Ask HN: Options for super cheap SSL certificates?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9067253

by bradhe • 11 years ago

1 8 11 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Often times when I am working on a project or demo, I want SSL purely for basic privacy. I can host my apps for ~$15/mn in AWS, so spending $60+/yr for an SSL certificate seems silly...especially when I don't think this thing is really going anywhere yet.

Self-signed isn't a great option as I don't want to distribute my own signing cert to potential customers/people using or testing my app.

Am I missing a trick? What do you guys do?

smt88• 11 years ago

For demos, buy a wildcard certificate, and put all of them on subdomains.

For projects (assuming you mean something you're releasing to the public), use a reputable SSL provider, however much it costs. The most expensive are a few hundred a year. Even if you have 10 projects running simultaneously (which is unlikely), that's only ~$3k, which is a pretty easy amount of money to make back.

A more realistic number of projects is around 3, and a cheap certificate could easily be less than $100. You can change the domains as you shut down and start up new projects, so your total every year doesn't have to be more than a few hundred.

florin5255• 11 years ago

If you are managing multiple subdomains then wildcard ssl is the best option to securing them. It will save your time and money from multiple certificate management and purchase.

I found certificate vendor who offers low-cost wildcard ssl certificate at $42 - https://www.ssl2buy.com/alphassl-wildcard.php

victorso• 11 years ago

Maybe StartSSL is enough for you https://www.startssl.com/?app=1 (not so easy to setup, but there are some tips www.troyhunt.com/2013/09/the-complete-guide-to-loading-free-ssl.html)

Other option, if you can wait for the future https://letsencrypt.org/

juanuys• 11 years ago

Yep, they have a free option which I've used before.

PaulBurke2• 11 years ago

I agree with you, Self-Sign certificate never works for website security due to some limitations. As you need an SSL certificate for testing purpose, the certificate must come up with high security and privacy.

Spending $60/year is a silly thing if one only wish to test his website. But what is he can get SSL with high security & privacy with lowest price ever!

Get Comodo PositiveSSL certificate from CheapSSLSecurity.com, here you can get it a only $4.80/Year with 90% heavy discount.

2048-bit Comodo PositveSSL Certificate comes up with up to 256-bit strong encryption length & compatible with 99.9% web & mobile browsers.

Click here to get Comodo PositiveSSL Certificate at only $4.80 - https://cheapsslsecurity.com/comodo/positivessl.html.

Roney2• 11 years ago

Oh dear... I got same certificate at $3.50/Year at https://www.cheapsslshop.com

I did comparison at the time of purchase and I never found lower than cheapsslshop. They also sell other certs at huge discount.

PaulBurke2• 11 years ago

FYI this price is only available for limited time period. The actual SSL certificate price is $7.00.

But at http://www.cheapsslsecurity.com/ you can get it at $4.80 on 24x7x365 bases.

Ask HN: Options for super cheap SSL certificates?

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