Entrust Certificate Manager vs Let's Encrypt
Entrust Certificate Manager
entrust.comLet's Encrypt
letsencrypt.orgSide by side
| Figure | Entrust Certificate Manager | Let's Encrypt |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 3 |
| Spec score · Public Key Infrastructure Software | 7.7 (#13) | 8.6 (#3) |
| Spec score · Certificate Management Software | 7.7 (#18) | 8.6 (#5) |
| API | The Certificate Manager API supports querying certificates by metadata, importing certificates, and updating custom-field metadata; available operations depend on token permissions. | The production ACME directory endpoint is https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory and a separate staging endpoint is provided for testing. |
| Headquarters | Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA | LinkedIn lists San Francisco, California as ISRG headquarters. |
| Security assurance | Entrust states that its information security program conforms to ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and that the organization is certified to that standard. | ISRG publishes certification practice statements, certificate policies and WebTrust audit reports for its CA operations. |
| Support | Entrust lists customer service centers for immediate assistance in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific regions. | Let’s Encrypt does not offer direct subscriber support and points users to its documentation and community support forums. |
Plans
Entrust Certificate Manager
- Entrust Certificate ManagerPriced on request
Let's Encrypt
- Let's Encrypt certificatesFree
- Let's Encrypt certificatesFree
- Short-lived certificatesFree
In their own words
Entrust Certificate Manager
Entrust Certificate Manager centralizes discovery and lifecycle management for digital certificates, from audit and issuance through renewal and revocation. It can find certificates across networks, cloud environments, and CA repositories, then provide continuous monitoring, reports, and alerts. Policy-driven workflows automate lifecycle steps, and certificates from Entrust and third-party CAs can be managed through one control point. Entrust describes deployment across on-premises, private cloud, and public cloud environments. Integration choices include cloud, automation, CA gateway, enrollment protocol, secrets management, and custom REST APIs. The API can query certificates by metadata, import certificates, and update custom-field metadata, subject to token permissions. Compatibility information lists PostgreSQL 15 or higher, OpenID Connect 1.0, LDAP v3, and other specified components. Entrust says the product supports crypto-agility and post-quantum readiness. Pricing is on request, and there is no free plan. Entrust was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Let's Encrypt
Let’s Encrypt is a global Certificate Authority that provides SSL/TLS certificates for HTTPS connections. The ACME protocol verifies control of a domain, and compatible clients can automate issuance, management, and renewal. Its client directory includes Apache HTTP Server, Caddy, nginx, Kubernetes, Docker, and Windows/IIS environments. Certificates are Domain Validation only; Let’s Encrypt says it does not plan to issue Organization Validation or Extended Validation certificates. Wildcard certificates are available through the DNS-01 challenge. Standard certificates last 90 days, with an optional six-day lifetime; these periods cannot be adjusted. Subscribers generate and manage private keys on their own servers. Issued and revoked certificates are publicly recorded, and the service says its certificates are trusted by most browsers and operating systems. Certificates cost nothing. A registered domain can receive up to 50 certificates every seven days under published rate limits. Direct subscriber support is not offered.