There are two ways to get a certificate for your website: the free AutoSSL certificate that cPanel can issue and renew for you, or a certificate you purchase through Hosting Australia. Both encrypt traffic and both give you HTTPS. They differ in how they are validated, how much support comes with them, and how portable they are.
Certificate validity has changed
The validity of public certificates is now set by an industry rule, not by any one provider:
- All publicly trusted certificates are limited to a maximum of about 200 days. This applies to free AutoSSL certificates and to purchased certificates equally. See Why is my SSL certificate only valid for around 200 days.
- Older advice that a free certificate lasts 90 days, or that a purchased certificate is issued for a full year, is out of date. Both types are now issued for shorter terms and renewed more often.
- For purchased certificates, renewal happens inside the term you paid for, at no extra charge, so your billing date is not affected.
How the two compare
- Validation. AutoSSL proves control of the domain only. A purchased certificate can also prove your organisation identity through organisation or extended validation.
- Support. AutoSSL renews automatically but does not come with certificate support; a purchased certificate through us can be assisted by our team.
- Portability. AutoSSL is tied to your hosting environment. A purchased certificate can be moved to another server or host if you migrate.
- Site seal. A purchased certificate may include a site seal you can display. AutoSSL does not provide one.
- Warranty. Some purchased certificates include a warranty from the issuing certificate authority. The amount and terms are set by the certificate provider and vary between products. Ask us if you need the details for a specific product before you buy.
- Renewals. Both types renew automatically in the usual case, but automatic renewal can fail silently after a DNS change, a migration, an added domain, or a certificate that was removed.
If a certificate warning appears
Run the AutoSSL check in cPanel first. It reissues or repairs a broken free certificate in most cases:
- See AutoSSL manually checking certificate status.
- A yellow or orange padlock is a different problem: see Fixing Mixed Content warning on HTTPS sites.
- For a certificate you purchased and installed on your own server, watch for our renewal notices and install the new certificate before the old one expires.
If the warning continues after the AutoSSL check, contact support and we will check the certificate status for your service.
Which one do I need?
Many websites run perfectly well on AutoSSL. A purchased certificate is worth considering when you handle customer data, need to show your business identity, or want a certificate you can move between hosts. If you are unsure which fits your site, ask us and we will explain the options for your particular service.
