Certack: Proactive SSL, DNS, and domain monitoring

Description

Certack is proactive SSL, DNS, and domain monitoring: a lightweight way to verify SSL/TLS certificates, DNS records, and domain expiry. Set up in minutes.

What we monitor

• SSL/TLS — Certificate expiry, issuer, subject alternative names, chain validation, signature algorithm, and CT log monitoring for unauthorized issuance. Per-site thresholds: 60, 30, 14, 7, 1 days, or any custom lead time.
• DNS — A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, and NS record tracking. Detects record changes and DNS hijacking attempts. Diff-based change detection with full historical record state.
• Domain — Registration expiry, registrar, registrant changes, and WHOIS-based monitoring. Multi-stage expiry warnings at 90, 30, 14, 7, and 1 days before lapse.

WordPress integration

One-click SSL checks from Settings → Certack, a dashboard widget with days remaining, daily automatic checks with email warnings (opt-in), and a Gutenberg block plus [certack_checker] shortcode that sends your visitors to the checker on certack.com.

Results are cached for 12 hours and frontend checks are rate-limited, so the plugin never slows down your site. No external request happens without your explicit action or opt-in.

Why Certack

• Unauthorized-issuance detection. Certack watches Certificate Transparency logs and alerts you if a new certificate is issued for your domain that you did not request — a common early sign of a man-in-the-middle setup or a phishing campaign using your brand.
• Per-site thresholds. Alerts are pre-configured for 60, 30, 14, 7 and 1 days before expiry — adjust the thresholds per site if you like.
• Nine alert channels. Email, Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams, Telegram, DingTalk, Feishu, PagerDuty, and generic webhooks.
• Programmable. REST API with Bearer-token authentication on every plan, plus a native MCP server so AI assistants can manage monitoring directly.
• Nothing to install. No agent, no DNS changes — add a domain and checks begin within thirty seconds.

Learn more at Certack — proactive SSL, DNS, and domain monitoring. Read the API docs or start with the SSL expiry guide.

External services

This plugin connects to Certack’s SSL checking API to verify certificate details.

What the service is: Certack’s SSL checker retrieves public certificate information for a domain (issuer, expiry date, signature algorithm, SAN list) by connecting to that domain’s HTTPS endpoint. It also optionally registers a domain for continuous monitoring.

What data is sent and when:
– When you click “Check now”: the domain name is sent to https://certack.com/api/public/check-ssl. No personal data is transmitted.
– When you save an API key and click “Get email alerts”: the domain name, check types (ssl/dns/domain), and alert threshold are sent to https://api.certack.com/v1/sites. The API key authenticates the request.
– When automatic daily checks are enabled (opt-in): the domain name is sent once per day to the same SSL check endpoint.

Terms of Service and Privacy Policy:
– Terms of Service
– Privacy Policy

Technical details