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 included with Hostnali hosting is DV; it installs itself and renews automatically.
• OV: when customers or partners want proof that a real company runs the site, such as login portals, B2B services or suppliers bidding for tenders.
• EV: organisations that handle payments or sensitive personal data and want the highest level of company verification.

Other things to compare

• Wildcard certificates cover every subdomain (*.yourdomain.com).
• Multi-domain (SAN) certificates cover several different domains.
• Paid certificates come with a warranty from the certificate authority.

What OV and EV need from you

Your company registration documents (for a Zimbabwean business, the certificate of incorporation or business registration from CIPZ, the Companies and Intellectual Property Office of Zimbabwe), 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?