traffic using the same TLS standards as any commercial certificate — there's no technical downgrade in the actual encryption. What Let's Encrypt deliberately doesn't offer is organization or extended validation, because its entire model is built around automated, domain-only issuance at no cost, renewed every 90 days without a manual step.
Paid commercial certificates exist for what sits outside that scope: a formal relying-party warranty that pays out if the certificate authority's own vetting failed and caused a loss, organization or extended validation for sites that need a verified business identity attached, and in some cases validity terms longer than 90 days. Neither option is universally 'better' — the right choice depends on whether a site needs anything Let's Encrypt's free, automated model doesn't include.
Encryption Strength: No Difference at All
This is the point worth settling first because it's the one people most often get wrong: Let's Encrypt certificates use the same TLS protocol versions and cipher support as commercial certificates from any major certificate authority. A visitor's browser shows the same padlock, the same HTTPS, and establishes the same encrypted connection regardless of which issued the certificate. There is no 'stronger encryption' tier you're paying for with a commercial certificate.
What actually differs is entirely about verification depth, warranty terms and validity length — none of which touch the cryptography protecting data in transit. Any comparison that implies paid SSL is more secure in the sense of harder-to-break encryption is describing something that isn't true; the security of the connection itself is identical.
The 90-Day Cycle: A Feature, Not a Flaw, If It's Automated
Let's Encrypt's short 90-day validity period was a deliberate design choice, not a limitation — shorter validity periods reduce the window a compromised or mis-issued certificate stays trusted, and the entire system assumes automated renewal rather than a person manually reissuing every three months. When that automation is working, the short cycle is invisible; the certificate just renews itself in the background indefinitely.
Where it becomes a real problem is on a setup without reliable auto-renewal configured, where a missed 90-day cycle means a certificate silently expires and visitors start seeing browser security warnings with no advance notice. Hosting Cheap's free SSL renews automatically as standard, so this specific risk is handled rather than left to a site owner to track manually.
What Paid SSL Actually Adds: Warranty and Validation Depth
A paid commercial certificate's relying-party warranty is a real, contractual payout from the certificate authority if their own vetting process failed in a way that caused a documented financial loss — Hosting Cheap's paid DV certificates carry a $10,000 warranty, scaling to $1,500,000 on EV. Let's Encrypt, as a free automated service, doesn't offer an equivalent warranty structure.
Paid certificates also unlock organization and extended validation, verifying a registered business identity that domain-only validation — whether free or paid — simply doesn't check. For a site that needs a verified company name embedded in the certificate itself, that's not something Let's Encrypt's model provides at any price, because its issuance process is deliberately domain-only.
Trust Seals and Why They Matter Less Than They Used To
Commercial certificate authorities have historically offered site seals — a small trust badge a site could display, tied to the certificate's validation level — as a visible signal of security investment. Some site owners still value displaying one, particularly in industries where visitor trust is actively being sold as a differentiator.
In practice, seals carry less weight with visitors than they once did, since HTTPS itself became the baseline expectation rather than a differentiator, and most visitors never click through to verify a seal's authenticity anyway. The warranty and validation depth behind a paid certificate matter more in a real dispute than the seal's visual presence does day to day — the seal is a nice-to-have, not the core reason to choose paid SSL.
Free Auto-Renewing SSL Standard, Paid SSL When You Need More
Every Hosting Cheap plan includes free, auto-renewing SSL as standard — the 90-day renewal cycle is handled automatically, so there's no manual step and no risk of a missed renewal leaving a site unencrypted.
For sites that specifically need a formal warranty, organization or extended validation, paid DV starts at $59.99/yr and EV at $379.99/yr, issued alongside the free certificate already covering the rest of the domain.
- Free, auto-renewing SSL included as standard on every hosting plan
- No manual renewal step — the 90-day cycle is handled automatically
- Paid DV from $59.99/yr with a $10,000 relying-party warranty
- EV SSL from $379.99/yr for verified business identity and a $1.5M warranty
Why Hosting Cheap
What you get
Free SSL on every plan
Auto-renewing domain-validated SSL is included as standard, no separate purchase required.
Zero manual renewal risk
The 90-day cycle renews automatically, removing the most common cause of expired-certificate warnings.
Identical encryption strength
Free and paid certificates use the same TLS standards — there's no security downgrade with free SSL.
Paid warranty when you need it
DV from $59.99/yr adds a $10,000 warranty for sites that specifically want one.
EV for verified identity
EV SSL from $379.99/yr embeds a vetted business name for high-stakes pages.
24/7 human support
Help deciding whether free SSL is enough or a paid certificate actually adds value.
How It Works
Get set up in a few steps
Confirm free SSL is active and auto-renewing
Check that your current hosting already handles the 90-day renewal automatically.
Decide if you need a warranty or business validation
Identify pages where a formal warranty or verified identity would add real value.
Add paid DV or EV only where it matters
Layer a paid certificate onto specific pages rather than replacing free SSL everywhere.
Included
Everything you need, on every plan
- Confirm your current SSL renews automatically every 90 days without manual action
- Verify encryption strength is identical regardless of certificate cost — it is
- Identify any page where a formal relying-party warranty adds real value
- Check whether verified business identity matters for your highest-stakes pages
- Compare $59.99/yr DV against your current free SSL's actual coverage gaps
- Ask whether a trust seal genuinely influences your specific visitors' behavior
- Confirm paid SSL is layered onto free SSL, not replacing coverage unnecessarily
- Weigh 90-day automated renewal against any longer-term paid certificate options
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Let's Encrypt as secure as a paid SSL certificate?
Yes, for encryption strength specifically — both use the same TLS standards and produce an identical padlock and HTTPS connection. Paid certificates add a warranty and, optionally, deeper business validation, not stronger encryption.
Why does Let's Encrypt only last 90 days?
It's a deliberate design choice to limit how long a compromised or mis-issued certificate stays trusted, built around the assumption that renewal is automated rather than manual. When auto-renewal works, the short cycle is invisible.
What happens if a Let's Encrypt certificate isn't renewed automatically?
It expires after 90 days and visitors start seeing a browser security warning until it's reissued. This is why automated renewal, which Hosting Cheap handles as standard, matters more than the certificate's short validity period itself.
Does paid SSL come with a warranty?
Yes, paid DV certificates from Hosting Cheap carry a $10,000 relying-party warranty, scaling to $1,500,000 on EV certificates — a contractual payout structure that free, automated certificates don't include.
Do I need paid SSL if I already have free SSL?
Not necessarily. Free auto-renewing SSL covers encryption completely; paid SSL specifically adds a warranty or business validation, which only matters for pages where that added assurance has real value, like checkouts or logins.
Does a paid SSL certificate improve SEO more than a free one?
No, search engines treat HTTPS as a ranking signal regardless of whether the certificate is free or paid — what matters for SEO is that the site is served over HTTPS at all, not which certificate type provides it.
Free SSL Included, Paid SSL Only When You Need More
Auto-renewing SSL comes standard on every plan — add paid DV from $59.99/yr or EV from $379.99/yr for warranty and verified identity.
Get Started