Wildcard and SAN certificates can be a cost effective and flexible alternative to traditional SSL certificates. Because they can secure multiple domains and subdomains with one certificate, they can significantly lower your SSL costs and simplify certificate installation, management and deployment.

However, they are different. In this article, we will summarize the high-level benefits of both SAN and Wildcard certificates. This will help you choose the certificate that best fits your environment. So, let us review how their use cases different.

How does a Wildcard SSL certificate work?

In computing, a wildcard character is a placeholder that stands in for other characters. A Wildcard certificate is a TLS/SSL certificate that includes a wildcard character to allow protecting multiple subdomains of an only domain name.

For example, a Wildcard certificate issued for *.example.com could be used to cover, www.example.com, info.example.com, support.exapmle.com and anything-else.example.com. In this way, a Wildcard certificate can cover an unlimited number of subdomains for a given domain name.

Because a Wildcard certificate casts a larger net than a traditional single-domain certificate, it reduces work and expense for a website owner who needs to protect multiple subdomains and allows greater flexibility for adding subdomains to existing websites.

In this way, the website owner can add an e-commerce store to the web server with no need to issue a new certificate. In addition, they tend to be less expensive than a separate certificate for each subdomain.

Customers who buy Wildcard SSL certificates can also add Organization Validation (OV) or Individual Validation (IV) to their certificates at no additional charge. As soon as the validation process is complete for their order, they will receive an initial Domain Validated (DV) certificate.

The comparison between Wildcard and SAN certificate

Do you need to provide SSL secured communications for servers using multiple domain names and host names? If so, you should consider a certificate enabled with subject alternative names or SAN. This also known as a unified communication certificate or UC certificate from Symantec.

A good way of thinking about SAN is that it operates like a shortcut or nickname. It means that it is referring to something else, which operates by the same name. You may go by a nickname but it is still the same person.

SAN operates much under the same principle. For example, one SAN certificate can protect multiple subdomains or combinations of other domains.

You will find SAN most useful when securing servers that go by multiple names; like unified communication servers, which serve out mail, chat and messaging. Using different domain names each referring to the same server. In addition, if you require extended validation, you should choose SAN.

Are you looking for a cost effective way to secure one domain name and multiple subdomains with just one certificate? Then you should consider a Wildcard SSL certificate.

In comparison with SAN, Wildcard secures only one domain name and multiple subdomains using that domain name. In this condition, the Wildcard character will stand in the place of those subdomains.

Wildcard is a standalone product and best used in environments where there is only one external or internal facing domain name. Wildcard offers an easy to manage approach since you can apply the same certificate across a number of servers using the same domain name.

In addition, because you can add, change or replace services without needing to update the certificate, Wildcard can be the perfect choice for a growing business.

Key differences

As you choose which certificate best fits your organization, keep these things in your mind:

·        SAN cannot secure an unlimited number of subdomains on the same domain while Wildcard can.

·        If you are using the same domain and that domain name never changes, Wildcard can be the answer for you.

·        On the other hand, Wildcard cannot secure more than one domain. Therefore, if you need to use an extended validation certificate you must use SAN.

Summary 

Use a Wildcard SSL certificate if you need to protect just one external and internal facing domain. If you are using multiple subdomains and you do not need extended validation. Use SAN if you need to protect one server going by multiple common names; one server, which mixes and matches subdomains and domain names or you need to protect your site visitors with extended validation. Source.