Certificate Types
What Is a Wildcard SSL Certificate?
Learn how Wildcard SSL works, which subdomains it can cover and when a different certificate architecture may be better.
A Wildcard SSL certificate is designed to secure eligible subdomains beneath a defined base domain. It is useful when a website or application environment uses many subdomains and you want to reduce the number of separate certificates you manage.
What can a Wildcard certificate cover?
A typical wildcard name such as *.example.com can cover hostnames like shop.example.com, account.example.com and support.example.com. Exact coverage depends on the certificate and DNS hierarchy, so review the product specification before buying.
Wildcard vs Multi-Domain
Wildcard is about subdomains under one base domain. Multi-Domain certificates include multiple specified domain names. They solve different problems and can sometimes be combined in more advanced products.
When is Wildcard a good fit?
Wildcard can simplify management for SaaS environments, departmental subdomains, customer portals and other setups with many first-level subdomains. Larger organizations should also consider whether separating certificates between systems gives them better operational control.
What Is a Wildcard SSL Certificate? — FAQs
Does Wildcard SSL cover every possible domain?
No. Wildcard coverage applies to eligible subdomains under the specified base domain. It is not the same as covering unrelated domains.
Is Wildcard SSL the same as Multi-Domain SSL?
No. Wildcard covers subdomains under a base domain, while Multi-Domain certificates can include several specified domain names.
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