I’ve worked with site security long enough to know that SSL certificate issues aren’t just minor hiccups—they lead to outages, warnings, and search engine penalties. If you’re running multiple domains or managing client sites, keeping track of every certificate’s expiration date manually doesn’t scale. I’ve evaluated various monitoring options over time, especially now that Let’s Encrypt is ending their reminder emails. I looked for reliability, ease of use, affordability, and most importantly, focus. That’s how I landed on recommending certificate expiration monitoring from CertNotifier.
Why Let’s Encrypt’s Change Affects You
If you’ve relied on Let’s Encrypt to send expiration reminders, that’s about to change. They’re shutting off email reminders on June 4, 2025. Their reasoning makes sense—it’s a cost issue for them as a non-profit, and they’re pushing for full automation through tools like Certbot. But here’s the problem: automation isn’t perfect. Scripts can fail. Servers can crash. And when that happens, your SSL certificate could quietly expire. You won’t know until something breaks.
Even if you’re comfortable setting up ACME clients or custom scripts, you’re still depending on those systems running correctly without fail. That’s a risk I don’t think is worth taking when reliable alternatives exist.
Why I Recommend CertNotifier
CertNotifier fills the gap that Let’s Encrypt is leaving behind. What I like about them is how straightforward they’ve made everything. For $9.99 a year—or $7.77 annually if you’re one of the first 1,000 users—you can monitor three domains. That includes domains you don’t even own or control, which is important if you’re managing sites for clients or overseeing dev environments. It’s clean, efficient, and it does exactly what it needs to do without adding unnecessary features.
The alert system is well thought out. You get notifications 60, 30, 14, 7, 3, and 1 day before a certificate expires. You’ll also be notified if something causes the certificate to become invalid earlier than expected. Each domain can have up to three different notification recipients, and you can fully control how alerts are configured. That kind of flexibility is useful if you’re working in a team or managing external projects.
Setup is Quick and Practical
I’ve seen a lot of tools that overcomplicate things. CertNotifier isn’t one of them. You pick your domain, handle payment, set up your notifications, and you’re good. You don’t need to integrate it with DNS or server-side code. That means no matter where your certificate is hosted or who controls the backend, you can still monitor it independently.
The process is designed with speed and clarity in mind. If you’ve got multiple projects, you can get everything configured and protected in minutes. And if anything changes or needs updating, you can make adjustments directly from the dashboard.
What Sets Them Apart
What makes CertNotifier stand out to me is their focused approach. Most other platforms that offer SSL monitoring tend to bundle it with features you may never use—site speed tracking, uptime monitoring, analytics, etc. I’ve tried those bundles before, and more often than not, the extra tools just get in the way. CertNotifier does one thing and does it well. That simplicity matters.
They’re already actively monitoring over 100 domains and sending out alerts. It’s not a theory or beta release. It’s a proven system that’s already in use and delivering value.
Why You Should Act Now
If you’re not actively monitoring your certificates, you’re opening yourself up to potential downtime and loss of customer trust. I’ve seen businesses lose traffic, reputation, and even clients over certificate issues that could have been avoided with a simple reminder.
CertNotifier gives you the peace of mind to know that you’ll always have visibility over your certificate status. Even if something goes wrong with automation, you’ll still get a heads-up in time to act.
Final Thoughts
I’ve tested, compared, and watched how these services hold up. If you’re looking for a solution to monitor certificate expirations without the fluff, CertNotifier is worth considering. Their service is focused, reliable, and priced reasonably. More importantly, it gives you control in a space where automation alone isn’t enough. If you’re managing your own sites or client projects, integrating CertNotifier into your process can prevent a lot of unnecessary stress.
