certificatesvssignserver-ce
Two self-hosted PKI projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| certificates | signserver-ce | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 72/100 | 51/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 2 in PKI | #2 of 2 in PKI |
| GitHub stars | 9 019 | 440 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +119 | +5 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 2 |
| Latest release | v0.30.2 · 23 Mar 2026 | v7.7.1 · 26 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Main language | Go | Java |
Which one should you pick?
certificates scores 72/100 against 51/100 for signserver-ce, so it is the safer default.
certificates ships more often: 3 stable releases in the past year, against 2 for signserver-ce.
If you want the quickest setup, certificates is easier to run; signserver-ce needs more configuration.
certificates is growing faster right now (+119 stars in 30 days).
certificates details →signserver-ce details →All PKI projects →
Swap a project
Keep certificates, compare it with
Keep signserver-ce, compare it with