The 200-Day Certificate Deadline Is Coming: Are You Ready?

The SSL/TLS certificate renewal window shrinks on March 15, 2026: maximum lifespan drops from 398 days to just 200, cutting renewal cycles in half. Is your business ready for the 200-day certificate deadline?

Prepare for Shorter Certificate Duration Lifecycle Management

What’s Changing?

In spring 2026, certificates issued on or after March 15 must meet the new 200-day maximum validity. You’ll renew certificates twice as often, making an already time-consuming process almost unmanageable without the right tools.

The trend toward shorter certificate lifespans will continue, with 100-day and eventually 47-day certificates by March 15, 2029. As the digital certificate lifecycle reduction accelerates, organizations need to adapt now to stay ahead, and the pressure to automate is no longer optional.

For businesses still managing certificates manually, this reduction in the digital certificate lifecycle could introduce real operational risk. For those already using automation, it’s simply the next step in an evolving security landscape.

How SSL.com’s ACME Solution Prepares You for 200-Day Digital Certificates

This is where SSL.com’s ACME (Automated Certificate Management Environment) protocol support gives you a competitive advantage. ACME enables fully automated certificate issuance, renewal, and installation, removing human intervention and helping ensure your certificates remain current without manual oversight.

Here’s what automated certificate management with SSL.com delivers:

• Zero-touch renewals: Once configured, ACME handles certificate renewals automatically, eliminating the need for manual CSR generation, validation, or installation. Your certificates renew on schedule, every time.
• Seamless integration: ACME integrates with popular platforms such as cPanel, Plesk, Kubernetes, and cloud infrastructure, fitting directly into your existing workflows without requiring wholesale changes to your environment.
• Scalability: Whether you’re managing ten certificates or ten thousand, ACME scales effortlessly. As your infrastructure grows, your certificate management doesn’t become more complex—it just works.
• Reduced downtime risk: Automation eliminates expired certificates that catch you by surprise. No more weekend emergency renewals. No more angry emails about security warnings on your website.
• Future-proof approach: When the industry moves to 100-day or 47-day certificates, you’ll already have the infrastructure in place to handle even shorter certificate lifespans without disruption.

Contact SSL.com today to start automating your certificate management. Our ACME-enabled solutions will help you navigate the 200-day transition and future-proof your business.

Get Started with ACME-enabled Solutions

Why Is This Happening? 

It’s important to understand that this isn’t a decision made by individual certificate authorities like SSL.com. Instead, it’s an industry-wide mandate from the CA/Browser Forum (CABF), the industry body comprised of certificate authorities, browser vendors, and operating system providers. The CABF sets the baseline requirements for publicly trusted SSL/TLS certificates.

The reasoning behind shorter certificate lifespans is straightforward:

• Enhanced security: Limiting certificate validity duration reduces the window of exposure if a certificate is compromised or misissued. Think of it as changing your locks more frequently: the less time a key is in circulation, the lower the risk.
• Improved cryptographic agility: Shorter lifespans make it easier to adopt new algorithms and security standards. As quantum computing threats emerge, the ability to rotate certificates quickly will become even more critical.
• Stronger validation practices: More frequent renewals mean more regular domain and organization validation, ensuring that certificate owners remain legitimate and authorized.

While these benefits strengthen the internet’s overall security, they create operational challenges for businesses that haven’t yet embraced automation. The shift to 200-day digital certificates doubles the number of renewal events, validation requirements, and opportunities for human error.

The Real Cost of Manual Certificate Management

Let’s be honest about what manual certificate management looks like in a 200-day world:

• Constant renewal cycles: You’ll be renewing more than twice as often, creating an ongoing cycle of CSR generation, validation, installation, and testing.
• Higher risk of expired certificates: With shrinking renewal windows, the margin for error disappears. One missed renewal means website outages, broken APIs, security warnings that scare away customers, and potential compliance violations.
• Team burnout: Your IT and DevOps teams will spend more time managing certificates and less time on strategic initiatives. Certificate firefighting becomes the norm rather than the exception. This can also lead to increased errors.

The solution isn’t hiring more people or working extended hours. Instead, it’s to embrace automation tools that handle the entire certificate lifecycle for you.

Prepare Now: March 2026 Is Closer Than You Think

Prior to the deadline, SSL.com will automatically update our certificate profiles to ensure they remain compliant with the upcoming changes to the certificate lifecycle duration. Additionally, current customers can get a replacement certificate to cover the remaining time on their annual purchases.

Organizations that embrace automation now will transition smoothly. Those who delay face chaos, increased risk, and business disruption due to expired certificates. 

Good news: You can act before March 2026. SSL.com’s ACME solutions are available today, giving you time to test and refine automated workflows before the deadline.

Act now. Ensure you’re prepared for the 200-day certificate deadline. Discover how SSL.com’s ACME solutions can automate your certificate management, safeguard your business, and reduce operational risk.

Get Started with ACME-enabled Solutions

Other key Baseline Requirements changes for March 15, 2026: