--- title: "Cloudflare vs Let's Encrypt: Which is searched more?" description: "Is Cloudflare or Let's Encrypt more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the SSL certificate providers set worldwide. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time." canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/compare/cloudflare-vs-let-s-encrypt" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # Cloudflare vs Let's Encrypt: Which is searched more? Is Cloudflare or Let's Encrypt more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the SSL certificate providers set worldwide. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time. ## Key facts - **Compared**: Cloudflare and Let's Encrypt - **Competitive set**: SSL certificate providers - **Market**: Global - **Month measured**: Sep 2026 - **Cloudflare Share of Search**: 88.7% - **Let's Encrypt Share of Search**: 1.4% ## Is Cloudflare or Let's Encrypt more popular in search? - In September 2026, Cloudflare had more branded searches than Let's Encrypt among SSL certificate providers worldwide. Cloudflare had about 4.1 million branded searches, while Let's Encrypt had 62,700. Cloudflare made up 88.7% of all SSL certificate provider searches we track, and Let's Encrypt accounted for 1.4%. - Cloudflare was ahead of Let's Encrypt in every measured month of the 12 months ending September 2026. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Cloudflare’s share of searches among SSL certificate providers worldwide moved from 78% to 88.7%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 2.2M to 4.1M. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Let's Encrypt’s share of searches among SSL certificate providers worldwide moved from 3.1% to 1.4%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 88.8K to 62.7K. ## Top SSL certificate providers in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews In three ChatGPT questions and two Google AI Overviews, Let's Encrypt appeared in all five answers. Cloudflare was mentioned in three out of five: in all three ChatGPT answers, but not in either of the two Google AI Overviews. Let's Encrypt was listed before Cloudflare in every answer. Brands get a higher AI rank if they are mentioned earlier in the answers that list options. | Brand | AI rank | ChatGPT answers that named it | Google AI Overviews that named it | All answers that named it | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Let's Encrypt | 1st | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | DigiCert | 2nd | 3 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 3 of 5 | | Sectigo | 3rd | 3 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 3 of 5 | | Cloudflare | 4th | 3 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 3 of 5 | | GlobalSign | 5th | 1 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 1 of 5 | | Comodo | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 0 of 5 | | Namecheap | Not ranked | 0 of 3 | 0 of 2 | 0 of 5 | ## Every AI answer about SSL certificate providers - Asked ChatGPT "Which SSL certificate provider should I use?": 1. Let's Encrypt, 2. DigiCert, 3. Cloudflare, 4. Sectigo - Asked ChatGPT "What are the best SSL certificate providers?": 1. Let's Encrypt, 2. DigiCert, 3. Sectigo, 4. Cloudflare, 5. GlobalSign - Asked ChatGPT "What's the best SSL certificate provider for website security?": 1. Let's Encrypt, 2. DigiCert, 3. Sectigo, 4. Cloudflare - Searched Google, AI Overview "website ssl certificate": 1. Let's Encrypt - Searched Google, AI Overview "domain validation certificate": 1. Let's Encrypt Not named in any answer: Comodo and Namecheap. Brands are listed in the order each answer named them. The answers were collected in the United States on October 21, 2026. ## How did search popularity change for SSL certificate providers worldwide in September 2026? - Let's Encrypt’s share of searches among SSL certificate providers worldwide has lost ground for 3 months in a row, from 2.6% to 1.4% in September 2026. - Estimated monthly branded searches for Cloudflare worldwide rose 82.6% over 12 measured months, from 2.2M to 4.1M in September 2026. ## Month by month | Month | Cloudflare estimated searches | Cloudflare Share of Search | Cloudflare rank | Let's Encrypt estimated searches | Let's Encrypt Share of Search | Let's Encrypt rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | 2.2M | 78% | 1 | 88.8K | 3.1% | 3 | | Nov 2025 | 9.1M | 93.5% | 1 | 88.8K | 0.91% | 3 | | Dec 2025 | 4.1M | 88.4% | 1 | 88.8K | 1.9% | 3 | | Jan 2026 | 2.7M | 80.9% | 1 | 105K | 3.1% | 3 | | Feb 2026 | 2.7M | 83.2% | 1 | 92.1K | 2.8% | 3 | | Mar 2026 | 3.4M | 85.9% | 1 | 87.6K | 2.2% | 3 | | Apr 2026 | 3.4M | 86% | 1 | 87.6K | 2.2% | 3 | | May 2026 | 3.4M | 86% | 1 | 87.6K | 2.2% | 3 | | Jun 2026 | 3.4M | 85.7% | 1 | 101K | 2.6% | 3 | | Jul 2026 | 3.4M | 86.5% | 1 | 71.7K | 1.9% | 3 | | Aug 2026 | 4.1M | 89% | 1 | 62.7K | 1.4% | 3 | | Sep 2026 | 4.1M | 88.7% | 1 | 62.7K | 1.4% | 3 | ## How each brand is measured Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Cloudflare’s and Let's Encrypt’s names. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for these branded terms can be used to understand whether interest in the brands is growing, holding steady, or fading. - **Cloudflare**: Measured on the search term “cloudflare”. - **Let's Encrypt**: Measured on the search terms “lets encrypt” and “letsencrypt”, summed into one figure. - [Cloudflare profile](/demand/global-en/brands/cloudflare) - [Let's Encrypt profile](/demand/global-en/brands/let-s-encrypt) - [All SSL certificate providers worldwide](/demand/global-en/categories/ssl-certificate-providers): The set both shares are measured inside, 7 brands. ## Methodology - [How is the Brand Demand Index measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Cloudflare or Let's Encrypt more popular in search? In September 2026, Cloudflare had more branded searches than Let's Encrypt among SSL certificate providers worldwide. Cloudflare had about 4.1 million branded searches, while Let's Encrypt had 62,700. Cloudflare made up 88.7% of all SSL certificate provider searches we track, and Let's Encrypt accounted for 1.4%. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "Cloudflare vs Let's Encrypt: Which is searched more?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/compare/cloudflare-vs-let-s-encrypt This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/compare/cloudflare-vs-let-s-encrypt. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.