# openssl/openssl

General purpose TLS and crypto library

Repository: https://github.com/openssl/openssl
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/openssl
Homepage: https://openssl-library.org/
Language: C
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: cryptography, openssl, encryption, tls, ssl, decryption
Last push: 2026-08-26T22:22:16+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 95/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 87, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4978, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 8, "gap_med": 0, "n_releases_24m": 232}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 30694, forks 11410 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:54.562846+00:00)

## What it is
OpenSSL is a full-featured open-source toolkit implementing TLS, DTLS, and QUIC protocols on top of a general-purpose cryptographic library (libcrypto), plus the libssl protocol library and a command-line tool. It includes an FIPS-validated cryptographic module and is the de facto standard crypto library used across the industry.

## Use cases
- generate x.509 certificates and CSRs
- encrypt and decrypt files from the command line
- add TLS to a C application
- test a TLS or QUIC server handshake
- compute message digests and hashes
- create self-signed certificates for local development
- implement FIPS-compliant cryptography
- debug ssl certificate issues

## When to choose
- you need battle-tested TLS/DTLS/QUIC protocol support in C or any language binding
- you need a general-purpose crypto library with FIPS validation
- you need a CLI swiss-army knife for certificates, keys, and encryption
- you need maximum platform portability and industry-wide audit history

## When to avoid
- you want a modern, memory-safe language crypto library (e.g. RustCrypto, libsodium) for a new project
- you only need high-level authenticated encryption and a simpler API
- you need post-quantum-only or specialized crypto not covered by OpenSSL
- your platform ships a different system TLS stack (e.g. Secure Transport, Schannel) and you prefer native APIs

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: cryptography, security, http-server, cli, networking
- domain: security, developer-tools, networking, privacy
- platform: windows, bsd, cross-platform, cli, c
- tags: tls, ssl, x509, quic, fips, encryption, certificates, libcrypto, libssl, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- openssl/openssl (main) score 95

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:54.562846+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T16:52:44.290492+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/openssl/openssl (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:54.562846+00:00, sha 0824067aa0ff)
  - homepage: https://openssl-library.org/ (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:42.530275+00:00, sha 34f50bc5c75d)
  - site_page: https://openssl-library.org/community/getting-started (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:42.539357+00:00, sha 7beadb07d720)
  - site_page: https://openssl-library.org/about/contact (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:42.545134+00:00, sha ca19d0bfbd21)
  - site_page: https://openssl-library.org/about/management (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:42.546714+00:00, sha 60eed1c66dc0)
  - site_page: https://openssl-library.org/about/committers (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:42.548287+00:00, sha f06deec296c0)
  - site_page: https://openssl-library.org/about/sponsors (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:42.549812+00:00, sha 89a439843d21)
  - site_page: https://openssl-library.org/about/bylaws (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:42.551284+00:00, sha 4e73dc367660)
  - site_page: https://openssl-library.org/policies/releasestrat (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:42.541250+00:00, sha 512fb465d855)
  - site_page: https://openssl-library.org/faq (fetched 2026-08-29T07:49:42.543407+00:00, sha 26d2298fc08a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.