This guide explains the main differences between an EV and a DV certificate.

EV SSL Certificates: for companies

The Sectigo EV SSL certificate can only be issued to companies registered in an official registry.

It provides the highest level of trust with your customers and offers unique benefits in addition to including the benefits of a DV certificate:

• Your company name in the navigation bar
• padlock in the navigation bar
• dynamic secure site seal
• validation of your domain name
• manual authentication of your company's contact details and identity
• guarantee up to $1,750,000 for end users
• 7/7 support

Activating an EV SSL certificate can take up to 24 hours and will require actions on your part.

DV SSL Certificates: for companies and individuals

The Sectigo DV certificate is open to individuals and companies. It does not include some of the benefits mentioned above, but it offers additional benefits over free Let's Encrypt SSL certificates:

• dynamic secure site seal
• validation of your domain name
• guarantee up to $10,000 for end users
• 7/7 support

Activation of a DV SSL certificate is immediate.

And the Let's Encrypt certificates?

A free Let's Encrypt certificate guarantees the same level of encryption as an EV or DV certificate. However, Let's Encrypt certificates do not offer the following benefits:

• manual validation of your company's contact details and authenticity (EV)
• guarantee for end users in case of fraud (EV/DV)
• support in case of questions

In summary, Let's Encrypt certificates ensure the encryption of exchanges between your users and your site, but they do not guarantee to internet users that they are on a legitimate site whose identity has been authenticated by a certification authority.