In short: Sectigo is a certificate authority that issues publicly trusted TLS certificates and runs its own certificate lifecycle platform. Forever Systems supplies Sectigo Certificate Manager for domain validated certificates, in standard and wildcard options on monthly or annual terms, with ACME automation so renewals keep pace with shrinking certificate lifetimes.
What Sectigo does
Sectigo is a long-established commercial certificate authority (CA). It was known as Comodo CA until 2018, when the certificate business took the Sectigo name. A CA checks that you control a domain (and, for higher validation levels, that your organisation exists) and then signs certificates that browsers, operating systems and mail servers trust.
Sectigo's range covers:
- TLS/SSL certificates at domain validated (DV), organisation validated (OV) and extended validation (EV) levels, including wildcard and multi-domain options
- S/MIME certificates for signing and encrypting email
- Code signing certificates for software publishers
- Private PKI for internal devices and services
- Sectigo Certificate Manager (SCM), a cloud platform that discovers, issues, renews and revokes certificates automatically
Through Forever Systems we supply the part of that range most organisations struggle with day to day: keeping public website and service certificates valid without anyone having to remember a renewal date.
The Sectigo products we supply
| Product | What it does | Licensed by |
|---|---|---|
| Sectigo Certificate Manager | Discovery, automated issuance and renewal of publicly trusted DV certificates, with expiry dashboards and alerts | Each domain name managed, as a standard or wildcard certificate |
Certificate Manager is offered in two certificate options, Standard (one fully qualified domain name, such as www.example.co.uk) and Wildcard (a domain and all of its first-level subdomains, such as *.example.co.uk), each on a monthly or annual term.
If you need OV or EV certificates, S/MIME, code signing or private PKI, tell us what you are securing and we will advise on the right route. You can compare other approaches in our certificate management category.
Why certificate automation matters now
On 11 April 2025 the CA/Browser Forum, the body of certificate authorities and browser makers that sets the rules for public certificates, passed ballot SC-081v3. It cuts the maximum lifetime of a public TLS certificate in stages:
| From | Maximum certificate lifetime | Domain validation can be reused for |
|---|---|---|
| Before 15 March 2026 | 398 days | 398 days |
| 15 March 2026 | 200 days | 200 days |
| 15 March 2027 | 100 days | 100 days |
| 15 March 2029 | 47 days | 10 days |
We are already in the 200-day stage, so one certificate can no longer cover a full year: every public name now needs at least two certificates a year. From March 2029 a certificate will last less than seven weeks, and a domain validation can be reused for only ten days. Tracking that in a spreadsheet does not scale: an expired certificate takes a website, portal or API offline with a browser security warning. Automating issuance and renewal with the ACME protocol is the practical answer, and it is what Certificate Manager is built around.
How Sectigo is licensed through Forever Systems
- What you pay for: each domain name we manage for you, as either a standard (single name) or wildcard certificate
- Terms: monthly or annual, so you can start small and commit for a year once your domain list is settled
- Billing: on your Forever Systems invoice with your other subscriptions, based on the domains active in the period
- Renewals inside the term: Sectigo's subscription model for service providers charges per domain rather than per certificate, so the extra reissues that shorter lifetimes demand do not each need a new purchase; we confirm exactly how your names are counted when we quote
- Changes: add a domain, swap a standard name for a wildcard, or retire a site, and we adjust the subscription
Prices depend on how many names you have and the mix of standard and wildcard, so ask us for a quote. For background on terms, see monthly vs annual licences.
Buying Sectigo through Forever Systems
- Inventory: we list your public domains and find the certificates already in use, including ones bought by different teams or suppliers over the years.
- Choose options: we decide where a wildcard saves effort and where single-name certificates are the safer choice.
- Validate and automate: we complete domain control validation on your behalf and set up ACME clients on your web servers, load balancers or hosting.
- Run: expiry dashboards and alerts are watched by our team, and new domains are added when you need them.
If you already buy certificates from Sectigo or another CA, we can take over renewals as they fall due, so you are never left with an overlap or a gap.
Explore Sectigo
How Forever Systems supplies your software licences
Forever Systems Ltd supplies business software subscriptions to UK organisations from one account, with one monthly invoice and a UK team who know the products.
- The right edition first time: we check what you need before you buy, so you are not paying for features you will never use
- Monthly or annual terms where the vendor offers them, and help timing renewals and commitments
- Licence changes handled for you: add or remove users, upgrade editions and true-up without starting a new contract
- Deployment and support from engineers who run these products every day, not just a reseller account
- Consolidated billing and renewal reminders so nothing lapses unexpectedly
We work with businesses, schools, charities and public sector organisations of all sizes.
Need a licence quote or a second opinion on your renewal?
Tell Forever Systems what you need and we will come back to you by email with options, not a hard sell.
Contact usFrequently asked questions
Is Sectigo the same company as Comodo?
Sectigo is the certificate authority business that used to trade as Comodo CA. It took the Sectigo name in 2018 and is separate from the company that still uses the Comodo name for its other security products.
What is the difference between a standard and a wildcard certificate?
A standard certificate secures one fully qualified domain name. A wildcard secures a domain and every first-level subdomain under it, which suits organisations with many subdomains on the same domain.
When do TLS certificate lifetimes get shorter?
Under CA/Browser Forum ballot SC-081 the maximum fell to 200 days on 15 March 2026, falls to 100 days on 15 March 2027 and to 47 days on 15 March 2029.
Is a DV certificate as secure as an OV or EV certificate?
Yes. The validation level changes the checks Sectigo makes on your organisation, not the strength of the encryption. The major browsers stopped showing EV certificates differently in the address bar in 2019, so OV and EV are now chosen mainly where a sector or procurement rule asks for verified organisation details.
Can you take over certificates we bought elsewhere?
Yes. We discover your existing certificates and move each one onto automated renewal through Certificate Manager as it approaches expiry.