RapidSSL is owned by Symantec, the very first Certificate Authority (CA) in existence. Since they are the oldest CA to exist, their SSL certificates are recognized by 99% of all web browsers.

RapidSSL certificates provide the same level of security and acceptance as certificates costing hundreds of dollars more. We use RapidSSL certificates ourselves in parts of our website.

Benefits:

  • Cheaper than AlphaSSL.
  • Provides up to 256-bit encryption for your website.
  • Has a $10,000 warranty for your customers.
  • Provides more security than single-root certificates! Chained SSL certificates are more secure than single-root certificates since installing an intermediate certificate keeps the top root certificate secure. It is important to keep the root certificate secure since the security of any SSL certificate depends solely on the root certificate.
  • More bang for your buck! Covers both 'versions' of your domain with one SSL certificate. Example: Secures both https://www.yourdomain.com and https://yourdomain.com if you order a SSL certificate for the hostname, "www.yourdomain.com".
  • Issued from a 2048 bit Root Certificate.

Disadvantages:

  • Level of support for cellphone/mobile devices is unknown.

Compatibility List

The following web browsers recognize RapidSSL certificates:

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 5.01+
  • AOL 5+
  • Netscape 4.7+
  • Opera 7+
  • Safari
  • Mozilla 1+
  • Firefox 1+

What is SSL?

SSL facilitates e-commerce by encrypting communication between your customer's browser and your server.