this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2026
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I know that I can simply make my own private certificate authority that only I and my family trust. But is there some public provider like letsencrypt that is in a free-er part of the world than the US?

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[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 20 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (2 children)

This is why I never even started using Letsencrypt; looking at the fine print, you actually enter into some kind of contract with some US entity, which I don't want even if it's the coolest of all FOSS foundations.

Here's a site that has some info:
https://www.eurotoolkit.eu/categories/certificate-authority-ca
I have used certum.pl for years and it looks like I might go back to them soon because my VPS provider doesn't offer bundled certs anymore.

I used to pay €40/year iirc.
I suspect it's gotten more expensive though.

edit:
oh looks like ZeroSSL are doing it letsencrypt-style with Acme protocol for €0.

edit2:
No, not more expensive. Some of the providers in the above link are labyrinthine and I couldn't even find a Pricing section - usually a sign that it's too expensive at least for a normal consumer - but others offer yearly certs for as little as €30 (taxes not included).

edit3:
Yeah some people are going to have a hard time accepting that a contract with a for-profit company under EU jurisdiction might be preferable to a contract with a non-profit under US jurisdiction.

ZeroSSL costs 180 per year for unlimited 90 day certs. I get the independence from US-based services, but I don't want to drop that kind of money on my toy domains.

[–] drkt@scribe.disroot.org 19 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

I've been using ZeroSSL for over 5 years and can attest that they are friendly in that I have literally never seen or heard from them.

I've set up and cancelled multiple domains in this time, and have had one domain running for the entirety of my time with ZeroSSL.

I don't think you (OP) are gonna find much better than a for-profit business with a good track record if you're unwilling to use Letsencrypt.

[–] state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

They do sound good, but it's worth pointing out that for a LE equivalent, unlimited 90 day certs, ZeroSSL would cost 180 Euro per year, that's 15 per month. I couldn't find another registry with a comparable offer. They always follow the ancient model of paying for every cert or getting a wildcard cert you have to manually install everywhere. To me, that model is dead. Automatic provisioning and renewal of certs is a must.

[–] drkt@scribe.disroot.org 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

What? I'm not paying a dime and I'm not manually inserting certificates.

[–] state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 50 minutes ago (1 children)

I'm just repeating what their website says.

[–] wholookshere@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 41 minutes ago (1 children)

I think you should look deeper. Quick google search gave me

https://zerossl.com/features/acme

[–] state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 37 minutes ago

Oh, no, I was talking about the price. I saw that they have ACME. From that European registry list they seem to be the only ones. But the plan that offers unlimited certs over ACME, equal to LE, costs 15 Euro per month.

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 6 points 3 hours ago

This is good to know.