Domain Validated SSL Certificates
Domain Validated SSL Certificates (DV) are SSL certificates that are issued after an applicant has proven some control over a domain. Generally, no other validation is done (verifying who the applicant is, verifything that a company is registered with the government). In order to get a Domain Validated SSL Certificate you just have to prove that you own the domain by responding to an email or phone call using the information in the WHOIS record of the domain. Your company doesn't have to be validated and no organization name is entered in the certificate. Compare the best domain validated certificates below or use our SSL Wizard to compare SSL certificate features from all providers
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Certificate Provider |
Support Options |
Refund Policy |
Reviews |
Price For 1 Year |
More Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Top Ranked Provider  |
24/7 Customer Support by Chat, Phone, and E-mail | Full refund within 30 days of issuance |
857 reviews
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$49.00
|
Get Pricing |
 |
24/7 Customer Support by Chat, Phone, and E-mail | Full refund within 30 days of issuance |
4474 reviews
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$10.00
|
Get Pricing |
 |
24/7 Customer Support by Chat, Phone, and E-mail | Full refund within 30 days of issuance |
130 reviews
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$79.00
|
Get Pricing |
 |
24/7 Customer Support by Chat, Phone, and E-mail | Full refund within 30 days of issuance |
81 reviews
|
$54.00
|
Get Pricing |
Detailed SSL Certificate Comparison
| Provider Info | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 |
| Provider |
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| Provider Rating |
From 857 reviews
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From 4474 reviews
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From 130 reviews
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From 81 reviews
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| Year Founded | 2002 | 1998 | 2001 | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Houston, Texas, USA | Roseland, New Jersey, USA | Lehi, Utah, USA | Cape Town, South Africa |
| Support Options | 24/7 Customer Support by Chat, Phone, and E-mail | 24/7 Customer Support by Chat, Phone, and E-mail | 24/7 Customer Support by Chat, Phone, and E-mail | 24/7 Customer Support by Chat, Phone, and E-mail |
| Refund Policy | Full refund within 30 days of issuance | Full refund within 30 days of issuance | Full refund within 30 days of issuance | Full refund within 30 days of issuance |
| Certificate Info | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product Name |
Basic SSL |
Positive SSL |
QuickSSL Premium |
SSL123 Certificate |
| Price For 1 Year |
$49.00 |
$10.00 |
$79.00 |
$54.00 |
| Issuance Speed | Within a few minutes | Within a few minutes | Less than 10 minutes | Within a few minutes |
| Domains Secured | Single Domain Name (FQDN) + www SAN | Single Domain Name (FQDN) + www SAN | Single Domain Name (FQDN) | Single Domain Name (FQDN) |
| Warranty | $10,000 | $10,000 | $100,000 | $0 |
| Validation Required | Domain Validation | Domain Validation | Domain Validation | Domain Validation |
| Notification Level in Browsers | Domain Name Shown On Certificate Only | Domain Name Shown On Certificate Only | Domain Name Shown On Certificate Only | Domain Name Shown On Certificate Only |
| Server License | Unlimited Servers | Unlimited Servers | Unlimited Servers | Single Server - Additional server licenses may be purchased |
| Other Features | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Learn More | Learn More | Learn More | Learn More | Learn More |
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Web Browser Indication for Domain Validated SSL Certificates
Web browsers display Domain Validated certificates differently. Most browsers show the certificate with a grey lock while Chrome shows it with a green lock. However, certificate indicators are always changing. A legal entity is never shown because there isn't one included in the certificate, whereas the lgal entity is often show for Organization Validated certificates or Extended Validation certificates.
Advantages of Domain Validated SSL Certificates
- Speed. You can usually get a fully-functioning certificate within minutes. No need to send in company validation documents.
- Price. Because the process is automated and requires no validation from the certificate authority, these are the cheapest SSL certificates available.
Disadvantages of Domain Validated Certificates
- Low assurance. Because your company is not validated, these certificates don't help your visitors know who is running your site. If you have an e-commerce site, your potential buyers aren't as likely to buy from you.
- Less secure. The certificates themselves still enable full encryption but there are other security problems. For one, any phisher can get one and can hide their identity completely. Second, they make man-in-the-middle attacks more dangerous. If an an attacker was able to do some DNS poisoning, he could get a Domain Validated SSL Certificate for your domain and redirect visitors to a fake site that allows him to collect visitor information. Read more about Domain Validated Certificates and DNS vulnerabilities. In summary, domain validated certificates do almost nothing to verify that you are talking to who you think you are talking to.
So when should you use Domain Validated SSL Certificates? They work well in situations where you don't need to assure your visitors or where there is little chance of a man-in-the-middle attack such as on an internal server or on a mail server.