Wildcard SSL Certificates
Enterprise-grade security and the flexibility to scale your subdomain structure without purchasing additional certificates.
Wildcard Certificate Options
Hassle-Free Multiple Subdomain Management
Managing separate SSL/TLS certificates for each subdomain potentially creates unnecessary complexity, expense, and administrative burden for growing organizations. SSL.com’s Wildcard SSL certificate eliminates this challenge by securing unlimited subdomains under one domain with a single certificate that offers the highest level of protection. It’s a cost-effective way to simplify certificate management.
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Wildcard Certificate FAQs
A Wildcard SSL certificate secures your primary domain and an unlimited number of first-level subdomains. For example, a certificate for .yourdomain.com will protect www.yourdomain.com, mail.yourdomain.com, shop.yourdomain.com, blog.yourdomain.com, and any other subdomain you create at that level. The asterisk () acts as a wildcard placeholder that matches any single subdomain name.
However, it's important to note that a standard Wildcard certificate does not cover multi-level subdomains (like secure.shop.yourdomain.com) or your root domain without the subdomain prefix—though most Wildcard certificates will cover both the wildcard subdomains and the base domain (yourdomain.com) when properly configured.
A standard Wildcard certificate covers only one level of subdomains. For instance, *.yourdomain.com will secure mail.yourdomain.com but not secure.mail.yourdomain.com. If you need to protect multi-level subdomains, you have two options: purchase multiple Wildcard certificates for each subdomain level (such as one for *.yourdomain.com and another for *.mail.yourdomain.com), or consider a Multi-Domain (SAN) certificate that allows you to specify exact subdomain combinations.
For complex infrastructures with nested subdomains, SSL.com's team can help you determine the most cost-effective certificate strategy for your specific needs.
SSL.com offers Wildcard certificates with both Domain Validation (DV) and Organization Validation (OV). Domain Validation certificates are issued quickly (often within minutes) after verifying that you control the domain, making them ideal for fast deployment and internal applications.
Organization Validation certificates require verification of your organization's legal existence and identity, providing an additional layer of trust that displays your company name in the certificate details—important for customer-facing applications where trust is paramount.
NOTE: Extended Validation (EV) certificates are not available in Wildcard format due to CA/Browser Forum security requirements, as the unlimited subdomain coverage would present challenges for the rigorous vetting process required for EV certificates.
