What is the difference between DV, OV and EV SSL?

Side by side

	DV	OV	EV
Checks	Domain control	Domain + company	Domain + full company vetting
Issued	Usually within minutes	Once the company checks pass	Once the full vetting passes
Company name in certificate	No	Yes	Yes
Padlock in the browser	Yes	Yes	Yes
Typical use	Websites, blogs, shops	Company sites, portals	Banks, payments, large brands

Which one do you need?

• DV: business websites, blogs and most online shops. The free SSL that comes with Hostnali hosting is DV; it installs itself and renews automatically.
• OV: when customers or partners want proof that a real company stands behind the site, for example login portals, B2B services or suppliers responding to tenders.
• EV: organisations that handle payments or sensitive data and want the highest level of company verification.

Other things to compare

• Wildcard certificates cover every subdomain (*.yourdomain.rw).
• Multi-domain (SAN) certificates cover several different domains at once.
• Paid certificates include a warranty from the certificate authority.

What OV and EV need from you

Proof that your organisation is registered (for a Rwandan company, its registration with the Rwanda Development Board), a business phone number that can be verified, and a contact person who can respond to the certificate authority’s checks. Having these ready speeds up approval.

Compare prices on SSL certificates, or read do I need to pay for SSL?