It depends on the level of certification done. If you are getting a regular SSL cert you only need to prove ownership of the domain, which can be automated easi

It depends on the level of certification done. If you are getting a regular SSL cert you only need to prove ownership of the domain, which can be automated easily and requires no human work. However EV(Extended Validation)[0] certificates involve a lot more due diligence on the part of the issuer. EV certs require validation of the legal entity behind the domain and this is requires work to be done by a human. AFAIK the cost of previous SSL certs have been largely artificial. Obviously running servers and paying staff to keep an automated process in place isn't free, but I recon the cost has always been inflated quite a bit. There's also an artificial scarcity introduced because not everyone can start a CA and getting a root certificated trusted is non trivial. Let's Encrypt is sponsored so they do make some money, but this allows them to issue certs for free. 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_Validation_Certificate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_Validation_Certificat...