--- title: "Infisical vs. AWS Certificate Manager" description: "How Infisical and AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) differ inside and outside AWS, what ACM and AWS Private CA cost, how expiry alerts and renewal work, and how Infisical syncs certificates into ACM." canonical: "https://infisical.com/compare/infisical-vs-aws-certificate-manager" last-reviewed: "2026-10-09" source-index: https://infisical.com/llms.txt ---

# Infisical vs. AWS Certificate Manager

AWS Certificate Manager covers public certificates on AWS. Infisical automates public and private certificates everywhere and syncs with ACM.

## What's the difference between Infisical and AWS Certificate Manager?

ACM renews public certificates for AWS services, but requires wiring it to a separate product for private ones. Infisical runs your whole certificate estate in one place and can sync with ACM instead of replacing it.

| Stage | Infisical | AWS Certificate Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Evaluate | Try the free tier with an internal CA, ACME automation, and the certificate dashboard; Self-host the MIT-licensed open-source version | Adopt and automate public certificate renewal quickly; Evaluate a second product: AWS Private CA to manage private certificates |
| Deploy/integrate | Use managed cloud in EU or US regions; Self-host on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, AWS ECS, or Google GKE; Connect ACM and AWS Private CA as CAs | Design a Private CA hierarchy at $400 per CA per month; Build custom logic to get private certificates anywhere outside AWS; Replicate certificates region by region |
| Migrate/onboard | Discover every certificate on your infrastructure, in AWS or outside of it; Set up automated syncs into ACM | Import outside certificates by hand and reimport them before they expire |
| Operate | Manage every certificate (on any infrastructure) in one dashboard; Renew, revoke, or reissue from the dashboard or API | Check each region's ACM console separately; Chase certificates stuck in validation |
| Automate | Renew automatically everywhere, not just on AWS services; Get a Slack, email, PagerDuty, or webhook alert before expiries | Route EventBridge events to SNS or Lambda in every region to get an alert; Manually script delivery to anything outside AWS; Manually connect AWS-native tools |
| Scale | Add secrets, privileged access, AI agent security, or KMS on the same platform | Rebuild the setup for every other cloud and data center |

## Infisical vs. AWS Certificate Manager at a glance

AWS-native services only cover AWS services while Infisical covers every certificate on any cloud or self-hosted infrastructure.

### Platform and deployment

Where each product runs, what it's built on, and what it covers.

| Feature | Infisical | AWS Certificate Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Where it works | AWS, other clouds, on-prem, and Kubernetes | AWS services, one region at a time |
| Products needed | Infisical Certificate Management | ACM, plus AWS Private CA for private certificates |
| Open source | MIT-licensed, 29,000+ GitHub stars | Proprietary AWS service |
| Self-hosting | Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, AWS ECS, or Google GKE | AWS-hosted only |
| Product scope | Certificates, secrets, privileged access, AI agents, and KMS | Certificates for AWS services |

### Certificate authorities

Which CAs sign public and private certificates.

| Feature | Infisical | AWS Certificate Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Public certificates | From ACM, Let's Encrypt, DigiCert, and more | Free on AWS services, renewed automatically |
| Private CA hierarchy | Built in, with keys in your own HSM if you want | AWS Private CA, $400 per CA per month, per region |
| External and public CAs | Public, private, ACM, and Private CA, in one inventory | Amazon's public CA and Private CA only |

### Issuance and enrollment

How servers, devices, and apps automatically request certificates.

| Feature | Infisical | AWS Certificate Manager |
|---|---|---|
| ACME | Yes | Public certificates only |
| EST | Yes | No |
| SCEP | Yes | Only through AWS Private CA |
| API | Yes | Yes |

### Lifecycle automation

Finding, tracking, issuing, renewing, and installing certificates.

| Feature | Infisical | AWS Certificate Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate discovery | Finds every certificate on your infrastructure, from any CA | No |
| Inventory | One view across clouds and on-prem | Per account and region |
| Automatic renewal | Via syncs, agents, or ACME clients | On AWS services, imported certificates require manual renewals |
| Expiry alerts | Slack, PagerDuty, email, or webhooks | Custom events routed through EventBridge |
| Certificate syncs | 13+ destinations, including ACM and AWS load balancers | AWS services only |

### Access and governance

Defining who has what permissions: access requests, approvals, audit logs, etc.

| Feature | Infisical | AWS Certificate Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Access control | Yes | Yes |
| SAML SSO | Yes | Yes |
| Audit logs | Yes | Yes |

## Use AWS Certificate Manager, AWS Private CA, and Infisical together

Infisical can issue through ACM and AWS Private CA and sync with ACM, so AWS services keep certificates where they expect them.

**What stays on AWS.** Public certificates from ACM and AWS Private CA as the CA behind private certificates (if you already run it).

**What Infisical adds.** On top of what AWS covers:

- A private CA hierarchy that works outside of AWS
- One inventory for all certificates
- Automated renewal and alerts for every certificate

**How they connect.** Infisical can issue through ACM's public CA or AWS Private CA. It can also sync certificates into ACM.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does AWS Certificate Manager cost?

Public certificates for AWS services like load balancers and CloudFront are free. Certificates exported for use outside AWS and certificates issued over ACME are charged per domain, and private certificates need AWS Private CA, which is billed separately. The real cost is often in the infrastructure costs and engineering overhead: EventBridge alert rules, reimport scripts, certificates in every region, and separate tooling for everything outside AWS. Infisical works out of the box across AWS and beyond, and has a free tier.

### How much does AWS Private CA cost?

AWS Private CA costs $400 per CA per month in general-purpose mode, plus a fee for each certificate, and a root plus an intermediate is two CAs. A short-lived mode costs $50 per CA per month for certificates valid up to seven days. Infisical's private CAs are built in, with no per-CA fee.

### What is the difference between ACM and AWS Private CA?

ACM issues and manages certificates for AWS services, and AWS Private CA is a separate service that runs private certificate authorities. To get private certificates in ACM, you set up Private CA first and pay $400 per CA per month separately. Infisical covers public and private certificates in one product.

### Can you export certificates from AWS Certificate Manager?

Private certificates from AWS Private CA can be exported with their private key. Public certificates can only be exported if you request them as exportable, a paid option chosen at request time. Standard public certificates stay inside AWS services. Infisical issues certificates you can install anywhere, and syncs them into ACM for the AWS services that need them.

### Does ACM alert you before certificates expire?

ACM emits an event before a certificate expires, but getting a person notified takes your own EventBridge rule routed to SNS or Lambda, in every region you use. Infisical alerts by email, Slack, PagerDuty, or webhook out of the box.

### Can Infisical sync certificates into ACM?

Yes. Infisical pushes certificates into ACM for load balancers, CloudFront, and API Gateway, and can attach them to load balancer listeners directly. It can also issue through ACM's public CA and AWS Private CA, so AWS stays your CA where you want it to.

### Can AWS Certificate Manager issue private certificates?

Not on its own. ACM issues public certificates itself and renews them for free on AWS services. Private certificates come from AWS Private CA, a separate service at $400 per CA per month plus per-certificate fees, and getting them onto anything that isn't an AWS service is up to your team. Infisical runs private CAs built in, alongside public certificates, and delivers both anywhere.

## Start managing certificates, then add secrets, privileged access, KMS, or agent access.

- **[Secrets Management](https://infisical.com/platform/secrets-management)**: Store, rotate, and deliver secrets.
- **[Certificate Management](https://infisical.com/platform/certificate-management)**: Issue, renew, and track every certificate.
- **[Privileged Access Management](https://infisical.com/platform/pam)**: Time-bound access without shared credentials.
- **[KMS](https://infisical.com/docs/documentation/platform/kms/overview)**: Encrypt and sign data through an API.
- **[Agent Vault](https://infisical.com/platform/agent-vault)**: Give AI agents access without handing them credentials.

## How to migrate from AWS Certificate Manager to Infisical

Most teams keep ACM for AWS services and move everything else to Infisical, one application at a time.

1. **Connect AWS.** Connect ACM and AWS Private CA as CAs in Infisical, so you keep issuing from them.
2. **Discover certificates.** Run discovery to find every certificate anywhere.
3. **Move one application.** Manage certificates in Infisical, and sync them into ACM or to wherever they're served.
4. **Retire the wiring.** Route expiry alerts through Infisical. Remove EventBridge rules and reimport scripts as each application moves.

Our team can help you plan and run the migration: [talk to an expert](https://infisical.com/talk-to-us).

## Get started

- Start free: https://app.infisical.com/signup
- Talk to an expert: https://infisical.com/talk-to-us
- All comparisons: https://infisical.com/compare.md