--- title: "Infisical vs. Google Cloud Certificate Manager" description: "How Infisical and Google Cloud Certificate Manager differ inside and outside Google Cloud, what Certificate Manager and CA Service cost, how expiry alerts and renewal work, and how Infisical syncs certificates into Certificate Manager." canonical: "https://infisical.com/compare/infisical-vs-google-cloud-certificate-manager" last-reviewed: "2026-10-09" source-index: https://infisical.com/llms.txt --- # Infisical vs. Google Cloud Certificate Manager Google Cloud Certificate Manager covers public certificates on Google Cloud. Infisical automates public and private certificates everywhere and syncs with Certificate Manager. ## What's the difference between Infisical and Google Cloud Certificate Manager? Certificate Manager renews public certificates for Google Cloud, but private certificates need a separate product. Infisical runs your whole certificate estate in one place and syncs with Google's services.
| Stage | Infisical | Google Cloud 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 Google-managed public certificates quickly; Evaluate a second product: CA Service for private certificates | | Deploy/integrate | Use managed cloud in EU or US regions; Self-host on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, AWS ECS, or Google GKE; Use a gateway to reach private networks | Authorize every domain with DNS records or the load balancer; Set up CA pools and pick a tier for private certificates; Move GKE Ingress to the Gateway API to use Certificate Manager | | Migrate/onboard | Discover every certificate on your infrastructure, in Google Cloud or elsewhere; Set up automated syncs into Certificate Manager | Upload outside certificates by hand and manually upload new ones if one expires | | Operate | Manage every certificate (on any infrastructure) in one dashboard; Renew, revoke, or reissue from the dashboard or API | Map hostnames to certificates in certificate maps; Chase certificates stuck in provisioning or authorization | | Automate | Renew automatically everywhere, not just on Google Cloud; Get a Slack, email, PagerDuty, or webhook alert before expiries | Manually build log-based alerts; Rely on a community cert-manager issuer for Kubernetes; Manually script delivery to anything outside Google Cloud | | Scale | Add secrets, privileged access, AI agent security, or KMS on the same platform | Rebuild the setup for every other cloud and data center; Uproot your entire workflow if you ever migrate; Wire separate services together for each new piece of security infrastructure |
## Infisical vs. Google Cloud Certificate Manager at a glance Google Cloud-native services only cover Google Cloud, 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 | Google Cloud Certificate Manager | |---|---|---| | Where it works | Google Cloud, other clouds, on-prem, and Kubernetes | Google Cloud load balancers and Media CDN | | Products needed | Infisical Certificate Management | Certificate Manager, plus CA Service for private certificates | | Open source | MIT-licensed, 29,000+ GitHub stars | No | | Self-hosting | Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, AWS ECS, or Google GKE | No | | Product scope | Certificates, secrets, privileged access, AI agents, and KMS | Certificates for Google Cloud services |
### Certificate authorities Which CAs sign public and private certificates.
| Feature | Infisical | Google Cloud Certificate Manager | |---|---|---| | Public certificates | From Google, Let's Encrypt, DigiCert, and more | Google Cloud | | Private CA hierarchy | Built in, optionally with keys in your own HSM | Via separate CA Service and manual wiring | | External and public CAs | Public, private, and Google's public CA in one inventory | Google's public CA, Let's Encrypt, and CA Service |
### Issuance and enrollment How servers, devices, and apps request certificates.
| Feature | Infisical | Google Cloud Certificate Manager | |---|---|---| | ACME | Yes | Google's public CA only | | EST | Yes | No | | SCEP | Yes | No | | API | Yes | Yes |
### Lifecycle automation Finding, tracking, renewing, and installing certificates.
| Feature | Infisical | Google Cloud Certificate Manager | |---|---|---| | Certificate discovery | Finds every certificate on your infrastructure, from any CA | No | | Inventory | One view across clouds and on-prem | Separate per project and region | | Automatic renewal | Via syncs, agents, or ACME clients | Google-managed certificates only, uploads require manual renewals | | Expiry alerts | Slack, PagerDuty, email, or webhooks | Log entries you can build alerts with | | Certificate syncs | 13+ destinations, including Certificate Manager | Google Cloud services only |
### Access and governance Who can see and change what, access requests and approvals, and audit logs.
| Feature | Infisical | Google Cloud Certificate Manager | |---|---|---| | Access control | Yes | Yes | | SAML SSO | Yes | Yes | | Audit logs | Yes | Yes |
## Use Google Cloud Certificate Manager and Infisical together Infisical can issue through Google's public CA and sync with Certificate Manager, so Google Cloud services keep certificates where they expect them. **What stays on Google Cloud.** Google-managed public certificates on your load balancers and Media CDN. **What Infisical adds.** On top of what Google Cloud covers: - A private CA hierarchy that works outside of Google Cloud - One inventory for all certificates - Automated renewal and alerts for every certificate **How they connect.** Infisical can issue public certificates from Google's public CA over ACME, sync certificates into Certificate Manager, and keep their certificate map entries current. ## Frequently asked questions ### How much does Google Cloud Certificate Manager cost? The first 100 certificates in a project are free each month, and each certificate after that costs about $0.20 a month, less at volume. Private certificates need CA Service, at $20 per CA per month on the DevOps tier or $200 on Enterprise, plus per-certificate fees. The real cost is often in the infrastructure costs and engineering overhead: DNS authorizations, certificate maps, log-based alerts, and separate tooling for everything outside Google Cloud. Any team that moves beyond GCP also needs to account for the operational overhead of bringing certificate management over. Infisical works out of the box across clouds and on-prem, and has a free tier. ### What is the difference between Certificate Manager and CA Service? Certificate Manager deploys certificates to Google Cloud load balancers and Media CDN, and CA Service is a separate service that runs private certificate authorities. To get private certificates in Certificate Manager, you set up a CA Service CA pool first and pay for it separately. Infisical covers public and private certificates in one product. ### Can Google Cloud Certificate Manager issue private certificates? Not on its own. Certificate Manager issues public certificates through Google's public CA and renews them on Google Cloud services. Private certificates come from CA Service, a separate service with a monthly fee per CA plus per-certificate fees, and getting them onto anything outside Google Cloud is up to your team. Infisical runs private CAs built in, alongside public certificates, and delivers both anywhere. ### Does Certificate Manager alert you before certificates expire? Certificate Manager writes a log entry when a certificate is close to expiring, but getting a person notified takes a log-based alert you build yourself. Infisical alerts by email, Slack, PagerDuty, or webhook out of the box. ### Can Infisical sync certificates into Google Cloud Certificate Manager? Yes. Infisical pushes certificates into Certificate Manager for global and regional load balancers and Media CDN, and can keep their certificate map entries current. It can also issue public certificates from Google's public CA over ACME. ## 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 Google Cloud Certificate Manager to Infisical Most teams keep Certificate Manager for Google Cloud services and move everything else to Infisical, one application at a time. 1. **Connect Google Cloud.** Connect Certificate Manager as a sync destination, and Google's public CA as a CA in Infisical. 2. **Discover certificates.** Run discovery to find every certificate anywhere. 3. **Move one application.** Manage certificates in Infisical, and sync them into Certificate Manager or to wherever they're served. 4. **Retire the wiring.** Route expiry alerts through Infisical. Remove log-based alerts and upload 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