SSLBoard as a Hardenize alternative
Hardenize is a good product. It was created by Ivan Ristic, the same person who built SSL Labs, and it combines host discovery, TLS configuration monitoring, and certificate inventory into one platform. For organizations that can commit to it, it does a lot.
The problem is access. Red Sift acquired Hardenize in 2022, removed the self-serve tier, and moved pricing to enterprise contracts starting around $5,000 per year. If you need a TLS assessment of your domain and don’t want to sign a contract, Hardenize is no longer an option.
SSLBoard is. You type a domain, wait a few minutes, and get a full TLS posture report with no account required.
What is Hardenize?
Hardenize is a continuous monitoring platform for network and security configuration. You add your domains and it scans them daily, checking TLS settings, certificate health, security headers, DNS and DNSSEC configuration, and SMTP security. It pulls in certificates from Certificate Transparency logs and matches them against what’s actually deployed on your servers.
It includes host discovery across cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP), certificate expiration alerts, teams and dashboards for managing access, and an API for integration. It also covers application security standards like HSTS, CSP, and SRI.
Hardenize still offers a free single-site test on its homepage, which gives you a snapshot of one hostname. But the monitoring product, the part that made Hardenize useful for ongoing visibility, requires an enterprise subscription.
Where Hardenize falls short
The core product is capable. The limitations are about who can access it and how.
After the Red Sift acquisition, the self-serve tier disappeared. The pricing page now shows two plans, Business and Enterprise, both requiring a demo request. Public reports put the starting price around $5,000 per year. That prices out freelancers, small teams, agencies, and anyone who needs a one-off assessment rather than continuous monitoring.
Hardenize is also a SaaS platform you commit to. You create an account, add your domains, configure teams and groups, and wait for scans to populate. If you’re committing to ongoing monitoring, that makes sense. If you just want to know how your TLS looks right now, it’s overhead.
Because Hardenize is built for persistent daily scanning, there’s no pay-per-scan option. If your use case is periodic, before an audit or after a certificate rotation, you’re paying for a subscription you use occasionally.
Sharing is also limited. Hardenize gives you dashboards within the platform. If you need to share findings with a client or an auditor, they either need their own account or you’re taking screenshots. And while Hardenize monitors individual hosts and flags issues, it doesn’t produce a single weighted score that summarizes your overall TLS posture. If someone asks “how does our TLS look?”, you can’t point them at one number.
How SSLBoard is different
SSLBoard is an on-demand TLS posture report. You type a domain, we discover hostnames via Certificate Transparency logs and DNS enumeration, then perform active TLS handshakes against every resolved IP. A few minutes later you have a report.
The report covers certificates (expiration, issuers, key types, SAN coverage), TLS versions (including which endpoints still accept deprecated protocols and their associated CVEs), cipher suites (weak ciphers mapped to specific hosts), forward secrecy, key strength, HTTP security headers, DNSSEC and CAA policy, connection errors, and post-quantum readiness.
Each report produces a weighted posture score broken down by category. That score gives you an answer you can actually share when someone asks about your TLS health. The full report includes CSV, Markdown, and JSON exports for audit documentation, and every report is shareable via a link.
We also check things Hardenize doesn’t surface in its free test, like post-quantum key exchange support (X25519Kyber768) and a weighted aggregate score across all discovered hosts.
You scan when you need to. Before an audit, after a rotation, when vetting a vendor. There’s nothing to maintain between scans.
When to use Hardenize vs. SSLBoard
Hardenize makes sense if you’re a large organization that needs continuous daily monitoring across hundreds of hosts, with cloud integrations, team management, and SMTP security checks. If you have the budget and the operational need for persistent scanning, it’s a solid platform.
SSLBoard is a better fit when you need a TLS posture assessment without committing to a subscription. It works for periodic audits, post-rotation validation, vendor evaluations, or any time you need a shareable report fast. It’s also useful if you were priced out when Hardenize moved upmarket, or if you don’t need daily monitoring and would rather scan on your own schedule.
Getting started
Go to sslboard.com, type your domain, and wait a few minutes. Your first scan is always free, with the full report including score, findings, and per-host breakdowns. No account required.