Free DV SSL Certificate
Free SSL Certificate
Publicly trusted 90-day HTTPS encryption at $0.00. Same SSL.com root and browser trust as our paid certs — no credit card, no ACME client, no paperwork.
Free SSL Certificate
SSL.com’s Free SSL Certificate is a 90-day, Domain Validation TLS certificate issued at $0.00. It uses the same industrial-strength cryptography and chains to the same publicly trusted SSL.com root as our paid certificates — differentiated only by validation depth (domain control only) and validity period (90 days). Every free certificate also activates the SSL.com Smart SeaL site seal.
Key benefits
What is Free DV SSL?
A Domain Validation (DV) certificate verifies you control the domain — no legal entity check, no organisation vetting. SSL.com performs a Class 1 domain control check via DNS CNAME record, HTTP file upload, or email confirmation. The result is a publicly trusted certificate issued in minutes.
SSL.com’s Free DV certificate chains to the same root used by all our paid certificates — included in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. Because validation is domain-only, the Free DV certificate is positioned for use cases where encryption is the requirement and verified organisational identity is not.
Who needs Free DV SSL?
How Free DV SSL works
Request your free certificate
Click “Get Free SSL” and sign up at ssl.com — no credit card required.
Enter your domain
Enter the domain name you want to secure (e.g. yoursite.com).
Complete domain control validation (DCV)
Prove you control the domain via HTTP file upload, DNS CNAME record, or email to a domain admin address. No organisation vetting or legal documents required.
Certificate issued
Your Free DV certificate is issued within minutes of successful DCV.
Download and install
Download the certificate bundle and deploy it to your web server, CDN, or hosting panel.
Typical DV issuance time: Minutes after successful DCV.
Compliance & standards
Compatibility
Apache, Nginx, IIS, LiteSpeed
Full support
AWS, GCP, Azure
Full support
Cloudflare, Fastly, Akamai
Full support
All major browsers
Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge: trusted
iOS, Android, macOS, Windows
Trusted across all major operating systems
ACME clients
Certbot, ACME.sh, win-acme: supported
Frequently asked questions
DV certificates confirm you control the domain — via DNS CNAME record, HTTP file upload, or email confirmation. There is no legal entity check, no physical address verification, and no organisation vetting. This makes issuance fast (typically minutes) but means the certificate contains only your domain name, not your organisation's identity.
Typically minutes after you complete domain control validation (DCV). Choose from three DCV methods in the SSL.com portal: DNS CNAME record, HTTP file upload, or email confirmation to a domain-registered address. Once DCV is complete, the certificate is issued automatically.
No — the Free DV certificate covers one fully-qualified domain name (FQDN). Wildcards (*.domain.com) are not included. For wildcard coverage, see SSL.com Wildcard SSL. For multiple distinct domains, see Multi-Domain (UCC/SAN).
Renewals are also free — $0.00 every time. SSL.com will notify you before expiry. You can renew manually via the SSL.com portal or automate renewal using ACME (RFC 8555). See the ACME / CLM page for automation details. Each new issuance is a fresh 90-day certificate.
Both issue 90-day DV certificates at $0. SSL.com Free DV adds: (1) the SSL.com Smart SeaL site seal — Let's Encrypt does not offer a site seal; (2) portal-based issuance — no ACME client or command-line tooling required; (3) a direct upgrade path to OV, EV, Wildcard, and Multi-Domain certificates on the same account; and (4) a commercial support relationship available when you upgrade to a paid plan.
No. The Free DV certificate carries no financial warranty. SSL.com's paid certificates carry warranties from $10,000 (Basic DV) up to $1,750,000 (Enterprise EV). If a warranty matters for your use case, upgrade to any paid plan.
Consider upgrading when: you need longer validity with less renewal overhead (Basic DV); you're adding ecommerce or payment flows where verified business identity strengthens checkout trust (High Assurance OV or Premium OV); you need wildcard coverage for subdomains; you need multiple domains on one cert (Multi-Domain UCC/SAN); or you need the highest-trust certificate for customer-facing or regulated workloads (Enterprise EV).
Start securing your site — free
Related products
Basic DV
Faster issuance without full EV vetting: DV and OV options from $36.75/yr.
High Assurance OV
EV validation across multiple domains in one certificate: $1.75M warranty.
Enterprise EV
Automate certificate lifecycle management via ACME protocol (RFC 8555).
