Manual Certificate Authority Management vs Let's Encrypt

Developers should learn manual CA management when working in environments that require custom or self-signed certificates, such as internal networks, development/testing setups, or legacy systems without automated PKI solutions 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.

Manual Certificate Authority Management

Nice Pick

Developers should learn manual CA management when working in environments that require custom or self-signed certificates, such as internal networks, development/testing setups, or legacy systems without automated PKI solutions

Pros

• It is essential for understanding the underlying principles of public key infrastructure (PKI), troubleshooting certificate-related issues, and ensuring secure communications in scenarios where commercial CAs are not feasible or cost-effective
• Related to: public-key-infrastructure, openssl

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. Manual Certificate Authority Management is a concept while Let's Encrypt is a tool. We picked Manual Certificate Authority Management based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Manual Certificate Authority Management wins

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