DigiCert is one of the world's largest enterprise certificate authorities with ~35% market share, serving 80%+ of the Fortune 100. It offers DV/OV/EV SSL/TLS certificates, code signing, and PKI solutions, known for its powerful CertCentral management platform and API automation.

Strengths and Features

✅ One of the world's largest enterprise certificate authorities, ~35% market share, serving 80%+ of the Fortune 100
✅ DV certificates issued in minutes, OV in 1-3 business days, EV in 1-5 business days; wildcard and multi-domain SAN supported
✅ CertCentral management platform provides full lifecycle management (1 platform) with API automation and bulk certificate operations
✅ Acquired Symantec CA (Thawte, GeoTrust) in 2017, offering the most complete certificate product portfolio including SSL, code signing, document signing, and email certificates
⚠️ Pricing far exceeds Let's Encrypt (free) and Sectigo (mid-range); single OV certificate $200-$800/year, EV $500-$1,500/year
⚠️ Renewal process requires human intervention and cannot be fully automated; high operational cost for large-scale deployments
⚠️ CertCentral management console is feature-dense with a steep learning curve; basic operations require training

Product Information

Category Security

Tags HTTPS Encryption EV SSL SSL Certificate Certificate Authority OV SSL Wildcard SSL Code Signing Enterprise SSL Global Trust DigiCert Brand PKI Solutions DigiCert SSL CertCentral

Company digicert

Service Region United States

Official Website https://www.digicert.com

Recommendation Score 5 pts

Published 2026-08-09

Detailed Notes

Overview

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Lehi, Utah, USA, DigiCert is one of the world's largest enterprise SSL certificate authorities. In 2017, DigiCert acquired Symantec's CA business (including Thawte and GeoTrust), further cementing its leadership in the enterprise certificate market. DigiCert holds WebTrust certification, with root certificates pre-installed in all major browsers and operating systems.

DigiCert serves over 80% of Fortune 100 companies across finance, healthcare, government, and other highly regulated industries. Its CertCentral platform integrates certificate discovery, enrollment, deployment, renewal, and revocation into a unified lifecycle management workflow, with REST API and ACME protocol support for automation.

Key Strengths

Leading Enterprise Market Share: ~35% share of the global enterprise SSL certificate market, with even higher penetration among Fortune 500 companies. CertCentral supports bulk management of 10,000+ certificates, ideal for security-focused mid-to-large organizations.
Comprehensive Product Portfolio: DV, OV, and EV SSL/TLS certificates, code signing certificates, document signing certificates, S/MIME email certificates, IoT device certificates, and managed PKI services. See CDN and SSL/TLS configuration best practices for guidance.
Powerful CertCentral Platform: Unified certificate lifecycle management, automated discovery and deployment, compliance audit reports, role-based access control, and integrated APIs. Works with monitoring and alerting systems for certificate expiry warnings.
Industry Compliance Certifications: WebTrust for CA, ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II, FIPS 140-2, and more, meeting the compliance needs of finance, healthcare, and government sectors.
Post-Symantec Brand Portfolio: Integrates Thawte and GeoTrust brands, offering differentiated pricing and features across entry-level to ultra-premium market segments.

Product Ecosystem

CertCentral Management Platform

CertCentral provides unified certificate lifecycle management: automatic discovery of deployed certificates across the network, centralized enrollment and approval workflows, automated deployment to Apache, Nginx, IIS, Tomcat and other servers, expiry alerts and auto-renewal, and compliance audit reporting. For organizations managing hundreds to thousands of certificates, CertCentral significantly reduces operational complexity.

Code Signing & Document Signing

DigiCert offers code signing certificates (Microsoft Authenticode, Java JAR, Adobe AIR, macOS app signing) and document signing certificates (Adobe PDF, Microsoft Office document signing). Code signing supports hardware token (USB Token) or cloud-hosted private key modes for different security requirements.

IoT Device Certificates

DigiCert IoT provides large-scale device identity management supporting MQTT, TLS mutual authentication, and other protocols for manufacturing, connected vehicles, and smart home applications. Device certificates can be bulk-issued and managed via CertCentral's API.

Limitations

Premium Pricing: DigiCert's pricing targets enterprise customers. Single OV certificates range $200-$800/year, EV certificates $500-$1,500/year, which may exceed budgets of individual site owners and small businesses. Budget-conscious teams may consider Sectigo or Let's Encrypt.
Manual Renewal Process: Despite ACME protocol support, OV/EV certificate renewals still require human verification steps and cannot be fully unattended like Let's Encrypt. Large environments should leverage CertCentral's bulk operations.
CertCentral Learning Curve: The management console is feature-rich but complex. New users need time to familiarize themselves with navigation and workflows. See CDN and SSL/TLS configuration best practices for guidance.
No Free Tier: DigiCert does not offer free certificates. For basic encryption needs, Let's Encrypt or ZeroSSL's free plans are more suitable.

Use Cases

Large Enterprise Websites (★★★★★): OV/EV certificates showcase organizational identity and build user trust, managed via CertCentral at scale.
E-commerce & Financial Platforms (★★★★★): EV certificates display the green address bar with organization name, boosting conversion rates and customer confidence by 5-15%.
Code Signing & Software Distribution (★★★★★): Code signing certificates are mandatory for Windows and macOS application distribution; DigiCert is the market leader in this space.
Compliance-Sensitive Industries (★★★★): Healthcare, finance, and government require WebTrust and ISO certifications; DigiCert offers the most comprehensive compliance credentials.
Personal Websites/Blogs (★★): Overpriced for basic needs. Choose Let's Encrypt free certificates or Sectigo budget DV certificates instead.

Pricing

Certificate Type	Annual Price Range	Issuance Time	Best For
DV SSL	$50-$150	Minutes	Personal websites, testing
OV SSL	$200-$800	1-3 business days	Business websites, commercial
EV SSL	$500-$1,500	1-5 business days	E-commerce, finance, government
Wildcard SSL	$300-$1,200	1-3 business days	Multi-subdomain protection
Code Signing	$200-$600	1-3 business days	Software distribution signing

Note: Prices vary by reseller and promotional offers. Contact DigiCert or authorized partners for current quotes.

FAQ

What's the difference between DigiCert and Let's Encrypt? DigiCert is an enterprise-grade CA offering OV/EV certificates and code signing with comprehensive features but higher pricing. Let's Encrypt is a free DV-only CA for basic encryption, suitable for personal sites. See CDN and SSL/TLS configuration best practices.
Is DigiCert EV certificate worth the cost? For e-commerce, financial services, and SaaS platforms requiring high user trust, EV certificates can improve checkout conversion rates by 5-15% through the green address bar display—see the website security checklist.
Can CertCentral manage existing certificates? Yes. CertCentral's certificate discovery feature can automatically scan your network for deployed DigiCert and third-party certificates, enabling unified management—see CDN and SSL/TLS configuration best practices.
Does DigiCert support the ACME protocol? Yes. DigiCert ACME service supports automated enrollment and renewal for DV and some OV certificates, compatible with Certbot, acme.sh, and other ACME clients—see CDN and SSL/TLS configuration best practices.

Visit DigiCert SSL Website →