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Certificate authorities

For publicly trusted certificates, Cloudflare partners with different certificate authorities (CAs). Refer to this page to check what CAs are used for each Cloudflare offering and for more details about the CAs features, limitations, and browser compatibility.

Availability per certificate type and encryption algorithm

CertificateAlgorithmLet’s EncryptGoogle Trust ServicesSectigoDigiCert
UniversalECDSA


RSA
(Paid plans only)






N/A


N/A

Deprecating soon


Deprecating soon
AdvancedECDSA


RSA






N/A


N/A

Deprecating soon


Deprecating soon
Total TLSECDSA


RSA






N/A


N/A



SSL for SaaSECDSA


RSA






N/A


N/A

Deprecating soon


Deprecating soon
BackupECDSA

RSA








Features, limitations and browser compatibility


Let’s Encrypt

Limitations

  • Hostname on certificate can contain up to 10 levels of subdomains.
  • Duplicate certificate limit of 5 certificates per week.

Browser compatibility

The main determining factor for whether a platform can validate Let’s Encrypt certificates is whether that platform trusts the self-signed “ISRG Root X1” certificate. As Let’s Encrypt announced a change in its chain of trust for 2024, devices that only trust the cross-signed version of the “ISRG Root X1” certificate will be impacted. Refer to Let’s Encrypt chain update for details.

You can find the full list of supported clients in the Let’s Encrypt documentation. Older versions of Android and Java clients might not be compatible with Let’s Encrypt certificates.

Other resources

Let’s Encrypt Root CAs: For checking compatibility between chain and client. As explained in Certificate pinning, you should not use this list for pinning against.


Google Trust Services

Limitations

  • Punycode domains are not yet supported.

Browser compatibility (most compatible)

By cross-signing with a GlobalSign root CA that has been installed in client devices for more than 20 years, Google Trust Services can ensure optimal support across a wide range of devices.

Currently trusted by Microsoft, Mozilla, Safari, Cisco, Oracle Java, and Qihoo’s 360 browser, all browsers or operating systems that depend on these root programs are covered.

You can use the root CAs list for checking compatibility between chain and client but, as explained in Certificate pinning, you should not use this list for pinning against.


Sectigo

Browser compatibility

Refer to Sectigo documentation.


DigiCert (deprecating soon)

Limitations

Due to sanctions imposed by the United States, DigiCert is legally prohibited or restricted from offering its products and services to specific countries or regions. Refer to Embargoed countries and regions for details.

Browser compatibility

Refer to DigiCert documentation.

Other resources

Status page

DigiCert Root CAs: For checking compatibility between chain and client. As explained in Certificate pinning, you should not use this list for pinning against.


CAA records

A Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) DNS record specifies which certificate authorities (CAs) are allowed to issue certificates for a domain. This record reduces the chance of unauthorized certificate issuance and promotes standardization across your organization.


If you are using Cloudflare as your DNS provider, then the CAA records will be added on your behalf. If you need to add CAA records, refer to Add CAA records.

The following table lists the CAA record content for each CA:

Certificate authorityCAA record content
Let’s Encryptletsencrypt.org
Google Trust Servicespki.goog; cansignhttpexchanges=yes
DigiCertdigicert.com; cansignhttpexchanges=yes
Sectigosectigo.com