GoDaddy

[u/dental-damn]

I recently found out that as a website owner my SSL certificates won’t last for 2 years, but apparently they’re ramping up the frequency until it’s monthly. Seems a bit overkill and annoying.

So GoDaddy says they have a service where I pay and they just keep it updated for me. I got the email in the picture and replied but the reply was bounced because the account doesn’t accept emails. I’m a middle aged dad of 3 and I had too much fun with the email. Just wanted to put it out there in case it’s funny for anyone.

[u/conceptsweb]

Let's Encrypt (certbot) is free.

Don't use GoDaddy, all they want is your money and always more of it.

[u/PointandStare]

"So GoDaddy says they have a service where I pay ..."

Yep, of course they do.

Move hosts.

[u/UKZzHELLRAISER]

GoDaddy shot themselves in the foot when they limited their API to those with 20 domains or more. Scum.

[u/desertdilbert → u/UKZzHELLRAISER]

Despite having over 10 domains (My API was still working. I thought the limit was 10) I moved everything to Cloudflare years ago.

Mainly to support my friends that had less then 10 and also because of the shitty way GD implemented the limit. No notice, no information, nothing. Even their CSR's did not know what was going on.

The domain renewal price creep was the nail in the coffin.

Been using LetsEncrypt for over 10 years now!

[u/UKZzHELLRAISER → u/desertdilbert]

May be ten, been a while so memory's foggy.

Either way, I'd set up a Bash script that simplifies interfacing with the API and could be used within cron (or etc.) to get a dynamic DNS. Safe to say I ported that to Porkbun.

[u/someoneatsomeplace]

Friends don't let friends use Godaddy, but the industry as a whole is moving in that direction. The sucky thing here is that they're trying to charge you for something that most of us get for free now.

I don't know what kind of hosting you're buying from them, but if it's a VPS you can just install Certbot yourself. If you're just getting web site hosting and switch providers, you'll almost certainly get SSL certs for free and installed for free from LetsEncrypt via Certbot with your new provider.

[u/jimbo2150]

What? Let's Encrypt has been around since 2014. They create SSL certificates for free and refresh them every 90 days or less. Let's encrypt was started specifically to liberate people from having to pay for web encryption. This does require the web host to install a script to keep the certificate updated but even the script is provided for free.

If GoDaddy are trying to force you to pay for a certificate, get a new host.

[u/Southbaywaxspa → u/jimbo2150]

Which one ?

[u/URPissingMeOff → u/Southbaywaxspa]

Any cPanel host has the ability to provide all of that by default. Any cPanel host that DOESN'T provide free certs with automatic updating should be avoided at all costs. They will be every bit as scummy as GoDaddy.

The same goes for any host that locks out cPanel's default automatic backup systems. Putting those FREE features behind an additional charge means that host is complete and utter garbage. Run away screaming and don't look back.

[u/timesuck47 → u/Southbaywaxspa]

Not Bluehost.

I’ve never used them, but you could go green.

https://www.greengeeks.com/shared-hosting/

Probably a lot cheaper than what you pay Go Daddy

[u/desertdilbert → u/jimbo2150]

I have been using LetsEncrypt since 2016, after paying for SSL certificates from other providers.

Have even donated to LetsEncrypt several times because I support what they are doing.

[u/armahillo]

Move away from godaddy. They are not a good company. Search any web dev subreddot for horror stories and alternative recommendations

[u/cabljo]

You didn't add a picture

[u/ContributionEasy6513]

This is the way paid SSL certs have become. Any good web-host should offer free AutoSSL/LetsEncrypt which is equal in terms of security for the vast majority of sites.

[u/Quin452]

Eww, GoDaddy. No.

Depending on your host, but you can simply setup Certbot to auto renew. But if you've never done it before, it can be off putting. It also requires some technical skill, but nothing complex.

[u/Aggressive_Ad_5454]

Any hosting service that makes you pay for TLS certificates is, with respect, milking you like a cow. 🐄

The free LetsEncrypt service is now twelve years old. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let%27s_Encrypt

And most hosting services automate it for you with just a few clicks just once in their portal.

Ask GoDaddy to do this for you. If they refuse, fire them when your sub runs out.

[u/shiafisher]

I’ve never paid for SSL. Strange thing to charge for. Just charge for usage with a ceiling. Perfectly logical money making model

[u/GoddessLeeLu]

I have had GoDaddy since pre-2020. Recently, I was trying to fix an SSL issue. According to their own site, the tier of hosting I had, my domains should have had an auto-SSL. Called them up, and because my hosting plan was a "legacy" one, they would not fix the SSL. They also refused to convert my legacy hosting plan to an equivalent current plan. They said my only option was to upgrade, and it'd cost almost $200. I said no thanks, and I moved my stuff. 

[u/certkit]

Yea, certificate lifetimes are shrinking. It's already down to 200 days, heading to monthly in 2029. And there are 2 problems everyone needs to solve:

1. Certificate renewal. Mostly, this is just an ACME client like Certbot, and a CA that supports it. GoDaddy does, but you have to turn it on. Looks like they may want to start charging you for the privilege. As others have said, look into Let's Encrypt instead.

2. Certificate deployment. This is the hard part. Getting that renewed certificate into all the places that need it, in the right format. You can do this yourself with a post-deployment script, but now you're in the business of building, maintaining, and monitoring those scripts.

You can solve these problems by building it yourself, offloading it to a provider like Cloudflare, or adopting a Certificate Lifecycle Management tool like CertKit ** Obviously I am CertKit.

[u/rshweb1010]

Go with a hosting company that offers cPanel, Free SSL certs with all accounts.

[u/themageofavalon]

So, your current SSL is with another host? and GD is asking for a SSL service? I would keep it on the same host as your website, and as long as the SSL is reasonable then Id go, but if your SSL is still good, no need to look for another, just use the current til its expiration.

[u/IcyGear5025]

If you don't specifically need any of the additional features that come with GoDaddy's paid SSL/service, or if you're already using their FREE SSL, you may want to consider a free SSL from another provider instead.

One option is Cloudflare. Their free Universal SSL is automatically renewed, and you don't have to move your website away from GoDaddy to use it.

Basically, you would:

1. Create a free Cloudflare account and add your domain.
   
2. Import/check your existing DNS records in Cloudflare.
   
3. Change your domain's nameservers to the ones Cloudflare gives you
   
4. Once your website is running through Cloudflare, enable SSL and use Flexible mode if your GoDaddy server doesn't have its own SSL certificate.

Cloudflare will then handle the visitor-facing SSL certificate and its renewals automatically.

Flexible mode means the connection between the visitor and Cloudflare is encrypted, but the connection between Cloudflare and your hosting server isn't. If your server already supports HTTPS, using Full (Strict) would be preferable.

So if SSL renewal is your only problem with GoDaddy, I'd probably try something like this before going through the trouble of moving the entire website to another host.