When it comes to choosing an SSL certificate for keeping your website secure, you have many options to choose from. While searching for the different types of SSL certificates, you will come across many comparisons of SSL certificates like OV SSL vs. EV SSL, DV SSL vs. OV SSL.
However, it can be somewhat difficult to find the best one that meets your web security requirements.
If you are someone looking for an affordable SSL certificate to make your website secure, you can consider investing in either a Domain Validated (DV) SSL or an Organization Validated (OV) certificate.
Now, let’s discuss both of these SSL certificates in detail and see which one is better and offers more value to the website owners.
What is DV SSL?
A Domain Validated (DV) SSL certificate is an easy solution to move your website from HTTP to HTTPS. However, it has its own set of pros and cons. It provides the same type of encryption and security as other SSL certificates.
DV (Domain Validated) SSL certificate is the most basic type of SSL. As mentioned above, this type of SSL certificate offers the same security level as other types of SSL certificates, however, it does not assert any organizational identity.
The best thing about DV SSL is that it has actually broken the barrier for individuals and small-scale companies to safeguard their websites with an SSL certificate. DV SSL certificates are extremely affordable; they are even issued for free by some SSL certificate providers.
One notable downside of DV SSL is that it doesn’t identify the entity which is related to the website. A lot of malicious websites use free DV certificates to look more authentic. This way, users can have a hard time trusting the website and so pause prevails.
What is OV SSL?
OV (Organization Validated) SSL is better than DV SSL in the sense that it requires to validate the organization running a website and thus, makes the website more trustworthy for visitors. More than 20 years ago, the use of shared hosting was quite limited and thus, websites don’t have to share the same IP address. Thus, the OV SSL certificate was designed to authenticate companies and secure their whole IP addresses.
For OV SSL, the certificate authority (CA) that deals in issuing certificates conduct a business evaluation to see whether your company/organization is functional or not.
Earlier, there were a lot of issues due to the requirement that you had to be a registered entity to become eligible for undergoing the validation process. To this, the solution came in the form of a TLS extension which facilitates clients to request a particular hostname on an IP address.
DV SSL vs OV SSL
Let’s dive deeper into comparing the differences between these two SSL certificates so that you can identify the one that is best for you as per your website requirements. Here is a tabular representation to put the comparison in a better way:
| DV SSL | OV SSL |
| It only validates the ownership of the related domain. | With the help of basic verification, it not just verifies the domain details but also the legality of the business. |
| Supports automated issuance which is usually done in a fraction of minutes. | It has a more comprehensive vetting process and should be used where the company identity requires to be asserted. |
| Even faulty websites can get a DV SSL certificate as the company information is not given. | Provides a sense of assurance for keeping the identity fully secure. It is much safer as compared to DV. |
Conclusion
All in all, OV SSL makes a better choice for businesses who want to ensure the safety of their websites along with maintaining good online credibility. On the other hand, DV SSL is a good option for individuals and small businesses having tight budgets.
However, one good thing about OV SSL is that, unlike OV SSL, you can use it on a single domain in a shared hosting environment.
In today’s world where businesses are conducting online, identity is amongst the most critical elements. Having an SSL certificate for your website is no longer just an option, but a necessity.