There are some commercial Certificate Authorities that offer free certificates. But in contrast Let's Encrypt is a non-profit.
- ZeroSSL (Austria)
- Actalis (Italy)
this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2026
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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.
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.
This is good to know.
I don't think anyone is gonna solve that problem until it's actually a problem.
It is a problem, and there are solutions.
@Sibbo I do not see any problem with Letsencrypt. Any CA which is widely trusted has to follow the same rules. This rules are set up by the CA Browser Forum. Which metadata does LE collect? My server's IP address, domain and subdomain, mail address. These are logged in the CT logs. Every CA has to log all certificates in a public CT log. Regardless which CA I choose, these data are public. There are not any critical data or metadata that LE can collect.
Letsencrypt can be directly forced to revoke certificates by the US. Organisations outside of the US are less vulnerable against that.