# Gratis letsencrypt cert expires 2021-03-25. How to renew? **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Created:** [January 5, 2021, 2:35am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/gratis-letsencrypt-cert-expires-2021-03-25-how-to-renew/141961 "2021-01-05T02:35:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![edburns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/edburns/32/45927_2.png) [@edburns](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/edburns)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 2:35am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/gratis-letsencrypt-cert-expires-2021-03-25-how-to-renew/141961/1 "2021-01-05T02:35:14Z")
Hello, I have a simple GitHub https enabled pages site using the basic gratis [letsencrypt.org](http://letsencrypt.org) certificate ([https://ridingthecrest.com/](https://ridingthecrest.com/) fwiw). I looked at the certificate in my browser today and found it will expire on 2021-03-25. How can I avoid problems and renew this proactively? Or is this this something that happens automatically for me? Thanks, Ed ---
**Author:** ![griffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/user_avatar/community.letsencrypt.org/griffin/32/50204_2.png) [@griffin](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/griffin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 2:44am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/gratis-letsencrypt-cert-expires-2021-03-25-how-to-renew/141961/2 "2021-01-05T02:44:26Z")
Welcome to the Let's Encrypt Community, Ed 🙂 Let's Encrypt certificates all last 90 days, but it is recommended they be renewed every 60 days to give time in case there are issues. Whether your certificate will be renewed automatically depends upon the [ACME client](https://letsencrypt.org/docs/client-options/) you use to acquire certificates. Based on [the certificate history for ridingthecrest.com](https://crt.sh/?Identity=ridingthecrest.com&deduplicate=Y), it appears that two certificates ([one for the apex domain name](https://crt.sh/?id=3830434455) and [one for the www subdomain name](https://crt.sh/?id=3831284606)) have successfully renewed automatically since June. > **[Why ninety-day lifetimes for certificates? - Let's Encrypt - Free SSL/TLS...](https://letsencrypt.org/2015/11/09/why-90-days.html)** > > We’re sometimes asked why we only offer certificates with ninety-day lifetimes. People who ask this are usually concerned that ninety days is too short and wish we would offer certificates lasting a year or more, like some other CAs do. > Ninety days... * * * I noticed that [the installed certificate for www.ridingthecrest.com](https://crt.sh/?id=3831284606) covers the `www` subdomain name, but NOT the apex domain name (`ridingthecrest.com`). I'm assuming that [this certificate](https://crt.sh/?id=3830434455) is installed for `ridingthecrest.com` that covers the apex domain name, but not the `www` subdomain name. Any reason for not using one certificate that covers both? This redirect chain: ```auto http://ridingthecrest.com 301 Moved Permanently https://www.ridingthecrest.com/ 200 OK ``` Should actually look like this: ```auto http://ridingthecrest.com 301 Moved Permanently https://ridingthecrest.com 301 Moved Permanently https://www.ridingthecrest.com/ 200 OK ``` Complete Certificate History > **[crt.sh | ridingthecrest.com](https://crt.sh/?Identity=ridingthecrest.com&deduplicate=Y)** ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/letsencrypt/original/3X/c/a/ca6c06ea1ea201324bba7048c6841ce60236468d.png) [@system](https://community.letsencrypt.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 2:44am UTC](https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/gratis-letsencrypt-cert-expires-2021-03-25-how-to-renew/141961/3 "2021-02-04T02:44:30Z")
Closed on February 4, 2021, 2:44am UTC This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.