What are the advantages of a free SSL Wildcard certificate?

There are numerous benefits to an SSL Wildcard cert: The main one being that you show your visitors you take website security seriously by having this maximum encryption, which in turn helps gain their trust. The SSL Wildcard certificate enables you to secure all your subdomains under one certificate and gives you the possibility to add other subdomains later without having to re-issue your certificate. The certificate grows with your business. A faster HTTP/2 connection isn’t possible without an SSL certificate. Since HTTP/2 is becoming the new standard for websites, enhancing usability and speed, you’re more than prepared with your free Wildcard SSL certificate from IONOS. Another advantage is that you get an SSL certificate for free with certain IONOS products, and it remains free with the product you choose, meaning long-lasting security without having to spend a dime.

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Get a free SSL certificate

Did you know many IONOS products even come with a free SSL certificate included?

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How to get an SSL certificate for free

When you opt for certain IONOS services and products such as domain registration, WordPress hosting, or the eCommerce and MyWebsite website builders, you receive a free SSL Wildcard certificate included in the plan.

[[PRICE]]

1 website

10 GB redundant storage 0

10 databases 0

Initial CPU & MEM resources 0

SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI access 0

Free domain for 1 year 0

Free Wildcard SSL certificate 0

Professional email 0

Unmetered bandwidth 0

1-click installs 0

Daily backup and recovery

Free 24/7 support

[[PRICE]]

10 websites

100 GB redundant storage 0

50 databases 0

Basic CPU & MEM resources 0

SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI access 0

Free domain for 1 year 0

Free Wildcard SSL certificate 0

Professional email 0

Unmetered bandwidth 0

1-click installs 0

Daily backup and recovery

Free 24/7 support

Bestselling Plan

[[PRICE]]

Unlimited websites

Unlimited redundant storage 0

Unlimited databases 0

Enhanced CPU & MEM resources 0

SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI access 0

Free domain for 1 year 0

Free Wildcard SSL certificate 0

Professional email 0

Unmetered bandwidth 0

1-click installs 0

Daily backup and recovery

Free 24/7 support

[[PRICE]]

Unlimited websites

Unlimited redundant storage 0

Unlimited databases 0

Maximum CPU & MEM resources 0

SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI access 0

Free domain for 1 year 0

Free Wildcard SSL certificate 0

Professional email 0

Unmetered bandwidth 0

1-click installs 0

Daily backup and recovery

Free 24/7 support

State and local taxes will apply. Click here for our General Terms and Conditions.

[[PRICE]]

Best for 1 website

100 GB storage

25 MS SQL databases (2 GB SSD)

Free domain for 1 year 0

Professional email 0

Free SSL certificate 0

[[PRICE]]

Best for up to 5 websites

250 GB storage

100 MS SQL databases (2 GB SSD)

Free domain for 1 year 0

Professional email 0

Free SSL certificate 0

[[PRICE]]

Best for up to 50 websites

500 GB storage

500 MS SQL databases (2 GB SSD)

Free domain for 1 year 0

Professional email 0

Free SSL certificate 0

State and local taxes will apply. Click here for our General Terms and Conditions.

[[PRICE]]

25 GB SSD storage

Domain and SSL included 0

1 email address

Standard performance

Standard database

WordPress Website Cockpit 0

Vulnerability scans and malware detection 0

Automatic backups 0

AI WordPress Website Builder 0

Now with AI content tools

[[PRICE]]

50 GB SSD storage

Domain and SSL included 0

5 email addresses

Enhanced performance

Standard database

WordPress Website Cockpit 0

Vulnerability scans and malware detection 0

Automatic backups + 12 months Jetpack Vault included 0

AI WordPress Website Builder 0

AI Assistant 0

AI-generated text and images

AI-generated pages and blog posts

[[PRICE]]

75 GB SSD storage

Domain and SSL included 0

10 email addresses

Performance boost0

Standard database

WordPress Website Cockpit 0

Vulnerability scans + automatic malware removal 0

Automatic backups + 12 months Jetpack Vault included 0

AI WordPress Website Builder 0

AI Assistant 0

AI-generated text and images

AI-generated pages and blog posts

State and local taxes will apply. Click here for our General Terms and Conditions.

[[PRICE]]

Intuitive website editing with simple design options 0

Free domain for 1 year 0

Professional email address with 2 GB inbox 0

Includes 10 GB webspace & 10 pages

AI Logo Generator 0

Bestselling Plan

[[PRICE]]

Intuitive website editing with advanced design options 0

Free domain for 1 year 0

Professional email address with 12 GB inbox 0

Includes 50 GB webspace & 200 pages

AI Logo Generator 0

AI Page Generator 0

AI Text Generator & AI Text Improver 0

Professional design with AI Image Generator & AI Color Palette Generator 0

AI SEO Text Generator 0

AI image recognition 0

SiteAnalytics 0

Integrated online booking tool 0

[[PRICE]]

Intuitive website editing with advanced design options 0

Free domain for 1 year 0

Professional email address with active sync on all devices and 50 GB inbox 0

Unlimited webspace & pages

AI Logo Generator 0

AI Page Generator 0

AI Text Generator & AI Text Improver 0

Professional design with AI Image Generator & AI Color Palette Generator*0

AI SEO Text Generator 0

AI image recognition 0

SiteAnalytics Plus 0

Integrated online booking tool 0

SEO-optimization with rankingCoach Standard

State and local taxes will apply. Click here for our General Terms and Conditions.

Benefits of an SSL/TLS certificate

Protect your data transactions

SSL secures the browser connection between visitors and your website with up to 256-bit encryption. This means all transmitted data is protected from third parties attempting to access it.

Anti-phishing

You can protect your site against phishing (attempting to gain sensitive data from usernames) with SSL Business/Premium. Not only will our partner Sectigo check that your company owns and has the right to use the domain, but also that your company is registered and in good standing.

Builds trust with your site visitors

You want your visitors to feel confident that you are protecting the information they submit on your website. Sectigo is a global leader in internet security, meaning you have leading SSL security standards at your fingertips.

Better ranking with Google

Google ranks websites with SSL higher compared to sites without security certification. Professionally validated sites can receive up to 6% higher rankings in search results!

Site Seal

Site Seals are tiny images that let your website visitors know that your page is encrypted and safe. Users are more likely to trust websites with this proven and well-recognized symbol for online security.

Browse the internet safely

Our SSL certificates are compatible with all major browsers and mobile devices so your visitors and customers know their data is protected and encrypted.

Your personal consultant

At IONOS, you have a dedicated contact person for personalized advice, tips to boost your online success, and technical support. Reach them via phone, chat and email, all at no cost to you as an IONOS customer.

Learn more

Free SSL - FAQs

A regular SSL certificate covers only one domain and one subdomain within that domain. This might be sufficient to webmasters that own a single website and don’t plan on adding any additional subdomains.

Wildcard SSL certificates, on the other hand, are a special type of SSL certificate, and can cover websites with multiple subdomains, saving you time and money.

When you purchase the Wildcard SSL, you need to place an asterisk (*) before the domain level that you want to encrypt. This signals that all subdomain variants should automatically be covered even if some are added later.

According to Google, having an SSL certificate is the easiest thing a webmaster can do to improve their SEO rankings. Google rewards all website owners with a minor ranking boost when they switch from HTTP to HTTPS, thereby enhancing security measures. With a Wildcard SSL certificate, it’s even easier to signal to Google that all your subdomains are secure, which results in more trust from your website visitors.

Setting up your free SSL Wildcard certificate from IONOS can be done directly in the Control Panel. Log in and simply follow these step-by-step instructions to issue the SSL certificate to the desired domain. Once your SSL Wildcard certificate has successfully gone through the validation process, it will be installed in your webspace, and automatically activated.

There are numerous benefits to an SSL Wildcard cert:

The main one being that you show your visitors you take website security seriously by having this maximum encryption, which in turn helps gain their trust.
The SSL Wildcard certificate enables you to secure all your subdomains under one certificate and gives you the possibility to add other subdomains later without having to re-issue your certificate. The certificate grows with your business.
A faster HTTP/2 connection isn’t possible without an SSL certificate. Since HTTP/2 is becoming the new standard for websites, enhancing usability and speed, you’re more than prepared with your free Wildcard SSL certificate from IONOS.
Another advantage is that you get an SSL certificate for free with certain IONOS products, and it remains free with the product you choose, meaning long-lasting security without having to spend a dime.