startssl

No predatory pricing (StartSSL has $25 revocations), free (AlphaSSL) and user-friendly (StartSSL is a UX nightmare).

Problem is, the certificates cost money (with the exception of StartSSL's) and basically all webmail clients don't support them.

StartSSL's business model: making things free that don't cost them measurable money, and charging for transactions that cost them money.

StartSSL is able to do it because they cut out the nickle and dimeing BS.

I'm not sure letsencrypt is the answer - it might just turn into another non-maintained CA (see startssl).

Fair enough, but bear in mind that StartSSL's revocation fee is lower than what most certificate providers charge as a starting price.

And if those barriers are so high, why is StartSSL able to do it?

Can someone summarize why this is better than, say, StartSSL or AlphaSSL?

WoSign, StartSSL and iirc Comodo create the private key in your browser.

While we wait for Let's Encrypt, you can use a free certificate from StartSSL.

I also recall StartSSL being incredibly difficult for those who only have a P.

I have looked at StartSSL when I registered my domain.