Zero SSL - who is this?

Help
1

When I examine my site's certificate, I see that it comes from Zero SSL. What or who is this ? How does it relate to LetsEncrypt?

2

A different certificate authority.

In no way whatsoever.

4 Likes
3

ZeroSSL (https://zerossl.com) is a product of a for-profit company (HID Global). They are not a certificate authority per se, but a reseller for Sectigo certificates (that is, all issued certificates come from Sectigo with a white-labeled intermediate).

ZeroSSL offers free certificates via ACME like Let's Encrypt. However, they also have non-free offerings on their website, so not everything on ZeroSSL is free (unlike Let's Encrypt).

ZeroSSL finances and owns several ACME clients (most of which were originally developed for Let's Encrypt). This includes acme.sh, win-acme, and several more. As such these ACME clients may default to ZeroSSL instead of Let's Encrypt (for promotional reasons, probably).

The documentation on your ACME client should have instructions how to switch CAs, should you wish to change to Let's Encrypt.

6 Likes
4

acme.sh is using ZeroSSL by default

1 Like
5

Hi Krischu,

ZeroSSL is an independent Certificate Authority offering free and paid SSL/TLS certificates, similar to Let’s Encrypt but with additional features like a web dashboard, REST API, and customer support. We started as a tool to simplify certificate management and now provide full automation options for developers and businesses. Your private keys remain under your control, and you can use one our standard ACME clients like acme.sh or Certbot with a ZeroSSL configuration.

1 Like