What is business SSL?
Business SSL is the umbrella term for certificates that verify your company’s legal existence in addition to domain control. There are two levels:
- OV (Organization Validation): the certificate authority verifies your company name, address and activity against official records and documents. Company details appear in the certificate.
- EV (Extended Validation): the most thorough level of validation. On top of OV checks, the company’s legal, physical and operational existence, the applicant’s authority and contact details are examined in detail.
Encryption strength is the same for DV, OV and EV certificates. What business certificates add is that visitors and partners can verify the organisation behind the site.
Who should use business SSL?
- Online stores: shops that take payments and collect personal data.
- Finance, insurance and healthcare organisations: sectors that handle sensitive data and need a high level of trust.
- Corporate portals and customer panels: systems where dealers, suppliers and customers sign in.
- Public institutions and municipalities: digital platforms serving citizens.
- Companies with procurement requirements: some corporate clients require OV or EV certificates from their suppliers.
For a blog or brochure site alone, DV SSL is enough.
2026 OV SSL prices
Prices are in USD, per year and exclude VAT. Delivery times are the certificate authority’s estimates, assuming complete documents.
| Certificate | Annual price | Warranty | Delivery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certum Trusted OV SSL | 77.90 USD | $400,000 | 1-3 business days |
| Thawte OV SSL | 82.75 USD | $1,500,000 | 1-5 business days |
| Sectigo OV SSL | 130.65 USD | $50,000 | 1-30 days |
| GeoTrust BusinessID OV | 142.85 USD | $50,000 | 2-15 days |
| DigiCert Basic OV | 232.50 USD | $1,250,000 | 1-5 business days |
| DigiCert Secure Site Pro OV | 953.50 USD | $2,000,000 | 1-5 business days |
2026 EV SSL prices
| Certificate | Annual price | Warranty | Delivery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certum Premium EV SSL | 141.05 USD | €1,000,000 | 1-5 business days |
| Sectigo EV SSL | 142.85 USD | $1,750,000 | 1-30 days |
| Thawte EV SSL | 158.96 USD | $1,500,000 | 1-10 business days |
| GeoTrust BusinessID EV | 173.65 USD | $1,500,000 | 2-15 days |
| DigiCert Basic EV | 370.45 USD | $1,250,000 | 1-10 business days |
| DigiCert Secure Site Pro EV | 1,470.45 USD | $2,000,000 | 1-10 business days |
OV vs. EV SSL compared
| Criteria | DV SSL | OV SSL | EV SSL |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is verified | Domain control | Domain + company identity | Domain + extensive company checks |
| Documents | Not required | Required | Required (more extensive) |
| Company name in certificate | No | Yes | Yes |
| Delivery time | Minutes | Usually 1-5 business days | Usually 1-10 business days |
| Wildcard option | Yes | Yes | No |
| Best for | Blogs, brochure sites | Business sites, portals | E-commerce, finance, public sector |
Note: since 2019, modern browsers no longer show a green address bar for EV certificates. Verified company details are shown in the certificate details, opened from the site information icon in the address bar.
Which brand should you choose?
Price alone should not decide your business certificate. Weigh these three criteria together:
- Delivery time: if your launch date is close, products with short estimates such as Certum or Thawte have an advantage. For products quoted at 1-30 days, timing depends largely on complete documents and phone verification.
- Warranty: the liability limit the certificate authority accepts towards end users if a certificate is mis-issued. It is not insurance against your site being hacked, but it does signal the authority’s confidence in its own processes.
- Corporate preference and compliance: some corporate clients or international partners require a specific certificate authority. Premium products such as DigiCert Secure Site Pro are chosen for requirements like these.
Required documents
Legal entities and sole proprietorships
- Tax certificate (vergi levhası)
- Authorised signatory list (imza sirküleri)
- Certificate of activity (chamber registration)
- Document certified by a chartered accountant (SMMM)
- Completed and signed SSL request form
Government institutions
- KAYSIS (kaysis.gov.tr) registration
- Document showing the year of establishment
- Certificate of activity and request form
Consistent company name, address and phone details across your documents and official records speed things up. As part of validation, the certificate authority may call the company’s registered phone number.
Application and installation process
- Choose a certificate: pick an OV or EV product based on budget, warranty and delivery time.
- Generate a CSR: enter your company name in the CSR exactly as it appears in official records.
- Send your documents: send the prepared documents after ordering; we flag any missing or inconsistent information in advance.
- Domain and organisation validation: the domain is validated by DNS or email, and company details by the certificate authority.
- Installation: once the certificate is issued, our technical team installs it free of charge.
How the 2026 rules affect business SSL
Under a CA/Browser Forum decision, all public SSL certificates issued from 15 March 2026 are valid for at most 200 days, falling to 100 days in 2027 and 47 days in 2029. The same decision also shortens how long domain and organisation validation data can be reused. In practice, your certificate is reissued and reinstalled throughout your annual subscription, and when your organisation validation expires the certificate authority asks for re-validation with up-to-date documents. We keep track of these dates for you.
Business SSL tips
- For multiple subdomains you can request an OV-validated Wildcard; industry rules do not allow EV Wildcards. If DV is enough, see our Wildcard SSL page.
- To bring your company email up to the same standard of trust, take a look at our business email solutions.
- For the infrastructure hosting your certificate, consider our e-commerce hosting or VPS server options.
- If your company name or address changes, remember to have the certificate reissued with the updated details.
Conclusion
OV and EV SSL go beyond encryption by documenting your corporate identity with the approval of an independent authority. They add a strong layer of trust to any platform where users pay, enter personal data or where your partners sign in. Get free help from our team with document preparation and product choice, and follow our blog for up-to-date content on web security.