Compared: Red Sift Certificates Lite
A Red Sift Certificates Lite alternative for agencies with client sites
Red Sift Certificates Lite and ExpiryOwl compared on price, discovery, scan frequency, expiry alerts and domain checks, every fact sourced.
What Red Sift Certificates Lite is
Red Sift Certificates Lite is Red Sift's free certificate monitoring service. It monitors up to 250 certificates, discovers certificates associated with your domains and subdomains, and sends email alerts before they expire.
redsift.com · verified 2026-09-25Side by side
Everything in the Red Sift Certificates Lite column was read on Red Sift Certificates Lite's own website on the date shown next to it. Prices and plans change; follow the link to see today's version. Where we couldn't confirm something, we say so instead of guessing.
| Topic | Red Sift Certificates Lite | ExpiryOwl |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, for up to 250 certificates.redsift.com · verified 2026-09-25 | Free, Freelancer $9/month, Agency $29/month, Agency Pro $79/month. Same checks on every plan. |
| Certificate discovery | Automatically discovers all certificates associated with your domains and subdomains.redsift.com · verified 2026-09-25 | Subdomain discovery from Certificate Transparency logs, so certificates you forgot about show up in the list. |
| Scan frequency | Daily scans over HTTPS (port 443), showing which certificate is installed on each endpoint.redsift.com · verified 2026-09-25 | Every certificate checked every 6 hours: issuer, SANs, chain and hostname match. Alerts at 30, 14, 7, 3, 1 and 0 days. |
| Expiry alerts | Email alerts before expiry; the FAQ describes them as 7-day alerts.redsift.com · verified 2026-09-25 | We flag an ACME certificate as renewal overdue once it passes the point where it normally renews, usually weeks before expiry. |
| Alert channels | Email alerts, with an option to alert only for certificates that are actively deployed.redsift.com · verified 2026-09-25 | Email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Telegram, signed webhooks (Zapier, Make, n8n) and an iCal feed of expiry dates. |
| Domain expiry | Not verified | Daily RDAP lookups: expiry date, registrar, statuses, transfer lock and nameservers, plus DNS change alerts. |
When Red Sift Certificates Lite is the better choice
- You want certificate expiry alerts at no cost: up to 250 certificates are free.redsift.com · verified 2026-09-25
- You want the service Let's Encrypt points to: its monitoring options page says it can recommend Red Sift Certificates Lite.letsencrypt.org · verified 2026-09-25
- You may later need enterprise certificate management. Red Sift's paid Certificates application adds discovery across network assets, cloud platforms, certificate authorities, DNS providers and registrars.redsift.com · verified 2026-09-25
When ExpiryOwl fits better
- ExpiryOwl is organised around clients: group domains per client, send each one a white-label monthly PDF report and give them a status page. Unlimited clients from Agency ($29/month).
- We look for renewals that should have happened. ACME certificates (Let's Encrypt, ZeroSSL, Google Trust Services) normally renew when about a third of their lifetime remains; when one passes that point we flag it as renewal overdue. For Let's Encrypt we use its ACME Renewal Information (ARI) window. That is usually weeks before the certificate expires.
- Certificates and domains in one list: daily RDAP domain checks (registrar, statuses, transfer lock, nameservers) next to 6-hourly certificate checks.
- It lives where you already work: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Telegram, signed webhooks for Zapier, Make and n8n, an iCal feed of expiry dates, a REST API and an MCP server.
Red Sift Certificates Lite is a trademark of its owner. We are not affiliated with them. If something here is out of date, email [email protected] and we'll correct it.
Start with five domains, free.
The free plan watches 5 domains for one client: certificates, domain registration, DNS and uptime every 15 minutes. No card, no trial clock.