An identified obstacle to deploying SSL on home-based Web servers is the high cost of SSL certificates. Why can't CAs just drop their prices?

Prices for SSL certificates issued by trusted Certificate Authorities are high because there is a limited market. Typical customers are e-commerce and banking Web sites, for which expensive certificates are just part of the cost of doing business.

CAs cannot simply charge less for SSL certificates for home-based Web servers, because this could negatively impact the market for their high-priced commercial certificates. To avoid damaging their existing market, CAs must differentiate between commercial and consumer cerificates, which they are unable to do. In contrast, since AutoSSL technology is appropriate only for the consumer market, CAs can sell their AutoSSL-issued certificates for less than their commercial certificates without the fear of damaging their commercial business.

While many SSL certificates are quite expensive (typically well over $100/year), several companies have lower prices. Lower-priced certificates can be as secure as more expensive ones. However, all these products require the user to manually install the SSL certificate, which makes them inappropriate for most casual computer users.