How can I host an exe installer and sign with a certificate with low cost?

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How can I host an exe installer and sign with a certificate with low cost?

Han 0

Hi guys,

I have a standalone exe installer, made by Python. I want to publish it on Microsoft Store. I tried to go with MSIX route, but Python interpreter, PyTorch, Qt, and FFmpeg etc in the application will not pass the MSIX requirements. If I go the traditional exe route, it will require to host the app somewhere and sign it with a certificate. My question is how to host it and sign it with the cost as low as possible as a corporate developer. Thanks!

Best,

Han

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Michael Le (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 3,935 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello @Han ,

GitHub Releases is free for hosting your installer.

As an alternative, cloud storage services like Azure Blob Storage or Amazon S3 are also low-cost options for hosting files.

For signing, there are two main types:

Organization Validated (OV) Certificate: This verifies your company is a real business. While it helps, Windows may still show a warning for a short time until your application builds a reputation.
Extended Validation (EV) Certificate: This involves a more detailed background check on your company. Its main advantage is that it gives your application immediate trust, preventing security warnings from the start.

I hope this helps.

Han 0 Reputation points

2025-11-04T23:38:18.4166667+00:00

Hi Michael,

Thanks! My corporation is very new and a small business now. So I want to minimize the costs for hosting and signing certificate. My exe installer is about 900 MB size. I am not sure if GitHub Releases can handle this size. I remember I tried it before, but seems not working. But GitLab seems working. The main problem I have is about certificate. I hope to find a good option that works well and also cost low. Does Microsoft have such certificate services?

Best,

Han
Michael Le (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 3,935 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-11-05T02:23:51.6033333+00:00

Thank you for the follow-up, Han.

To clarify, GitHub Release supports individual files up to 2 GB in size. However, you can use whichever hosting service you prefer.

Regarding your question, Microsoft does not sell code signing certificates. Their role is to verify trust within Windows, and selling certificates would be a conflict of interest.

You will need to purchase a certificate from a trusted third-party vendor.
Han 0 Reputation points

2025-11-06T07:30:25.31+00:00

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the reply!
Michael Le (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 3,935 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-11-06T10:56:40.8166667+00:00

Thank you for the response, I would really appreciate if you could confirm the answer by following this guide.

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How can I host an exe installer and sign with a certificate with low cost?

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