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I've used StartSSL in the past. I will never do so again. Yes, the certs are free, and yes, they work in all common browsers. But the process of obtaining th

I've used StartSSL in the past. I will never do so again. Yes, the certs are free, and yes, they work in all common browsers. But the process of obtaining them is a horror of Lovecraftian proportions. I'll happily pay a few dollars to Namecheap to be able to avoid the nightmare that is StartSSL's UI.

saberworks 15y ago
This hasn't been my experience. Their web site is ugly and lame but once you're logged in it's about a 3-step process to apply for the cert. Both times I was emailed within 10 minutes that my cert was ready, and it works fine.
- mmastrac 15y ago
  I'll just chime in saying that my experience was smooth like this. I'd use them in the future myself.
  - niels 15y ago
    Also worked super for us. Getting the cert. was a smooth process.
aiurtourist 15y ago
I second this experience, and "Lovecraftian" is indeed an excellent way to describe it. It's not just that the process was difficult, it's that my confidence dwindled through every strange and baffling step. Since you mentioned paying "a few dollars" to Namecheap, can you comment on the feasibility of their $8.95 "PositiveSSL" certificate? ( http://www.namecheap.com/ssl-certificates/comodo.aspx http://www.namecheap.com/ssl-certificates/comodo.aspx )
- ohgodthecat 15y ago
  Can you extrapolate on what you mean by feasibility, I use positive SSL on a few domains it works fine with no issues and isn't that hard to setup (basically you just need to be able to receive email on your domain).
- foobarbazetc 15y ago
  The best (in terms of browser compatibility) cheap cert that Namecheap sell is the RapidSSL cert at http://www.namecheap.com/ssl-certificates/geotrust-ssl-certificates.aspx http://www.namecheap.com/ssl-certificates/geotrust-ssl-certi...
  - moe 15y ago
    Be aware though that GeoTrust and Thawte certs don't work[1] on android devices. There are claims that it can be fixed by adding a cross-root cert[2] but for me that didn't work out. More generally: If you need to support mobile devices then read your CA's compatibility list closely (if you can find it...) and test, test, test. You'd think this shouldn't be an issue anymore in 2012, but it sadly still is. [1] http://www.zimbra.com/forums/administrators/44675-new-geotrust-ssl-certificates-android-users.html http://www.zimbra.com/forums/administrators/44675-new-geotru... [2] https://support.servertastic.com/entries/426677-rapidssl-and-geotrust-certificate-not-trusted-on-mobile-device https://support.servertastic.com/entries/426677-rapidssl-and...
    - yuhong 15y ago
      More precisely, older Android devices.
      - moe 15y ago
        Not really. We've had the issues on Froyo devices, too...
        yuhong 15y ago
        I read it is pre-2.3 devices.
        xxqs 15y ago
        on my 2.3 android phone, I have this problem with a Comodo cheap certificate
- xxqs 15y ago
  I have a Comodo certificate purchased through cheapssl.com. There is one problem: some older android 2.3 phones don't recognize it as valid and refuse to download any non-html data files.
  - xxqs 15y ago
    fixed it by installing the intermediate chain on my server
moonlighter 15y ago
Not my experience at all. It's easy and straightforward (really takes less than 10 mins). I have a bunch of startSSL certs in use. Before I started using startSSL certs I used Thawte certs. Dealing with Thawte was HORRIBLE, these guys are extremely pushy (their sales reps repeatedly called me at home to 'convince' me I really should renew my certificates with them and wouldn't take no for an answer). Contrast that with startSSL where I had some questions and Eddy Nigg personally replied within minutes. In summary, I highly recommend giving startSSL a shot.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- hmottestad 15y ago
  I also found startSSL to be fine. It's not the most user friendly of websites, but by no means horrible. I can see why you may want something simpler if you need 10+ certificates, but if you just want to set up SSL for something then startSSL is fine.
dikbrouwer 15y ago
I find their service excellent. The website doesn't have the latest hip look, but the service is solid, and they are very responsive and helpful in case you run into an issue. For a free service, that's impressive.
- blibble 15y ago
  their support is excellent too, I've had Eddy Nigg (the founder) respond to emails within 10 minutes on several occasions.
  - moonlighter 15y ago
    My experience too. Excellent service and very fast turn-around.
dikbrouwer 15y ago
I find their service excellent. The website doesn't have the latest hip look, but the service is solid, and they are very responsive and helpful in case you run into an issue. For a free service, that's impressive.
taa 15y ago
We tried them but had to change to a different vendor because the Blackberries didn't recognize their certificates and they had no plans to rectify that. We don't have much BB traffic, but didn't want to exclude BB users just because we wanted to be cheap.
brdrak 15y ago
I disagree also. Their process is fine with me and very quick. I haven't had to contact them in a while, but when I did, got fast, intelligent response. StartCom/StartSSL is a breath of fresh air.
mike-cardwell 15y ago
The only complication is the fact that they use client side SSL certificates for authentication. I don't know of any other site which does this. Although I like that they're dog fooding, it probably would have been better if they'd stuck with a traditional username/password/cookie scheme for logging in, from a business/usability perspective.
- DEinspanjer 15y ago
  It confused me a lot because I used to have an old username/password account with them and when I tried to sign in and got a very generic SSL error from Firefox. That said, once I registered with a new account, the client certificate worked great.
- lloeki 15y ago
  > I don't know of any other site which does this. CACert does.

saberworks 15y ago

This hasn't been my experience. Their web site is ugly and lame but once you're logged in it's about a 3-step process to apply for the cert. Both times I was emailed within 10 minutes that my cert was ready, and it works fine.

mmastrac 15y ago
I'll just chime in saying that my experience was smooth like this. I'd use them in the future myself.
- niels 15y ago
  Also worked super for us. Getting the cert. was a smooth process.

aiurtourist 15y ago

I second this experience, and "Lovecraftian" is indeed an excellent way to describe it. It's not just that the process was difficult, it's that my confidence dwindled through every strange and baffling step. Since you mentioned paying "a few dollars" to Namecheap, can you comment on the feasibility of their $8.95 "PositiveSSL" certificate? ( http://www.namecheap.com/ssl-certificates/comodo.aspx http://www.namecheap.com/ssl-certificates/comodo.aspx )

ohgodthecat 15y ago
Can you extrapolate on what you mean by feasibility, I use positive SSL on a few domains it works fine with no issues and isn't that hard to setup (basically you just need to be able to receive email on your domain).
foobarbazetc 15y ago
The best (in terms of browser compatibility) cheap cert that Namecheap sell is the RapidSSL cert at http://www.namecheap.com/ssl-certificates/geotrust-ssl-certificates.aspx http://www.namecheap.com/ssl-certificates/geotrust-ssl-certi...
- moe 15y ago
  Be aware though that GeoTrust and Thawte certs don't work[1] on android devices. There are claims that it can be fixed by adding a cross-root cert[2] but for me that didn't work out. More generally: If you need to support mobile devices then read your CA's compatibility list closely (if you can find it...) and test, test, test. You'd think this shouldn't be an issue anymore in 2012, but it sadly still is. [1] http://www.zimbra.com/forums/administrators/44675-new-geotrust-ssl-certificates-android-users.html http://www.zimbra.com/forums/administrators/44675-new-geotru... [2] https://support.servertastic.com/entries/426677-rapidssl-and-geotrust-certificate-not-trusted-on-mobile-device https://support.servertastic.com/entries/426677-rapidssl-and...
  - yuhong 15y ago
    More precisely, older Android devices.
    - moe 15y ago
      Not really. We've had the issues on Froyo devices, too...
      - yuhong 15y ago
        I read it is pre-2.3 devices.
        xxqs 15y ago
        on my 2.3 android phone, I have this problem with a Comodo cheap certificate
xxqs 15y ago
I have a Comodo certificate purchased through cheapssl.com. There is one problem: some older android 2.3 phones don't recognize it as valid and refuse to download any non-html data files.
- xxqs 15y ago
  fixed it by installing the intermediate chain on my server

moonlighter 15y ago

Not my experience at all. It's easy and straightforward (really takes less than 10 mins). I have a bunch of startSSL certs in use. Before I started using startSSL certs I used Thawte certs. Dealing with Thawte was HORRIBLE, these guys are extremely pushy (their sales reps repeatedly called me at home to 'convince' me I really should renew my certificates with them and wouldn't take no for an answer). Contrast that with startSSL where I had some questions and Eddy Nigg personally replied within minutes. In summary, I highly recommend giving startSSL a shot.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
hmottestad 15y ago
I also found startSSL to be fine. It's not the most user friendly of websites, but by no means horrible. I can see why you may want something simpler if you need 10+ certificates, but if you just want to set up SSL for something then startSSL is fine.

dikbrouwer 15y ago

I find their service excellent. The website doesn't have the latest hip look, but the service is solid, and they are very responsive and helpful in case you run into an issue. For a free service, that's impressive.

blibble 15y ago
their support is excellent too, I've had Eddy Nigg (the founder) respond to emails within 10 minutes on several occasions.
- moonlighter 15y ago
  My experience too. Excellent service and very fast turn-around.

dikbrouwer 15y ago

taa 15y ago

We tried them but had to change to a different vendor because the Blackberries didn't recognize their certificates and they had no plans to rectify that. We don't have much BB traffic, but didn't want to exclude BB users just because we wanted to be cheap.

brdrak 15y ago

I disagree also. Their process is fine with me and very quick. I haven't had to contact them in a while, but when I did, got fast, intelligent response. StartCom/StartSSL is a breath of fresh air.

mike-cardwell 15y ago

The only complication is the fact that they use client side SSL certificates for authentication. I don't know of any other site which does this. Although I like that they're dog fooding, it probably would have been better if they'd stuck with a traditional username/password/cookie scheme for logging in, from a business/usability perspective.

DEinspanjer 15y ago
It confused me a lot because I used to have an old username/password account with them and when I tried to sign in and got a very generic SSL error from Firefox. That said, once I registered with a new account, the client certificate worked great.
lloeki 15y ago
> I don't know of any other site which does this. CACert does.