Certificate Authorities vs Let's Encrypt

Developers should understand Certificate Authorities when building or maintaining secure web applications, APIs, or any system requiring encrypted communication meets developers should use let's encrypt when they need to implement https on websites or web applications quickly and at no cost, especially for personal projects, small businesses, or development environments. Here's our take.

Certificate Authorities

Nice Pick

Developers should understand Certificate Authorities when building or maintaining secure web applications, APIs, or any system requiring encrypted communication

Pros

• This is essential for implementing HTTPS, securing data in transit, and preventing man-in-the-middle attacks
• Related to: tls-ssl, public-key-infrastructure

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Let's Encrypt

Developers should use Let's Encrypt when they need to implement HTTPS on websites or web applications quickly and at no cost, especially for personal projects, small businesses, or development environments

Pros

• It is ideal for automating certificate issuance and renewal in DevOps workflows, such as with web servers like Apache or Nginx, to ensure continuous security without manual intervention
• Related to: ssl-tls, https

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Certificate Authorities is a concept while Let's Encrypt is a tool. We picked Certificate Authorities based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Certificate Authorities wins

Based on overall popularity. Certificate Authorities is more widely used, but Let's Encrypt excels in its own space.