Compare software

acme.sh vs Certbot: catalog facts
acme.sh	Certbot
Best for: Administrators automating certificate issuance and renewal	Best for: Server administrators adding free HTTPS to their own web servers
Free Free and open source under the GPL-3.0 license.	Free Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 licence; certificates from Let's Encrypt are free.
Command line	macOS, Linux, Command line
Issues and renews certificates through ACME Supports wildcard and ECDSA certificates All 3 strengths for acme.sh Issues and renews certificates through ACME Supports wildcard and ECDSA certificates Runs with Bash, dash, or sh	Gets free HTTPS certificates from Let's Encrypt Can configure Apache and Nginx automatically All 3 strengths for Certbot Gets free HTTPS certificates from Let's Encrypt Can configure Apache and Nginx automatically Instruction generator tailored to server software and operating system
Requires a Unix shell environment. Certificate issuance and renewal require access to an ACME service.	Requires comfort with the command line Needs shell access to the web server, which some hosts do not give
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-3.0-only	License: Apache-2.0
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Needs internet
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for acme.sh github.com/acmesh-official/acme.sh Catalog checked October 8, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Certbot certbot.eff.org Catalog checked October 1, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.