alt Hacker NewsIs Let's Encrypt the only provider of SSL certificates?
Genuine question! Because I assumed there were other places you could get a SSL certificate, but people in this thread seem to be implying that without Let's Encrypt, there's no way for people in those sanctioned territories to get a cert.
Replies
Fnoord • yesterday at 7:56 PM
> Is Let's Encrypt the only provider of SSL certificates?
No.
nicce • yesterday at 7:57 PM
There are some options. actalis.com is European alternative but free tier is a bit less than Let's Encrypt.
herbst • yesterday at 7:55 PM
If nothing has changed it's still the only one that's free and instant. Back in the day you'd had to pay $10/y and install manually
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If it was a genuine question, the genuine answer is it's the provider that democratised streamlined ACME certificate verification and made it for free
No account, no payment, a single bash command or a certbot that runs regularly and you have your own globally recognised certificate
Historically, providers used to make the most frictions so that they could justify absolutely crazy fees for signing any certificates. It doesn't goes down well in DevOps, it doesn't work with indies who don't have 3 to 4 digits figures to blow in httpS, everyone including organisations ended up making certificates authorities of their own to sign stuff... and let's encrypt was successful at making certificates easy, free and actually secure