acme.sh vs win-acme
acme.sh
github.comwin-acme
win-acme.comSide by side
| Figure | acme.sh | win-acme |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Certificate Management Software | 8.3 (#7) | 7.1 (#23) |
| Certificate types | It supports ECDSA, RSA, SAN, and wildcard certificates. | It can obtain wildcard and international-name certificates, and supports the optional OCSP Must Staple extension. |
| Security | Release tags from version 3.1.6 onward are signed with the maintainer's SSH key, while tags through 3.1.5 are unsigned. | Encryption of sensitive configuration information using Microsoft Data Protection API is enabled by default and can be turned off. |
| Support | The README directs users to the project's GitHub Issues and Pull Requests for discussion and contributions. | Community support is provided through GitHub issues, while guaranteed future professional support is offered in connection with sponsoring a core developer. |
Plans
In their own words
acme.sh
acme.sh is a free Unix shell ACME client for automating SSL/TLS certificate issuance, renewal, and installation. Its installer creates a daily cron job to check certificates and renew them when needed. Written purely in shell, it is compatible with Bash, dash, and sh; the README says general use needs neither Python nor root or sudo access. It supports ECDSA, RSA, SAN, and wildcard certificates, with validation modes including webroot, standalone, standalone TLS-ALPN, Apache, Nginx, DNS, DNS alias, stateless, and DNS persist. ZeroSSL is the default certificate authority. Listed alternatives include Let's Encrypt, SSL.com, Google Public CA, Actalis, Pebble strict mode, and any RFC8555-compliant CA. The project says API integrations cover most DNS providers. Renewal uses a CA’s ACME Renewal Information when available, with a 30-day fallback rule otherwise. Manual DNS mode cannot renew automatically because each renewal requires a new TXT record to be added by hand. Tested systems listed include macOS, Windows through Cygwin, FreeBSD, and multiple Linux distributions. The project is GPLv3 licensed and officially maintained by ZeroSSL; release tags from version 3.1.6 onward are signed with the maintainer’s SSH key, while earlier tags are unsigned.