Why does an SSL certificate expire before the subscription period ends?

Question

Answer

Your subscription and your certificate validity are two separate things. A 1-year subscription means you are covered for one year — it does not mean the certificate itself will be valid for a full year. As the certificate approaches expiration, it will be automatically reissued within your active subscription period at no additional cost.

In short: your certificate may expire sooner, but you will not be charged again. Renewals are handled automatically for as long as your subscription is active.

The reason your certificate expires sooner than expected is an industry-wide security requirement — not a billing issue. Since March 15, 2026, all publicly trusted SSL/TLS certificates are limited to a maximum validity of 200 days, regardless of how long your subscription is. This limit is set by browser and certificate authority industry standards and applies to all SSL providers globally.

This maximum validity period will continue to shorten over time: