compare
acme.sh vs cert-manager
The same facts for both, read from GitHub every night, and the relation a person reviewed.
| Fact | acme.sh | cert-manager |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Shell | Go |
| Licence | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Stars | 48k | 14k |
| Latest | 3.1.6 | v1.21.2 |
| Last push | 2026-10-18 | 2026-10-18 |
| Release cadence | about 72 days between releases | about 21 days between releases |
| Active contributors | 39 commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days | 30 commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days |
| Flags | none | none |
How they relate
Both replace Certbot. Alternatives to Certbot →
Full replacementacme.shShell-script ACME client with many DNS provider plugins and no dependencies.
Partialcert-managerIssues and renews ACME certificates for Kubernetes ingresses and services only.
acme.sh
- 3.1.62026-09-201. Release tags are signed from 3.1.6 on. The public key is allowed_signers
- 3.1.52026-09-191. Release tags are signed from 3.1.5 on. The public key is allowed_signers
- 3.1.42026-07-171. Support ACME Renewal Information (ARI, RFC 9773), enabled by default. Renewals now follow the renewal window suggest…
- 3.1.32026-04-28normal release, fix bugs
- 3.1.22025-11-29Regular release
cert-manager
- v1.20.42026-09-16cert-manager is the easiest way to automatically manage certificates in Kubernetes and OpenShift clusters.
- v1.21.22026-09-11cert-manager is the easiest way to automatically manage certificates in Kubernetes and OpenShift clusters.
- v1.21.12026-07-29cert-manager is the easiest way to automatically manage certificates in Kubernetes and OpenShift clusters.
- v1.21.02026-07-08cert-manager is the easiest way to automatically manage certificates in Kubernetes and OpenShift clusters.
- v1.21.0-beta.02026-07-01> [!NOTE]pre-release
acme.sh
✓ signed The latest release, 3.1.6, carries a signature GitHub verified.
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cert-manager
✓ signed The latest release, v1.21.2, carries a signature GitHub verified.
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