What Thawte does

Thawte is a Certificate Authority brand operated by DigiCert, Inc. that issues digital trust products spanning TLS/SSL certificates, S/MIME email certificates, code signing certificates, document signing certificates, Verified Mark Certificates (VMC/CMC), and regulated EU certificates including eIDAS-compliant Qualified Web Authentication Certificates (QWACs), PSD2 variants, and PKIoverheid certificates for Dutch government transactions. The technical foundation is DigiCert's public key infrastructure (PKI) platform delivering 256-bit encryption on a 2048-bit root of trust, with certificate lifecycle managed through DigiCert CertCentral, a centralized platform supporting issuance, renewal, revocation, and DevOps automation across the portfolio.

Revenue is generated entirely through monthly auto-renewing subscriptions with pricing tiers ranging from $7/month (S/MIME individual) to $144/month (PSD2-compliant QWAC). Product breadth covers use cases from basic DV certificates for individual websites ($16/month) through Extended Validation certificates for e-commerce ($45/month), code signing with FIPS 140-2 Level 2 key custody ($58-$81/month), and regulated qualified certificates for European financial and government use cases. The go-to-market is hybrid: direct-to-consumer self-serve online purchasing for SMB and developer segments, supplemented by DigiCert's inside sales and field sales teams with dedicated regional phone support across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC.

Thawte serves a distributed customer base spanning individual website owners, small businesses, mid-market organizations, enterprise e-commerce, software developers, regulated EU entities, and Dutch government transactors. Distribution is primarily digital (thawte.com with English, German, and French localization) with enterprise sales overlay, and the brand benefits from integration-level compatibility with all major browsers (99%+ coverage), email services (Gmail, Yahoo, Apple Mail), document platforms (Adobe, DocuSign, Microsoft Office), and DevOps toolchains (GitHub, Azure DevOps, Jenkins, GitLab).

Name

Thawte

Legal name

Thawte (brand operated by DigiCert, Inc.)

Website

https://thawte.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Thawte is a Certificate Authority brand operated by DigiCert that issues TLS/SSL, S/MIME, code signing, document signing, and regulated EU certificates (QWAC, PSD2, PKIoverheid) via subscription, serving SMBs, developers, and enterprises globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Certificate Authority and Digital Trust Services

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Fraud Prevention & Identity Verification (IDV/KYC) (BPAMAEAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Email Data Loss Prevention & Encryption (HDADAKAD), Compliance Identity & KYC/KYB for Wallets (on-chain identity, reusable KYC, travel rule tooling) (FSAPACAL)

Keywords

• TLS SSL certificates
• Digital certificates
• Public key infrastructure
• Code signing certificates
• Certificate authority services

Headquarters

HQ city

Cape Town

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. TLS/SSL Certificate Subscriptions: Recurring subscription-based revenue from TLS/SSL certificates including Single Domain (DV, OV, EV), Multi-Domain, and Wildcard certificates. Customers subscribe on annual or multi-year terms with automatic renewal. Prices range from $16/month for basic DV certificates to $45/month for EV certificates, with wildcard subscriptions starting at $68/month.
2. S/MIME Email Certificates: Subscription-based revenue for secure email certificates. Individual email protection at $7/month, Business Group at $112/month, and Business Employee at $12/month. Auto-renewing 12-month subscriptions.
3. Code Signing Certificates: Revenue from code signing certificates with Organization Validated at $58/month and Extended Validation at $81/month. Includes DigiCert CertCentral management portal. CA/B Forum compliant with HSM storage requirements.
4. Document Signing Certificates: Digital document signing subscriptions at $56/month for individuals or businesses. Includes hardware token storage, remote identity verification, and integration with Adobe, DocuSign, Microsoft Office.
5. Verified Mark Certificates (VMC): Monthly subscription at $118/month for Verified Mark Certificates enabling brand logos in email inboxes. Supports BIMI email authentication standards.
6. EU Qualified Certificates (QWAC, QSealC): Qualified Web Authentication Certificates for EU eIDAS compliance ranging from $28/month to $144/month depending on validation level and PSD2 requirements. Electronic Seals for financial institutions at comparable pricing.
7. PKIoverheid Certificates: Dutch government-compliant certificates for authentication, encryption, and document signing. Includes Private Services Server, Professional Signing, and Authentication/Encryption certificates for citizens, organizations, and licensed professionals.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Thawte is a Certificate Authority brand that issues and manages digital certificates for website security, email encryption, code signing, document signing, and brand authentication. The portfolio includes Domain Validation (DV), Organization Validation (OV), and Extended Validation (EV) TLS/SSL certificates; S/MIME email certificates; code signing and document signing certificates; Verified Mark Certificates (VMC); EU Qualified Web Authentication Certificates (QWAC); PSD2-compliant electronic seals; and PKIoverheid certificates for Dutch government interactions. All products are backed by DigiCert's PKI infrastructure and managed through the CertCentral platform.

Product overview

Thawte is a globally recognized Certificate Authority providing a comprehensive portfolio of digital trust and security products, now powered by DigiCert. The offering is structured as a multi-product platform with TLS/SSL certificates as the core offering, supplemented by specialized certificate types for email security (S/MIME), code integrity (Code Signing), document authenticity (Document Signing), and email brand authentication (Verified Mark Certificates). For European compliance, Thawte offers eIDAS and PSD2-qualified certificates including QWACs, Qualified Electronic Seals, and EU Document Signing. For Dutch government interactions, PKIoverheid certificates provide authentication, document signing, and encryption services. All products are managed through DigiCert CertCentral, a unified certificate lifecycle management platform that centralizes issuance, renewal, revocation, and automation across the entire certificate portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Thawte SSL 123: Domain Validated (DV) SSL certificate product line offering basic website security
• Thawte SSL Webserver
• DigiCert Mark Certificates
• DigiCert S/MIME Email Certificates
• DigiCert Code Signing Certificates
• DigiCert Document Signing Certificates
• QWAC
• EU Document Signing
• EU Qualified Electronic Seal (PSD2)
• PKIo Private Services Server
• PKIo Document Signing
• PKIo Authentication/Encryption

Products and services

• Thawte TLS/SSL Certificates TLS/SSL certificates for website encryption, authentication, and security. Includes Domain Validation (DV), Organization Validation (OV), and Extended Validation (EV) options, as well as Single Domain, Multi-Domain, and Wildcard variants. Provides 256-bit encryption on a 2048-bit root of trust and is trusted by 99%+ of browsers.
• Thawte SSL 123 (Domain Validation) Entry-level Domain Validation certificate for basic website security with quick issuance, providing up to 256-bit encryption for a single domain at $16/month ($192/year). Convertible to wildcard domain for $68/month.
• Thawte SSL Webserver (Organization Validation) Organization Validation SSL certificate providing additional identity verification, stronger encryption, and a trusted site seal for business websites with forms and login portals. Includes Thawte Trusted Site Seal and DigiCert CertCentral Basic account at $31/month for standard OV.
• Thawte SSL Webserver (Extended Validation) Extended Validation SSL certificate offering the highest level of identity validation with $1.5M USD warranty, 16 authentication checks, and 1-3 day issuance. For e-commerce and high-security websites at $45/month ($540/year).
• DigiCert S/MIME Email Certificates End-to-end email encryption and authentication for individuals and organizations, protecting against tampering, phishing, and man-in-the-middle attacks. Compatible with Gmail, Yahoo, Microsoft Outlook, and Apple Mail. Individual at $7/month, Business Group at $112/month, Business Employee at $12/month.
• DigiCert Code Signing Certificates Digital certificates that attest to code integrity and attach cryptographically unique identity and timestamp, preventing software tampering and ensuring authenticity. OV at $58/month ($696/year), EV at $81/month ($972/year). Includes DigiCert KeyLocker FIPS 140-2 Level 2 cloud storage or hardware token.
• DigiCert Document Signing Certificates Digital certificates for electronic document sealing and digital signatures, globally trusted and recognized by Adobe and DocuSign for legally binding electronic signatures. Compatible with Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Reader, Microsoft Office, LibreOffice, OpenOffice. At $56/month, includes remote identity verification and hardware token storage.
• DigiCert Verified Mark Certificates (VMC) Certificates that display brand logos in email recipients' inboxes, verifying email authenticity and improving brand recognition through BIMI support. Includes blue authenticated checkmark in Gmail. Subscription at $118/month ($1,416/year). Requires registered trademark or government seal.
• Common Mark Certificates (CMC) Email authentication certificates for logos that have not been registered as trademarks, providing similar benefits to VMC without trademark requirements.
• EU Qualified Web Authentication Certificates (QWAC) eIDAS-compliant TLS certificates for system-to-system authentication and encryption, enabling secure identification of EU organizations to users. Basic QWAC at $28/month, Organization Validation at $90/month, PSD2-compliant QWAC with NCA validation at $144/month.
• EU Qualified Document Signing Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) certificates for eIDAS-compliant digital signatures with the same legal effect as handwritten signatures. EU Qualified Personal at $23/month ($276/year), Adobe AATL compliant.
• EU Qualified Electronic Seal (PSD2) Qualified Electronic Seal certificates (QSealC) providing PSD2 and eIDAS-compliant digital seals for banking organizations and third-party payment processors. $123/month ($1,476/year).
• PKIo Private Services Server PKIoverheid-compliant TLS certificates for authentication, encryption, and secure communication with Dutch government entities via Digipoort.
• PKIo Document Signing PKIoverheid-compliant document signing certificates for Dutch citizens, private persons, organizations, and licensed professionals. Includes PKIo Citizen Signing at $33/month, Professional Signing at $34/month, and Qualified Electronic Seal at $132/month.
• PKIo Authentication/Encryption PKIoverheid-compliant certificates for secure authentication and encryption of electronic transactions with Dutch government. Options for Citizens, Organizations, Private Persons, and Licensed Professionals with 1, 2, or 3-year customizable certificate lifespans.
• DigiCert CertCentral Cloud-based certificate management platform for issuing, revoking, renewing, and managing all TLS/SSL, S/MIME, Code Signing, Document Signing, and Mark Certificates from one console with automation capabilities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Support for 99%+ of browsers and mobile device browsers
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration23 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• DigiCertcoreOthersThawte is fully powered by DigiCert, the world's leading provider of trusted, scalable TLS, IoT, and PKI solutions. DigiCert provides the underlying certificate authority infrastructure, CertCentral management platform, customer support, and industry leadership that powers all Thawte products. This is a parent-subsidiary relationship where DigiCert owns and operates the Thawte brand.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• DigiCert: DigiCert is Thawte's parent company and direct competitor in the same certificate categories. DigiCert-branded products offer identical PKI, CertCentral management, and pricing tiers, making it the closest one-to-one comparable and the most relevant pricing/positioning benchmark.
• Sectigo: Sectigo (formerly Comodo CA) is one of the largest commercial Certificate Authorities, offering DV/OV/EV TLS, code signing, S/MIME, and document signing. Direct head-to-head competitor across Thawte's entire product portfolio, particularly in SMB and enterprise TLS segments.
• Let's Encrypt: Let's Encrypt is the dominant free, automated DV certificate authority issuing certificates via the ACME protocol. It directly competes with Thawte's basic DV offering and is the primary market force commoditizing the entry-level TLS segment.
• Entrust: Entrust is a long-standing commercial CA and PKI provider offering TLS, S/MIME, code signing, and identity solutions. Competes with Thawte across enterprise and government segments, including qualified certificates for regulated industries.
• GlobalSign: GlobalSign is a CA offering TLS, code signing, S/MIME, and eIDAS qualified certificates. Direct competitor in Europe for PSD2/QWAC qualified certificates and a comparable alternative for enterprise PKI deployments.
• GoDaddy SSL: GoDaddy SSL resells certificates (historically powered by DigiCert and partners) targeting SMBs and domain-registration customers. Most directly comparable in the SMB self-serve channel where Thawte also competes heavily.
• IdenTrust: IdenTrust is a CA specializing in trusted identity and digital certificates, including government PKI and banking-grade authentication. Relevant peer for Thawte's qualified, government, and PSD2 certificate offerings.

Emerging players

• Certum (Asseco): Certum is a Polish CA offering TLS, code signing, and eIDAS-qualified certificates. A meaningful competitor in European qualified certificate markets and an alternative for cost-conscious EU customers.

Regional players

• SwissSign: SwissSign is a Swiss QTSP providing eIDAS-qualified certificates and qualified electronic signatures. Comparable for Thawte's EU qualified certificate portfolio, particularly for Swiss and DACH-region enterprises.

Others

• DocuSign (CLM Trust Service Provider): DocuSign integrates Thawte document signing certificates but also operates as a trust service provider in its own right. Relevant adjacent ecosystem player shaping demand for Thawte's AATL-compliant document signing certificates.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks3 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Thawte
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@DigiCert
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/digicert-inc-
• Facebookfacebook.com/thawte

Compliance13 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Thawte