Key Points
- Cloudflare offers free SSL certificates for basic protection, with paid options for advanced features.
- The free Universal SSL is included in all plans, while Advanced Certificate Manager costs $10 per month per domain.
- Custom certificates are available on Business ($200/month per domain) and Enterprise (custom pricing) plans, managed by the user.
Overview of Cloudflare SSL Certificates
Cloudflare provides several SSL certificate options to secure your website, each with different features and pricing. Here’s a breakdown to help you understand the costs and benefits.
Free Universal SSL
What It Is: A shared SSL certificate included in all Cloudflare plans, even the free tier. It covers your domain and subdomains, with automatic issuance and renewal by Cloudflare.
Pricing: Free, no additional cost.
Best For: Most websites needing basic SSL protection, such as personal blogs or small business sites.
Advanced Certificate Manager (ACM)
What It Is: An add-on for more customization, like choosing your certificate authority, validation method, and validity period (14 to 365 days). It’s available across all plans.
Pricing: Starts at $10 per month per domain.
Best For: Users needing specific certificate features, like branding or extended validity.
Custom Certificates
What It Is: Allows you to upload and manage your own SSL certificates, suitable for businesses with specific compliance needs. Available on Business and Enterprise plans.
Pricing: Included in the Business plan ($200/month per domain) or Enterprise plan (custom pricing). No extra cost for the certificate itself, but you handle issuance and renewal.
Best For: Organizations preferring to manage their own certificates, often for regulatory reasons.
Understanding SSL and Its Importance
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), now more commonly referred to as TLS (Transport Layer Security), is a protocol that encrypts data transmitted between a web server and a browser, ensuring privacy and security. SSL certificates, hosted on the origin server, include the website’s public key and identity, verifying the server’s authenticity.
This is crucial for preventing data breaches, avoiding browser security warnings, and improving search engine rankings, as encrypted sites are favored by search engines like Google.
Read also: Latest Digicert SSL Certificate Pricing
Cloudflare’s SSL Certificate Offerings
Cloudflare provides three primary SSL certificate options, each with distinct features and pricing models:
Universal SSL (Free)
Included in all Cloudflare plans, including the free tier, Universal SSL offers a shared, domain-validated (DV) certificate that covers the root domain (e.g., example.com) and top-level wildcard (e.g., *.example.com). Cloudflare manages issuance and auto-renewal, ensuring continuous protection without user intervention.
Features
Publicly trusted, unshared certificates, with automatic renewal to prevent disruptions. Supports validity periods of 90 days, with DCV tokens valid for 7 days, and can handle up to 10 levels of subdomains, with a duplicate certificate limit of 5 per week.
Pricing: Free, with no additional cost, making it accessible for all users regardless of plan level.
Suitability: Ideal for small websites, personal blogs, and startups needing basic encryption without financial investment. It lacks advanced customization but is sufficient for most general use cases, especially given its cost-effectiveness.
Advanced Certificate Manager (ACM)
Available as a paid add-on, ACM provides enhanced customization for SSL certificates, bridging the gap between the free Universal SSL and fully custom solutions. It is designed for users who need more control over certificate issuance and management while still benefiting from Cloudflare’s automation.
Features
Allows users to include the zone apex and up to 50 hosts, cover multiple subdomain levels, choose the certificate authority (CA), select validation methods (HTTP, TXT, or Email), set validity periods (14, 30, 90, or 365 days), and control cipher suites and minimum TLS versions. It also supports delegated DCV and Total TLS for automatic protection of proxied hostnames.
Pricing: Starts at $10 per month per domain, billed as an add-on that can be activated for any domain on Cloudflare, regardless of the base plan (Free, Pro, Business, or Enterprise). This pricing is per zone, meaning each domain incurs this cost separately.
Suitability: Best for users requiring specific certificate features, such as custom hostnames, extended validity, or compliance with particular security standards. It’s particularly useful for businesses scaling up and needing more flexibility without managing certificates entirely on their own.
Custom Certificates
Designed for Business and Enterprise plan customers, this option allows users to upload and manage their own SSL certificates. Unlike Universal SSL or ACM, Cloudflare does not handle issuance or renewal; these tasks fall to the user, providing greater control for organizations with specific needs.
Features
Requires certificates to be encoded in PEM format, without key file passwords, and not expiring within 14 days of upload. Must have a subject alternative name (SAN) matching at least one hostname in the zone, use a private key of at least 2048 bits for RSA or 225 bits for ECDSA, and be publicly trusted by major browsers (unless using User Defined bundling). Cloudflare groups these into certificate packs for deployment across its global network.
Pricing: Included in the Business plan, which costs $200 per month per domain, and the Enterprise plan, which has custom pricing based on organization size and needs. There is no additional cost for using custom certificates beyond the plan fee, as the certificates are provided and managed by the user.
Suitability: Ideal for large organizations with specific compliance requirements, regulatory obligations, or existing certificate infrastructures. It’s particularly relevant for enterprises needing to maintain control over private keys or use certificates from preferred CAs not supported by Cloudflare’s managed options.
Latest Cloudflare SSL Certificate Pricing Summary and Comparison
To facilitate understanding, here is a table summarizing the pricing and key features of each option:
| Option | Pricing | Key Features | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Universal SSL | Free | Shared, auto-renewed, domain-validated, basic encryption | Small websites, personal blogs |
| Advanced Certificate Manager | $10/month per domain (add-on) | Custom CA, validation methods, validity periods, up to 50 hosts, cipher control | Growing businesses needing flexibility |
| Custom Certificates | Included in Business ($200/month per domain) or Enterprise (custom pricing) | User-managed, upload own certificates, grouped into packs | Large organizations, compliance needs |
This table highlights the scalability of Cloudflare’s offerings, from free basic protection to paid advanced features and enterprise-level customization.
When to Choose Each Option
- Universal SSL: For most users, especially those with limited budgets, Universal SSL is a no-brainer. It’s free, easy to set up, and covers basic needs, making it perfect for personal websites, blogs, and small businesses. Given its automatic management, it reduces the risk of outages due to expired certificates, a common issue with manually managed options.
- Advanced Certificate Manager: If your website requires specific features, such as branding without Cloudflare’s default settings or extended validity periods, ACM is worth considering. At $10 per month per domain, it’s an affordable upgrade for growing businesses or those with niche security needs, offering a middle ground between free and fully custom solutions.
- Custom Certificates: For organizations with stringent compliance requirements, regulatory mandates, or existing certificate infrastructures, custom certificates are essential. However, this option requires being on the Business plan ($200/month per domain) or Enterprise plan, reflecting its target audience of larger enterprises. Users must be prepared to handle issuance and renewal, which can be labor-intensive but offers maximum control.
Additional Considerations
While the focus is on pricing, it’s worth noting that Cloudflare also offers other SSL-related services, such as Keyless SSL, which allows security-conscious clients to use their certificates without exposing private keys. Keyless SSL is primarily for Enterprise customers and may involve additional costs, though specific pricing wasn’t detailed in this research. Users should check the Enterprise plan details for such features.
Moreover, Cloudflare’s plans are per domain, meaning costs scale with the number of domains managed. For example, if you have multiple domains, each requiring Advanced Certificate Manager, the cost would be $10 per month per domain, potentially adding up for large portfolios.
Conclusion
Cloudflare’s SSL certificate pricing structure is designed to accommodate a wide range of users, from individuals and small businesses to large enterprises. The free Universal SSL is a cost-effective entry point, while Advanced Certificate Manager at $10 per month per domain offers flexibility for growing needs. For those requiring custom solutions, the Business plan at $200 per month per domain includes this capability, with Enterprise plans offering tailored pricing. By understanding these options, users can select the most appropriate solution for their security and budget requirements, ensuring a secure and efficient online presence.
