What Is SSL Certificate Monitoring and Why Does It Matter? Your Ultimate Guide

You google something you come across on the net, click on the first pages in the search results, and the first thing you see is a little padlock icon next to the website URL. We're sure you've been there (who hasn't?). This means the website you're trying to visit is using an SSL certificate.

We know, we know. "What is an SSL certificate?" you ask. Well, that's precisely our topic for today!

By the end of this post, you'll know exactly what an SSL certificate is. But our main focus will be on SSL certificate monitoring and how to set it up.

Sounds good? Let's define an SSL certificate first.

So, grab yourself a snack or a cup of hot chocolate, and let's dive in! We promise you won't be disappointed.

What is an SSL Certificate? 

SSL certificates, stand for Secure Sockets Layer, and refer to the digital certificates that verify the website's identity and hold the customer's data that browsers access to provide an encrypted and secure connection between a web server and a browser. 

Reasons Why SSL certificates expire

Similarly to any authentication protocol, SSL certificates should expire so they can be regularly re-checked and enhanced. 

So let's hop ahead to see what reasons cause SSL certificates to expire: 

Keep up with the authentication information

SSL certificates expire primarily to keep track of server authentication. Why does this matter, you ask? Well, limiting the certificate's lifespan will help confirm that the SSL certificate's owner still has control over the domain.

Since domains and businesses change ownership on a regular basis, certificates must expire to allow new owners to obtain their own certificates and update information like company details or cryptographic standards. Because if you think about it, someone could just buy a new domain along with its certificate and pretend to be the previous owner!

Mitigate potential risks

Shorter expiration periods for SSL certificates help mitigate risks associated with potential security breaches, and it's not really hard to see why! 

Suppose a certificate is compromised or its private key gets exposed. In that case, a shorter validity period limits the time attackers and hackers can exploit the compromised certificate and helps maintain a strong defense against the ever-growing cybersecurity threats.

Comply with the latest security standards

SSL certificates also expire to ensure that encryption standards are up-to-date. When site developers and users renew the SSL certificate, they can stay ahead with the latest and most advanced security measures available.

What Exactly Happens When The SSL Certificate Gets Expired?

Now that you know what goes into the SSL certificates, and why they expire, time to explore what happens when they expire. 

The first thing that will be reflected to your website's visitors when your SSL certificate expires is a security notification displayed in the browser stating that your site isn't delivering a safe connection anymore and could be risky to visit. This mainly happens because HTTPS—the protocol that secures data transmissions—is no longer active.

On some occasions, browsers might even block access to your site and display this information below to your visitors. 

That's definitely not the best first impression you'd want visitors to have of your site, right?

But a quick disclaimer here: an expired SSL certificate won't immediately stop the flow of encrypted data to and from your website. That said, it's still inevitable to get a new SSL certificate and restore full security and trust for your visitors.

Now, What Is SSL Certificate Monitoring? 

SSL certificate monitoring is pretty much what it sounds like—an automated process to track and check the validity of SSL certificates used by websites and avoid their expiration or misconfiguration.

This procedure is crucial for the website's security and functionality as it issues regular alerts about approaching certificate expiry dates, verifies configurations, checks the certificate authority (CA), and monitors revocation status—literally anything related to SSL certificate status.

How does SSL certificate monitoring operate?

Now, let's move on to the hands-on parts! 

The SSL certificate monitoring system sends automatic HTTP requests to a website at regular intervals to check if its SSL certificates are still valid. These requests do a thorough check of the entire website to make sure the certificates are functioning properly. 

Now, how often these checks happen depends on the type of website. For busy business sites, it could be every few seconds. But for less busy, non-commercial sites, it might be every 10 minutes or more. 

If the monitored website's SSL certificate is all good, the monitoring system just keeps doing its thing and no further action will be taken. However, if an invalid certificate is detected, the monitor will initiate what's referred to as an SSL certificate incident. Then, based on the on-call schedule, it starts sending out alerts to get things sorted.

Since the expiration date is also tracked, when a certificate is about a week away from expiring, it automatically triggers the alert system, so there is no chance that the renewal deadline gets missed.

What Are the Takeways of SSL Certificate Monitoring?

Anticipates SSL certificate-caused incidents 

To kick off our list of SSL monitoring takeaways, we've got to talk about the automatic alert system that keeps you updated on the expiry date of your SSL certificate and ensures that all the website admins are on the same page and know when it's time for renewal.

This feature anticipates technical issues with the SSL certificate and helps maintain continuous security for better website performance. 

Minimize the risks for users 

SSL certificate monitoring is a fully automated process that runs every 30 seconds, which can help with all of those errors websites are struggling with right away. Ideally, this quick response keeps the number of affected users very low.

Enhanced user data protection

Now, you're probably thinking, does an expired SSL certificate affect my website's data flow? The short answer is no. But because it's a security flaw, it's better to cut things from the roots immediately. 

And this is where monitoring helps out and eliminates all the headaches related to this security issue. 

Maintain your domain rating 

We hate to sound like a broken record, but we'll say this one more time: when the SSL certificate of your website expires, you lose all the benefits of authentication and HTTPS. 

You may think: "Okay, but what does this involve? Well, as we said earlier in the article, this means that anyone who lands on your website will stumble across that red flag security notification that indicates your website is dangerous. 

Luckly, SSL certficate monitoring to the rescue! To help you prevent any potential decrease in clicks. 

Ease of use

Much to your surprise, monitoring any URL can be implemented literally in minutes! You can start getting real-time information and valid/non-valid results right away. 

Even better! This monitoring can be applied across different websites, apps, use cases, and devices. 

Global testing

Does SSL certificate monitoring get any better than that? And the answer is, yes, it does! Here is how: 

It supports testing from different endpoints around the world, which helps differentiate between regional errors from incidents affecting users worldwide and allows optimization for a global audience.

Five Best-in-class SSL Certificate Monitoring Tools 

If you're looking for SSL certificate monitoring tools online, you're likely to be overwhelmed with endless lists of software that don't necessarily do the trick.

So, to make your life a bit easier, let's introduce you to the best options on the market and help you determine which tool might work best for you.

TrackSSL

Our first tool for today's TrackSSL, and as the name suggests, it’s a software designed to keep a close eye on the SSL certificates used by your organization’s domain by providing regular alerts for upcoming expirations, configuration issues and anything in between. 

As soon as your SSL certificate is replaced, you’ll be notified through different communication channels like Email, SMS, Slack, Teams (sometimes all four). 

Best of all? TrackSSL lets you add and manage multiple public and internal SSL certificates at once, a feature you don't often find with other tools.

TrackSSL Features 

• Neat and intuitive interface
• Offers in-depth reports on SSL certificate status and health.
• Can integrate with plenty of other tools and services. 

Cons

• Multiple users reported having a poor experience with customer support.

Reviews

• G2: 4.7/5 (30 reviews)

Pricing

• Free plan forever
• Starter ($17 per month, paid annually)
• Growth ($35 per month, paid annually)
• Complete ($72 per month, paid annually)
• Scale ($136 per month, paid annually)

Site24x7

Site24x7 is another comprehensive website monitoring solution that offers powerful SSL/TLS certificate monitoring features. It tracks SSL certificate validity, expiration dates, and configuration errors such as revoked certificates and blocklisted certifying authorities. 

This tool provides the SHA-1 fingerprint check, which meticulously monitors and manages the SSL/TLS certificate of services like HTTPS, IMAP,  and FTP from over 130 key locations worldwide. Site24x7 offers a compelling digital customer experience by enabling users to monitor over 250,000 websites, servers, networks, applications, and cloud services per account. 

Features 

• Delivers  in-depth insights into SSL certificate status related to expiration dates and configuration errors.
• Monitors SSL certificates +130 multiple locations around the world. 
• Allows users to customize the monitoring alerts based on certain criteria and thresholds.

Cons

• This tool can be challenging for new users and requires a learning curve.

Reviews

• G2: 4.6/5 (256 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (236 reviews)

Pricing

• Web Uptime ($9 per month, paid annually)
• Pro ($35 per month, paid annually)
• Classic ($89 per month, paid annually)
• Enterprise ($225 per month, paid annually)

UptimeRobot

Another solid tool in the market is UptimeRobot, which offers you the possibility to SSL monitor your website’s main HTTPS monitoring to receive instant alerts of any possible SSL certificate issue. 

The alert system is pretty straightforward and always notifies you when the expiration date is getting closer by 30, 14, 7, and 1 day, enough time for you to renew and update your SSL certificate. 

Not only that! UptimeRobot can also notifty you via the popular communication channels like email, Discord, Slack, Telegram, Teams, and SMS. And can even integrate with automation tools such as Zapier. 

Features 

• Monitors SSL certificates every five minutes to instantly detect errors.
• Easy to set up and doesn’t require any learning curve, even for individuals without technical knowledge.
• Provides a strong support system with functionalities like live chats to deliver instant responses to users.

• Offers the possibility to use the Heartbeat monitor feature (available in the Pro Plan) to trace the users’ cron jobs. 

Cons

• Mobile app is not as advanced as the web version and doesn’t provide all the features. 
• Several users stated that the information provided by UptimeRobot cannot be relied upon. 

Reviews

• G2: 4.6/5 ‎(159 reviews)
• TrustPilot: 4.7/5 ‎(212 reviews)

Pricing

• Free plan 
• Solo ($7 per month)
• Team ($29 per month)

• Enterprise ($54 per month)

StatusCake

StatusCake is probably the most famous tool in our list, that provides SSL certificate monitoring among other features. It helps you keep track of the status and validity of your certificates, by alerting you whenever the expiry dates get closer. 

StatusCake tool can monitor from 43 locations in 30 countries across the world, and test your website every 5 minutes with a free plan (Yes, a free plan!)

StatusCake also offers comprehensive reporting and analytics to help you stay in the loop with your SSL certificates’ performance. 

Features 

• Provides comprehensive data on SSL certificate status and potential issues.
• Sends instant alerts with easy to understand diagnosis
• Allows for personalized alert settings, which prevents false and irrelevant alarms

• Provides uptime monitoring, page speed monitoring, and server monitoring for an all-in-one solution.

Cons

• The user interface is outdated and less user-friendly than other tools. 
• The tool doesn’t provide enough testing locations compared to other alternatives in the market. 

Reviews

• G2 4.5/5 (14 reviews)

Pricing

• Free plan

• Superior ($20.41 per month, paid annually)
• Business ($66.66 per month, paid annually)
• Custom (contact customer service for pricing)

Uptrends

Uptrends is the final tool we recommend, and similarly to the aforemenitioned tools, it also offers extensive monitoring solutions, including, of course, SSL certificate monitoring. 

It monitors your SSL certificates for expiration dates, configuration issues, and overall validity. 

In addition to offering a detailed SSL certificates monitoring, Uptrends has a very intuitive dashboard where all the insights about your website SSL certificate Status are displayed. 

Uptrends has also a customizable alert option, including channels like email, SMS, Slack and integrations with other tools.

Features 

• Checks SSL certificates validity from various locations worldwide to give a comprehensive view for users. 
• Offers detailed reports and dashboards with insights into SSL certificate health and performance.
• User-Friendly Dashboard: An intuitive interface that makes it easy to manage and monitor SSL certificate

Cons

• It may require a learning curve for new users to get started. 
• Some users reported false-positive alerts regarding TLS certificates from time to time.

Reviews

• Capterra 4.7 (106 reviews)
• Software Advice 4.5/5 (106 reviews)

Pricing

• Multi-step API / Multi-step browser ($8.20 per month)

• Single browser ($14 per month)
• Uptime and availability ($5.25 per month)
• Real User Monitoring ($9.20 per month)
• Private location  (contact customer service for pricing)

Final Words From Instatus 

And that's it from us, phew! 

Now, we can safely say that we have told you as much about SSL certificate monitoring as you should know before you try it out.

Depending upon your niche, you can implement SSL certificate monitoring for your website. And it's not as tough as you think. Instatus is a great resource that offers automated monitoring of SSL certificates for your website.

Want to learn even more about Instatus? Head to our Blog

Wish you good luck, optimized security, and more happy customers 😉

Thank you for sticking around till the end!