SSL security is a fundamental part of any trusted website. And if you choose a hosting provider wisely, you won’t even need to include SSL in your budget. To make this choice easier, we have researched and compared the simplest free SSL hosting providers on the market today. In Following Article, we will discuss the Best Free SSL Hosting Providers.
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encrypts the information that is enabling your website. It keeps your visitor’s private information, such as their payment details, safe and secure. SSL certificates vary in security level and price, ranging from $19.99 to $269.99 per year.
But you don’t always have to buy your SSL certificate. Because they are so important, most hosting providers include them in their plans at no charge!
Did you know We surveyed 425 of our users to find out which hosting features they value the most, and 25% named security their top priority, choosing it over other features like uptime and disk space?
Not all hosting providers were created equal, which is why we pulled up our socks, put on our gloves, and folded our magnifying glasses to find the simplest providers. After hours of research, we created this list of the last-word free SSL hosting providers.
Table of Contents
Top 10 Best Free SSL Hosting Providers
- Bluehost – Best Overall Hosting Provider.
- HostGator – Best for Uptime.
- InMotion – Best for Shared and VPS Hosting.
- A2 Hosting – Best for Cloud Hosting.
- GreenGeeks – Best for Green Hosting.
- Hostinger – Best for discounted prices.
- SiteGround – Best for Reliability.
- iPage – Best for reasonable plans, but at the expense of speed.
- DreamHost – Best for storage space.
- WPEngine – Best for Help and Support.
This article will highlight each of those providers, give you details on their plans and costs, and give you some interesting tips on their SSL security. At the top of this text, you won’t doubt which is the best for your security and hosting needs.
It is a huge and wide world with danger at every turn. There’s no time to waste – let’s find the right free SSL hosting provider to keep your site safe.
1. Bluehost
Best Overall Hosting Provider
Bluehost powers over 2 million websites worldwide and provides the simplest full service. It particularly shines on your WordPress hosting. In fact, it is the amount a hosting provider recommended for WordPress.
Pros  | Cons  |
| 99.98% reliable uptime. Free domain included in annual plans. Exceeded support expectations by 9%. | New accounts must pay annually, not monthly. A small amount of storage on the basic plan. HostGator has slightly better uptime. |
But whether or not you plan WordPress, Bluehost stands out for its excellent customer support, uptime, and value for money.
Help and Support
Bluehost stood out from the bunch in our customer service research, beating our expectations by 9%, another provider we tested.
Bluehost’s responsive live chat and informative knowledge domain give it a significant advantage over competitors, making it a great help and support option.
Security Features
Security is one of the most important aspects of any hosting, so it is no wonder that Bluehost is also increasing success in this area. One of the ways they do this is often by providing a free SSL certificate on all their hosting plans.
Your free SSL certificate works with Let’s Encrypt, an automatic certificate authority. Let’s Encrypt should install and activate your certificate on your behalf, so you don’t have to worry about anything technical. More on this later!
Log into your dashboard for WordPress sites and click “Get started” on WordPress Free SSL, then click Install to urge you to continue. You will find detailed instructions in the Bluehost Help Center.
New customers can get shared hosting for just $2.95/mo with Bluehost (normally $ 7.99)
So what do you get with the basic $2.95/mo plan?
- Free website domain and SSL certificate
- Unmetered bandwidth and 50 GB of storage
- 24/7 support by phone and live chat
All Bluehost hosting plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so if you’re not completely proud of the service you receive, you will get a full refund.
Pricing
For small and growing businesses, we recommend WordPress Plus or Choice Plus plans, both starting at just $5.45/mo for new customers. These plans include unmetered storage, a free domain, and automatic WordPress updates, along with your free SSL security.
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Bluehost has a real-life support team and replies on your own time.
They provide both timely and informative answers.
Bluehost’s shared hosting plans have amazing offers.
2. HostGator
Best for Uptime
HostGator may be a popular and powerful hosting provider that scored top marks in our dedicated hosting research. It also features the simplest uptime on the market at 99.99%!
| Pros | Cons |
| Unlimited bandwidth. Free email marketing on shared plans. 45 days money back guarantee. | No free domain. The instrument panel with a date. They are not the most profitable dedicated plans out there. |
Security Features
It offers free SSL certificates on all of its hosting plans, so you will continue to benefit no matter what type of hosting you select. The SSL certificate is automatically renewed, so your site should never be unsecured.
Whether you select the most cost-effective shared hosting or the most advanced dedicated hosting, you’ll get an equivalent level of SSL security included in your plan. This offers unlimited protection for domains and subdomains and is recognized by all major browsers.
You can purchase a more advanced SSL certificate if you want additional features or more powerful security. Will update any of these:
- Positive SSL for $39.99 per year
- Multi-domain SSL for $79.99 per year
- Extended Validation (EV) SSL for $269.99 per year
While these have more advanced features like the TrustLogo Site Seal or the green address bar, the free SSL certificate should be pretty good for many sites.
Pricing
HostGator is the best-dedicated hosting service because it provides a free SSL license, 8GB of RAM, unrestricted bandwidth, 1TB of hard drive storage, full root access, and more. That’s on the most lucrative Value Server contract, which costs $119 a month. So, though it’s not the most profitable strategy, you do get what you pay for!
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3. InMotion Hosting
Best for Shared and VPS Hosting
InMotion outshined its competitors in our research when it comes to shared hosting and VPS hosting; There is not a much better provider on the market for this type of accommodation!
| Pros | Cons |
| Unlimited disk space even on basic plans. Host up to 2 websites on the essential plan. 90 day money back guarantee. | Unlimited disk space even on basic plans. Host up to 2 websites on the essential plan. 90-day money-back guarantee. |
Security Features
What really put the icing on the cake for InMotion was the fact that it offers free SSL certificates on most of its hosting plans. The stranger is unmanaged cloud VPS hosting, which is basically aimed at IT teams and coders.
You only need to attend to your configuration and activate your SSL certificate for all other plans. Hey there, your site is encrypted!
There are slightly different SSL security rules depending on your plan; on the shared plan, for example, you get a personal SSL included for free. On the managed VPS plan, you get something a little fancier – it’ll install AutoSSL for free on your dashboard.
AutoSSL makes it easy to manage your site security by automatically renewing your free SSL certificate. It also scans all the websites on your server and installs SSL certificates for any active unprotected domains.
That is very useful!
Pricing
InMotion VPS plans to provide up to 260GB of data, free backups, and up to 6TB of bandwidth in addition to the free SSL. The three VPS plans range in price from $14.99/month to $44.99/month.
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4. A2 hosting
Best for Cloud Hosting
A2 Hosting has also partnered with Let’s Encrypt to offer its users automated and free SSL certificates. This makes your life easier as it means you don’t need to install or configure your certificate yourself.
| Pros | Cons |
| Anytime Money Back Guarantee. Windows servers are offered in shared plans. Excellent customer service. | 99.95% uptime is not the easiest available. The registration process can be a bit complicated. Automated discount codes are confusing. |
And if you’re stuck managing your SSL security, you’re in good hands – A2 Hosting scored impressively in our research for their customer service. So if you are ever in trouble, it will calculate a quick and helpful answer.
Security Features
If you want to introduce additional features, you will purchase one of the four solutions that A2 Hosting offers in addition to its free Let’s Encrypt certificate. You will choose between:
- Single site SSL starting at $49.99 per year – basic protection
- Premium SSL starting at $79.99 per year – features for business sites.
- Wildcard SSL starts at $179.00 per year – a single certificate protects unlimited subdomains.
You buy them through A2 Hosting to keep things simple and secure, but this is often entirely optional. You will continue with the free certificate included in your plan; your choice will depend on your specific needs.
Pricing
A2 Hosting promises speed and reliability, even in its most basic shared hosting plan. Starting at $2.99/month, you get unlimited storage, free site transfer, an anytime money-back guarantee, and more!
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5. GreenGeeks
Best for Green Hosting
GreenGreeks keeps your website and, therefore, the safest environment by offering a generous 300% green web hosting match guarantee on all their plans, apart from their VPS plans.
| Pros | Cons |
| 300% Green Power Blend. 99.98% uptime. Free website transfer service. | Data centers are only in North America and the EU. No cloud or dedicated plans. No free domain. |
The green energy mix means your website will run on renewable energy, and GreenGeeks will match 3 times that usage. GreenGeeks is, without a doubt, the host that Mother Earth loves the most.
Security Features
In terms of security, GreenGeeks offers a free SSL certificate on all their shared VPS and WordPress plans (which includes WooCommerce).
More than just a huge green web hosting machine, GreenGeeks also boasts a powerful 99.98% server uptime, helping it score 4.1/5 overall in our hosting research.
Pricing
The Lite shared plan from GreenGeeks is the cheapest, beginning at $2.95/month and rolling over to $8.95/month. You’ll get unmetered bandwidth, limitless storage, free nightly backups for this amount, and 300% green power equivalents.
GreenGeeks’ pricing is fair, particularly given the number of features available. A 30-day money-back guarantee is also included with the plans.
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6. Hostinger
Best for discounted prices
Hostinger offers affordable shared and VPS hosting prices but does not offer dedicated hosting plans. Although Hostinger’s uptime and customer support aren’t as impressive as Bluehost or HostGator’s, you’ll still get an honest number of features at a huge discount.
| Pros | Cons |
| Very low promotional prices. Excellent onboarding for WordPress plans. Hosting available for Windows and Linux. | Very low promotional prices. No dedicated hosting plans. Impressive 99.90% uptime guarantee. |
Security Features
Hostinger offers a free SSL certificate on all of their shared, cloud, and WordPress plans.
Hostinger also offers a wide range of functions. On their most basic WordPress hosting plan ($1.99/month), you get 100 email accounts, access to WooCommerce, a free name, unlimited bandwidth, and much more.
Pricing
If you are trying to find a great deal on your accommodation, then Hostinger should not be discounted. It offers shared hosting from $1.99/month (which becomes $9.99/month once you renew after one year) and VPS hosting from just $3.99/month.
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7. SiteGround
Best for Reliability
You can calculate SiteGround – it turned out to be the most trusted hosting provider in our research. It’s not the most profitable host on this list, but it does offer free automated daily backups and great knowledge domain pages (plus live chat and phone support).
| Pros | Cons |
| Free automated daily backups. Automatic WordPress updates. Great Knowledge Domain Articles. | More expensive than the main competitors. HostGator has better features for “beginners”. Only ~ 10,000 visits/month on the basic plan. |
Security Features
SiteGround provides free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates with all their plans and offers Premium Wildcard and Premium SSL certificates as optional paid extras. Your free certificate will be automatically applied to your domains and will automatically renew, saving you time.
The Premium Wildcard certificate is designed for medium-sized websites, comes with free installation, and costs $90 per year through SiteGround. If you have a large business site, you may want Premium SSL, which comes with extended validation and costs $499 per year.
You can issue as many free Let’s Encrypt certificates as you want, regardless of the plan you are on; As long as you have a SiteGround account, you’re all set!
Pricing
SiteGround is officially recommended by WordPress thanks to its one-click installation and managed updates available to WordPress users. There are three WordPress-specific plans, priced between $3.99/per month & $10.69/month, and each includes free SSL, daily backups, and a free WordPress migrator.
SiteGround’s shared plans also cost between $3.99/month & $10.69/month, including WordPress-specific features, free professional email, and indeed free SSL!
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8. iPage
Best for reasonable plans but at the expense of speed
iPage doesn’t offer any discounts for non-profits, but with promotional prices starting at just $1.99/mo, you’re unlikely to miss out. iPage’s features are solid overall too:
| Pros | Cons |
| Shared strategy for a one-size-fits-all solution. Domain names are unregulated. Bandwidth that can be scaled. | VPS plans have unimpressive features. Prices after the initial release are perplexing. Bad uptime guarantee of 99.94%. |
Starting at $1.99/month, iPage only provides a “one size fits all” shared hosting package. Similar discounts with more comprehensive features are available from Hostinger, but if you prefer the simplicity of iPage’s all-in-one shared plan over several levels of shared plans with increasing rates and features, this provider is worth considering.
Security Features
A free SSL certificate is included in this shared hosting package. This is typically fairly simple, and unlike other providers, it won’t cover multiple subdomains, but it will still function. In addition, if you want a higher level of protection, you can choose from three premium SSL certificates.
All iPage hosting plans include this free basic SSL certificate, so it’s up to you if you want to pay more for those more advanced features; Either way, you’ll sleep soundly knowing your site is secure.
Pricing
IPage may only offer a shared plan, but the value depends on how long you’re willing to sign up in advance. For example, the introductory price for 3 years is $1.99/month, while a year is $2.99/month.
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9. DreamHost
Best for storage space
DreamHost may be a feature-packed provider that has free SSL certificates in its extensive toolbox. WordPress officially recommends it too, so it has that added interest for any WordPress user.
| Pros | Cons |
| Unlimited bandwidth. Storage ranges from 30GB – unlimited. 97-day money-back guarantee. | Limited support options. Unimpressive dedicated plans. Poor customization in cloud plans. |
Security Features
All DreamHost hosting plans include a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate, and two types of SSL will grow your domain: the free Let’s Encrypt SSL or the $15 per year Sectigo Verified SSL.
The main difference between them is that the payment option displays a trusted certificate seal, which makes it as obvious as possible to visitors that your website is secure. Because of this, paid SSL is often recommended for online stores.
DreamHost does not support WildCard SSL like other providers, so you would like to put separate SSL certificates for each domain and subdomain to protect them.
Pricing
So what else does DreamHost offer? For starters, it provides most types of hosting:
Their shared hosting plans are the most profitable for anyone just starting out, starting at $2.59/month. This plan gives you a free SSL certificate, as well as unlimited traffic, a free domain, and pre-installed WordPress.
If you use WordPress, the $16.95/month DreamPress plan is worth checking out; Not only does this give you daily backups and 24/7 WordPress support, but pre-installs your free SSL certificate for you!
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10. WPEngine
Best for Help and Support
WPEngine was not impressed by the maximum amount due to the other providers on this list, and you will only use it if you are hosting a WordPress site. That said, you won’t get hung up on this provider – it offers an honest range of help and support options, from live chat to 24/7 phone support.
| Pros | Cons |
| Geographically diverse server network. Automatic daily backups. Scalable features across all plans. | No promotions mean a high initial cost. Only 50 GB of bandwidth is on the essential plan. Only one site is included in the essential plan. |
Security Features
WPEngine offers free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates on all their plans!
It really is as simple as that – each of their four pricing plans includes automated SSL certificates, and you’ll easily add more if you want to hide multiple domains.
Pricing
WPEngine’s hosting plans are designed for WordPress users, starting with the $20 monthly starter plan. The expansion plan is for the next level, starting at $50.00/month. The size plan is the highest-priced plan, starting at $600.00/month.
These three plans offer you between 10GB and 50GB of storage and a bandwidth of 50GB to 500GB per month. There is also a custom pricing plan designed for large websites.
WPEngine gives you a great variety of help and support options, so if you ever get stuck along with your SSL, you’re in good hands.
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What about Let’s Encrypt?
Throughout this review, we’ve mentioned Let’s Encrypt on different occasions, so let’s quickly take a look at what makes this initiative work.
What Is Let’s Encrypt?
Let’s Encrypt can be a free, automated certificate authority with the goal of making the Internet a safer place. That’s why it gives people free SSL certificates with which to encrypt their sites in an easy-to-use way.
You can get your SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt yourself, so you don’t need to believe your hosting provider.
There are several types of SSL, but the main three are:
- Domain Validation (DV) is a protection level that is considered standard.
- Organization Validation (OV) is a protection level that is intermediate.
- Extended Validation (EV) is a high-security level.
Only DV certificates are available from Let’s Encrypt. These are reliable, secure, and straightforward, but not in a negative way! They will safeguard your website and encrypt any data being processed.
However, Let’s Encrypt is not the most convenient choice if you want more advanced protections.
Is Let’s Encrypt Right For Me?
If you are running a web store or processing highly confidential information, then you will need a personal SSL, which Let’s Encrypt cannot provide.
As you have seen, you will typically purchase these advanced SSL certificates directly from your hosting provider, which will make your life a lot easier!
Let’s Encrypt gives you the level of quality security that your site needs. Many hosting providers offer free SSL encryption as part of their hosting plans, so you don’t have to worry about getting it yourself.
Summary
This article has taken you through the best providers offering free SSL certificates and illuminated web security’s dark corners.
Top 10 Best Free SSL Hosting Companies
- Bluehost – Best Overall Hosting Provider.
- HostGator – Best for Uptime.
- InMotion – Best for Shared and VPS Hosting.
- A2 Hosting – Best for Cloud Hosting.
- GreenGeeks – Best for Green Hosting.
- Hostinger – Best for discounted prices.
- SiteGround – Best for Reliability.
- iPage – Best for reasonable plans, but at the expense of speed.
- DreamHost – Best for storage space.
- WPEngine – Best for Help and Support.
If you can’t pick a provider, if you value support and uptime equally, for example, Bluehost is the most comprehensive host available. We recommend Bluehost because it is the best free SSL host for many websites.
Don’t leave your website calling cold, unprotected, and alone; Choose one of these hosting providers and give your site the nice and welcoming glow of a new SSL certificate today.
FAQ’s
Are Free SSL Certificates Secure Enough?
There are unreliable and unofficial SSL certificate providers that you should not trust to provide you with secure SSL. However, as long as you select a long-standing and reliable provider, such as Let’s Encrypt, Cloudflare, or any of the hosting providers on our list, a free SSL is often relied upon to keep your site secure.
What type of SSL is best for your websites?
A domain validation (DV) certificate is the most basic type of SSL and is what you get for free. This is usually fine for many websites but is not recommended for commercial or e-commerce sites. For even more advanced security, you will need a corporate validation (OV) or an extended validation (EV) certificate.
How long do SSL certificates last?
This will depend on the provider you select. Most SSL certificates are charged annually, but others, like SiteGround, are renewed every three months. Automatic Renewal can be a great option to confirm that your site always remains protected, so you don’t need to worry about doing it manually.
What is the process for installing an SSL certificate on my website?
The majority of hosting companies will set up your free SSL certificate for you. For example, Bluehost can install and trigger your SSL certificate via Let’s Encrypt without any effort on your part, while SSL is activated by default on all HostGator sites. Installation is normally included in the price when you upgrade to a more advanced SSL license.
What if my website doesn’t have an SSL certificate?
You will be missing a crucial trust signal for your visitors, suggesting that you will lose visitors (and sales if you have an e-commerce store). You won’t be trustworthy in Google’s eyes either, which suggests a decrease in rankings and traffic. Worse still, your visitors are at a higher risk of having their data stolen if your site doesn’t have SSL.
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