Let's Encrypt
Free, automated TLS certificates for a more secure web
About Let's Encrypt
Let's Encrypt is a nonprofit Certificate Authority providing free TLS certificates to over 700 million websites. By automating the issuance and renewal process, it makes HTTPS encryption accessible to everyone, enhancing web security and privacy. Backed by the Internet Security Research Group, Let's Encrypt operates on principles of transparency, cooperation, and open standards to create a safer internet for all.
FAQ
Let’s Encrypt is a global Certificate Authority (CA) that lets people and organizations obtain, renew, and manage SSL/TLS certificates. Their certificates enable secure HTTPS connections for websites and can be used by web servers, mail servers, FTP servers, and more.
Yes, Let’s Encrypt does not charge a fee for its certificates. It is a nonprofit organization funded by sponsors, grantmakers, and individuals. However, some integrators like hosting providers may charge a nominal fee for administrative and management costs.
Let’s Encrypt provides extensive documentation and active community support forums. Direct support is not offered due to limited staff, but the community often answers common questions efficiently.
Let’s Encrypt certificates are valid for 90 days by default. There are also short-lived certificates valid for six days. Renewal is recommended every 60 days for 90-day certificates and every three days for six-day certificates.
Yes, Let’s Encrypt issues wildcard certificates, but they must use the DNS-01 challenge for validation. More technical details are available in their documentation.
Yes, you can use an existing private key or Certificate Signing Request (CSR), but not all ACME clients support this feature. Certbot, for example, does support it.
This happens because Let’s Encrypt validates domain control from multiple network perspectives and submits certificates to Certificate Transparency (CT) logs. Automated CT crawling bots then discover and access your domain, generating traffic.
Let’s Encrypt recommends randomizing renewal times to avoid traffic spikes at specific times, such as midnight UTC. This helps prevent unnecessary retries when the service is busy.
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