A wildcard certificate is an SSL certificate which can be used with multiple subdomains of a domain. Depending on the number of subdomains this saves money and also could be more convenient than managing individual SSL certificates for each of the subdomains in a domain.
Limitations
- Only a single level of subdomain matching is supported.
- It is not possible to get an Extended Validation wildcard SSL certificate.
- The base domain is not valid and must be added separately as a SubjectAltName.
Benefits
Wildcards can be added as domains in Subject Alternative Name (SAN) certificates and in Unified Communications Certificates (UCC). In addition, wildcards themselves can have subjectAltName extensions, including other wildcards. e.g., If the wildcard certificate *.example.org has *.m.example.org as an Subject Alternative Name it secures https://www.example.org as well as the completely different website name https://meta.m.example.org
Example
In the case of a wildcard certificate for *.example.com, these domains would be valid:
- payment.example.com
- contact.example.com
- login-secure.example.com
- www.example.com
Because the wildcard only covers one level of subdomains (the asterisk doesn’t match full stops), these domains would not be valid for the certificate:
- test.login.example.com
The base domain is also not valid and must be added separately as a SubjectAltName:
- example.com
| Product | Validation | Delivery | Encryption Strength | Site Seal | Wildcard | Add'l Domains | Green Addressbar | Warranty | Security Scan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comodo EssentialSSL Wildcard | Domain | 3 minutes | 128/256-bit |  | | Unlimited |  | $10,000 | |
| Comodo Multi-Domain Wildcard SSL | Domain | 5 minutes | 128/256-bit | | | 3 | | n/a | |
| Comodo PositiveSSL Wildcard | Domain | 3 minutes | 128/256-bit | | | Unlimited | | $10,000 | |
| Comodo Premium SSL Wildcard | Organization | 1-2 days | 128/256-bit | | | Unlimited | | $250,000 | |
| Comodo SGC SSL Wildcard | Organization | 1-2 days | 128/256-bit | | | Unlimited | | $250,000 | |
| GeoTrust True BusinessID Wildcard | Organization | 2-3 days | 256-bit | | | Unlimited | | $10,000 | |
| RapidSSL Wildcard Certificate | Domain | 3 minutes | 256-bit | | | Unlimited | | $5,000 | |
| Symantec Secure Site Wildcard | Organization | 2-3 Days | 40/256-bit | | | Unlimited | | $500,000 | |
| Thawte Wildcard SSL Certificate | Organization | 2-3 days | 256-bit | | | Unlimited | | $125,000 | |
| Product | 1 Year | 2 Years | 3 Years | 4 Years | 5 Years | Add'l Domains | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comodo EssentialSSL Wildcard | $78.66 | $137.42 | $196.19 | $254.95 | $309.59 | Order Now | |
| Comodo Multi-Domain Wildcard SSL | $124.02 | $216.80 | $309.59 | $35.36 | Order Now | ||
| Comodo PositiveSSL Wildcard | $72.47 | $126.08 | $180.72 | $234.33 | $299.28 | Order Now | |
| Comodo Premium SSL Wildcard | $124.02 | $216.80 | $309.59 | $402.37 | $495.15 | Order Now | |
| Comodo SGC SSL Wildcard | $227.11 | $397.22 | $567.32 | $737.42 | $941.55 | Order Now | |
| GeoTrust True BusinessID Wildcard | $319.90 | $559.07 | $799.28 | $1,038.45 | Order Now | ||
| RapidSSL Wildcard Certificate | $90.00 | $157.01 | $224.02 | $291.03 | Order Now | ||
| Symantec Secure Site Wildcard | $1,701.34 | $2,976.60 | $4,252.89 | Order Now | |||
| Thawte Wildcard SSL Certificate | $273.51 | $477.63 | Order Now |
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