Smallstep Certificates
Smallstep Certificates is an open source certificate authority that makes it easy to issue and manage TLS certificates. It provides a simple CLI and APIs to automate certificate lifecycle.
certificates
tls
ssl
pki
encryption
Smallstep Certificates: Open Source Certificate Authority
Automate certificate lifecycle with Smallstep Certificates, an open source CA providing a simple CLI and APIs for easy TLS certificate issuance and management.
What is Smallstep Certificates?
Smallstep Certificates is an open source certificate authority software that simplifies the issuance and management of TLS certificates across an organization's infrastructure.
It provides a CLI (command-line interface) and APIs to fully automate the TLS certificate lifecycle, from issuance and renewal to revocation. This eliminates the manual processes involved with traditional CAs.
Key capabilities and benefits of Smallstep Certificates include:
- Works as a private CA, allowing organizations to issue and control their own certificates
- Easy to operate CLI and simple APIs to automate certificate workflows
- Secure out-of-the-box configurations following best practices
- Modular architecture supports integration with hardware security modules like HSMs and YubiKey
- Detailed activity logs and health metrics for monitoring and auditing
- Built-in support for the ACME protocol to issue free certificates from Let's Encrypt
- Community or enterprise support options available
With its focus on automation and developer experience, Smallstep Certificates is well suited for organizations looking to scale certificate management securely and cost effectively.
Smallstep Certificates Features
Features
- Automated certificate issuance and renewal
- Support for multiple certificate authorities
- CLI and APIs for automation
- Built-in OCSP and CRL endpoints
- Cryptographic private key generation
- Configuration management with JSON/YAML
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Open source and free to use
Simple and easy to use
Secure by default with short-lived certificates
Highly customizable and extensible
Active development and community support
Cons
Limited enterprise management features
Not as feature rich as some commercial CAs
Requires more technical expertise to operate
Not ideal for extremely high certificate volumes
Official Links
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