SSL vs HTTPS: What’s the Real Difference and Which One Do You Need? Alternatively, if you prefer a slightly

Short answer: No, they’re not the same.

Long answer: SSL/TLS does the heavy lifting (encryption), HTTPS is just the protocol that *uses* it.

And yeah, the naming’s a mess. We’re all saying "SSL" when it’s really TLS 1.2 or 1.3 now.