6 + 5 Best Free SSL Providers For WordPress You Must Know

As Google forces you to get “HTTPS”, Do you wonder, “How to get a free SSL certificate for my website?” If so, then this post will help you find the best one! 

I have already insisted my blog readers get the SSL certificate by explaining its basics and benefits, and I keep getting messages about some of the free trusted SSL certificate providers. Thus, I have decided to craft this post. 

Earlier, only e-commerce websites were supposed to use SSL or HTTPs to ensure secure processing of payment transactions

However, that changed with time, and today, you can witness a shift towards HTTPs even for regular niche blogs and small business websites.

Privacy is a huge concern for internet users today!

While visiting a blog/site or submitting a form online, a user needs assurance that all the data submitted remains safe.

Even Google understands this concern; hence, the most popular search engine on the web has added SSL certificate as one of the ranking factors.

Not only it boost your ranking in Google, but installing the SSL certificate has also several other benefits, let me talk about them!

Benefits Of Getting an SSL Certificate

Using an SSL or HTTPs on your domain has many advantages, even if you are not processing any payments through your website.

Here are some benefits of adding an SSL certificate to your domain as follows:

1. Increases The Credibility Of Your Site/Blog

HTTPs add a layer of trust and credibility. The green padlock ensures the modern-day user can safely and securely access the site.

2. Protects Sensitive Data Such As Passwords

Accessing any HTTPs website ensures that user’s data isn’t compromised.

3. Future Proofing As SSL Is Becoming A Trend

It’s a growing trend, and there’s no denying that you may eventually fall behind when you don’t follow the positive trend.

4. SEO advantage

Google has officially declared that HTTPs is considered a ranking signal, which means that adding SSL to your WordPress blog will ensure some boost in rankings.

How To Add Free SSL To WordPress Site?

Adding SSL on a website or blog was a headache earlier, but with WordPress and the new players in the industry, the whole process of taking your blog from HTTP to HTTPs is simplified.

You don’t require ultra-technical skills to set up HTTPs for your blog. Also, there’s no need to invest a lump sum amount to get the SSL certificate either.

There are plenty of ways that you can try to get SSL on your WordPress blog for free.

Yes!

Getting a free SSL certificate for WordPress has become easier today!

You may go to either Free SSL providers or the hosting company that offers the SSL certificate for free. 

Top Free SSL Providers

Let’s check out some legit free SSL certificate generator sites to get the job done easily.  

1. Let’s Encrypt

Let’s Encrypt is currently the best free SSL provider, and it is gaining popularity daily.

The popularity of Let’s Encrypt can be gauged by top hosting providers today, offering free SSL for every domain hosted via Let’s Encrypt.

Let’s Encrypt is an open-source, automated, and open certificate authority provided by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG).

You can either choose a web host from the list of hosting companies having Let’s Encrypt SSL integrated within their set up.

Else, you can also try the manual method if your hosting provider doesn’t support Let’s Encrypt for now.

2. WoSign

WoSign is another free option that you can try to get an SSL certificate. To enable SSL on your domain via WoSign requires no code at all.

The free SSL certificate provided by WoSign is a fully functional Domain name validation SSL certificate issued by the root named “WoSign CA SSL Certificate”.

While you can set up SSL on multiple domains at a nominal fee of $1.99 per year for each domain, you can get the first SSL for free.

The automated SSL setup is currently under development, but you can always sign up with WoSign and install your free SSL using the instructions here.

3. SSL For Free

SSL For Free uses Let’s Encrypt to provide free SSL through domain validation. With SSL for Free, you can set up SSL for your domain within minutes. Verify your domain via FTP, File Upload, or DNS.

Adding a text record or uploading a text file are the best ways to verify the domain, as providing FTP credentials can be risky. Try it now if you want a faster way to add SSL to your domain.

4. Open SSL

As the name suggests, OpenSSL is an open-source SSL provider offering a secure, commercial-grade, highly functional toolkit for SSL protocols.

Being licensed under an Apache-style license, you can use OpenSSL for commercial and non-commercial reasons until you follow the simple license conditions.

You can find all downloads and installation guidelines over here for OpenSSL.

5. CA Cert

CA Cert is an open-source Certificate Authority that serves its community with free SSL. The whole idea behind the CA Cert is to raise awareness for computer and internet security and push the community towards the use of encryption technology.

The certificates provided by CA Cert can be either used to digitally sign or encrypt emails or authenticate users connecting to websites and ensure secure data transmission. Register and join the community to get the free certificates offered at CA Cert.

6. CloudFlare Free SSL

There’s another simpler option for those who don’t wish to go through the hassle of downloading and setting SSL on their domains or servers. Using this option, you can hit the two birds with a stone.

CDN services can help speed up your content delivery to the end users via peer-to-peer cache storage on different servers owned or managed by the CDN provider. Cloudflare is one of the leading CDN providers offering a free plan.

You can register with CloudFlare, set up CDN on your domain, and use their Free SSL service without any coding or setup required.

You need to install and activate the WordPress plugin offered by CloudFlare or in the WP repository to activate SSL for your WordPress site.

Best Web Hosting Companies That Offer Free SSL Certificate 

As explained earlier, many web hosting companies offer Free SSL for either all domains or a single domain hosted on their servers.

The best part about using such a service is the assurance that the hosting company will handle the complete setup.

Look at the excellent web hosting services for WordPress and try to register with any of them to enjoy free SSL service.

1. Cloudways

Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform with managed hosting solutions from Digital Ocean, Amazon Web Server, and Google Cloud.

Cloudways helps you manage your cloud hosting via a user-friendly interface. With built-in applications support, you can easily set up WordPress or any other applications you need.

It has also integrated Let’s Encrypt within its ecosystem to help users add free SSL to their domain. I would say that this cloud hosting is a great platform if you have no experience with server management.

If you want a cloud VPS for your WordPress blog with SSL support, choose CloudWays and opt for Digital Ocean hosting. It’s simple, easy, and quite cheaper than others.

2. BlueHost

BlueHost is undoubtedly one of the premier and renowned hosting companies across the web today.

It’s one of the most sought-after shared hosting providers, and many fresh and established bloggers opt for BlueHost as their reliable hosting partner.

If that’s not enough, you can also activate the free SSL BlueHost offers for all WordPress sites hosted on their server.

Remember that it will work only for a hosting plan with a cPanel. If you already have one, simply follow the instructions to activate free SSL on your WordPress blog.

3. SiteGround

SiteGround may be a bit more expensive than the other hosting providers on the list. However, considering the security elements and reliability factor, SiteGround hosting is one of the best hosting services for WordPress, and it is worth every dime.

With unlimited Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates, you can get free SSL on all your domains hosted on SiteGround. It is also easy to set up and activate on your domain, thanks to the user-friendly interface offered by SiteGround.

4. A2Hosting

A2Hosting is a recent entry in the web hosting industry but it has gained wide popularity over the years, offering tough competition to the big players as it is one of the leading green web hosting providers. 

The main reason why many bloggers and digital marketers choose A2Hosting could be the free SSL support it offers for each affordable hosting plan.

5. WPX Hosting

If you’re a prolific blogger or a serious business owner who owns a WordPress site, then your hosting choice should be WPX Hosting. It is previously called “Traffic Planet Hosting“

The company offers fast-managed hosting for WordPress with remarkable features to skyrocket the SEO of your site. This high-performance hosting service provides a Free SSL certificate for its clients. 

Note: If you are signing up for a new host, make sure that you check for the free SSL or it is paid.

Bonus Free SSL Resource (ServerPilot)

If you want to host your WordPress and other PHP websites on cloud servers at DigitalOcean, Linode, Rackspace, or anywhere else, then you have a great option – ServerPilot

This server management software offers the fastest, easiest, and most secure control panel to host the PHP application on any cloud service provider. 

Recently, it has become the official sponsor of Let’s Encrypt Free SSL. They have launched AutoSSL through Let’s Encrypt integration with one-click SSL deployment. 

How To Redirect HTTP To HTTPs After Installing SSL Certificate?

What should do after installing the SSL certificate for WordPress?

Well, getting an SSL certificate isn’t enough. If you are integrating SSL on an existing WordPress blog, then chances are that Google and other search engines will index your blog as HTTP.

The first step you need to take after activating SSL is to redirect HTTP to HTTPs for your domain. You can easily do that by simply following these methods.

1. Via Settings Page On WordPress Dashboard

First and foremost, go to Settings > General on your blog’s WP dashboard.

Change the WordPress and Site addresses to your HTTPs URL and save the changes.

2. Via .htaccess File

You can also redirect HTTP to HTTPs by editing your .htaccess file. You can edit this file using the Yoast SEO plugin or manually via the FTP connection.

To add the redirect, all you need is to add the following code either at the beginning or end of the .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [R=301,L]    

Once the code is added, your blog will be automatically redirected to the HTTPs URL even if someone tries to access the HTTP URL.

3. Via Plugin

If you want to ensure that your WordPress blog is redirected from HTTP to HTTPs, then you can also use the WordPress plugin called Really Simple SSL.

If you already have an active SSL certificate configured on your domain, you can redirect all the HTTP requests to HTTPs and configure your WordPress blog to run over HTTPs with a single click.

But wait. You still need to update all the URLs, such as internal links, images, etc., as HTTPs within your blog. You can use WordPress plugins like Better Search Replace or Velvet Blues Update URLs.

These plugins can search for the old HTTP URL within your database and replace it with the new HTTPs URL.

Using these plugins, you can search and replace or update anything, such as text, URL, change of path, etc..

Over To You!

That’s it! Website Security Certificate is essential to stay authoritative in the eyes of search engines and clients. 

Yes, an SSL certificate is important for every website, as Google considers HTTPs as a ranking signal. Try any of the above methods to activate SSL on your WordPress blog.

You can choose from the free SSL providers for WordPress or buy any hosting plan offering free SSL.

Also, it is important to test your domain for active SSL by using this online SSL checker tool to ensure that HTTPs is configured on your WordPress blog.

I hope you have learned how to get an SSL certificate for free and from trusted resources. So, are you ready to move your site to “HTTPS”?

From where would you like to install the security certificate? Share your viewpoints in the comment section.