{"id":1225,"date":"2019-12-17T03:04:22","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T11:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/?p=1225"},"modified":"2021-02-24T03:23:14","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T11:23:14","slug":"multi-domain-and-wildcard-ssl-whats-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/multi-domain-and-wildcard-ssl-whats-the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Multi-Domain and Wildcard SSL: what\u2019s the&nbsp;difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">Quite a few people get confused between two types of SSL Certificates \u2014 Multi-Domain and Wildcard. This blog will clear things up for you.<\/pre>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<\/p>\n<h2>Multi-Domain SSL Certificates<\/h2>\n<p>This option is for people who have a number of websites with different top level domains. For example, chairs.com, hats.inc, and shoes.co.uk. They can also cover subdomains, like news.chairs.com, charity.hats.inc, recruitment.shoes.co.uk.<\/p>\n<p>It makes sense to get a single SSL that covers all your domains\/subdomains, instead of buying, validating, activating, installing and renewing a Certificate for each host name. Much less of a hassle.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll get SSL cover for 3 domains \/ subdomains in the default package, plus you can add up to 97 more domains \/ subdomains for a small extra fee, at any time during the lifespan of the Certificate. So that\u2019s 100 domains \/ subdomains in total.<\/p>\n<p>As a bit of background, Multi-Domain SSLs are also known as SAN. This is short for the Subject Alternative Names field in the Certificate that covers the domains.<\/p>\n<p>There are 4 types to choose from:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>PositiveSSL Multi-Domain<\/strong> \u2014 low cost, basic SSL with low assurance, Domain Validation (the Certificate Authority just checks you have admin access to the domain), and $10k warranty.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Multi-Domain SSL<\/strong> \u2014 mid-range SSL with medium assurance, Organization Validation (the Certificate Authority checks your business is verified in a public listing), and $250k warranty.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Unified Communications<\/strong> \u2014 mid-range SSL with medium assurance, Organization Validation (the Certificate Authority checks your business is verified in a public listing), and $250k warranty. Designed specifically for Microsoft Exchange 2010 upwards and Microsoft Office Communication Server 2007 environments.<\/li>\n<li><strong>EV Multi-Domain<\/strong> \u2014 top-range SSL with high assurance, Extended Validation (the Certificate Authority checks your business is verified in a public listing and is officially registered with your local government), plus $1M warranty.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Wildcard SSL Certificates<\/h2>\n<p>This option covers a single top level domain, plus an unlimited number of subdomains. So an example would be mybrand.com plus press.mybrand.com, charity.mybrand.com, recruitment.mybrand.com, development.mybrand.com, etc.<\/p>\n<p>Google treats subdomains as separate entities. Some of the main reasons organisations use them are for different divisions, separate platforms under a single brand, or for IT reasons. Disney is an example of a company that loves subdomains, because each one has a very different function e.g. disneyparks.disney.com, princess.disney.com.<\/p>\n<p>So if your have or plan on a number of subdomains as you grow your brand, it makes sense to get a single SSL that covers all subdomains under one umbrella. It will be much cheaper and easier than buying a Certificate for each subdomain.<\/p>\n<p>There are 3 types to choose from:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>PositiveSSL Wildcard<\/strong> \u2014 low cost, basic SSL with low assurance, Domain Validation, and $10k warranty.<\/li>\n<li><strong>EssentialSSL Wildcard<\/strong> \u2014 mid-range SSL with medium assurance, Domain Validation, and $10k warranty.<\/li>\n<li><strong>PremiumSSL Wildcard<\/strong> \u2014 top-range SSL with high assurance, Organization Validation, and $250k warranty.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Wrap Up<\/h3>\n<p>Both Multi-Domain and Wildcard SSL Certificates are much less of a hassle, and much more cost effective because they cover many online platforms under a single roof. Compared to buying, validating, activating, installing and renewing a Certificate for each platform, they\u2019re a no-brainer.<\/p>\n<p>The difference between the two is that Multi-Domain SSLs cover up to 100 top level domains. They can cover subdomains too, but if you only have one brand (top level domain) and lots of subdomains, then a Wildcard SSL is your go-to. Wildcards are all about unlimited subdomains. So your choice comes down to the type of domains you\u2019re looking to protect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Quite a few people get confused between two types of SSL Certificates \u2014 Multi-Domain and Wildcard. This blog will clear things up for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Multi-Domain and Wildcard SSL: what\u2019s the difference? | SSLs.com Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Quite a few people get confused between two types of SSL Certificates \u2014 Multi-Domain and Wildcard. This blog will clear things up for you. Multi-Domain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/multi-domain-and-wildcard-ssl-whats-the-difference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Multi-Domain and Wildcard SSL: what\u2019s the difference? | SSLs.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Quite a few people get confused between two types of SSL Certificates \u2014 Multi-Domain and Wildcard. This blog will clear things up for you. 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