Paid SSL certificates are split into three levels by validation type:
DV (Domain Validation)
- Validates: only domain ownership (via email, DNS record or file).
- Issuance time: 5–30 minutes.
- Price: from 5 USD/year.
- For: blogs, personal sites, small business. Equal in security to Let’s Encrypt.
OV (Organization Validation)
- Validates: domain ownership + existence of legal entity (via registration documents).
- Issuance time: 1–3 days.
- Price: from 50 USD/year.
- For: company websites, corporate portals.
EV (Extended Validation)
- Validates: in-depth legal check (like opening a bank account).
- Issuance time: 5–14 days.
- Price: from 150 USD/year.
- For: banks, insurance, large e-commerce.
When to buy paid SSL:
- If you need the company name shown in the certificate (only OV/EV).
- If the regulator requires it (banks, payment systems).
- Otherwise — free Let’s Encrypt covers 95% of cases.
Order — in the SSL store.