TLS Cipher Suites 2026: Distribution Report
Enterno.io scanned TLS handshakes for the top-100k sites (March 2026) and recorded the negotiated cipher suite in TLS 1.3 or TLS 1.2. Leader: AES-128-GCM (42%), then AES-256-GCM (28%), ChaCha20-Poly1305 (24%). 3DES is extinct. TLS 1.0/1.1 — just 0.8% (legacy). Cloudflare/Google edge prefer ChaCha20 for mobile (ARM without AES-NI).
Below: key findings, platform breakdown, implications, methodology, FAQ.
Key Findings
| Metric | Pass-rate / Value | Median | p75 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AES-128-GCM-SHA256 | 42% | — | — |
| AES-256-GCM-SHA384 | 28% | — | — |
| ChaCha20-Poly1305 | 24% | — | — |
| AES-128-CBC (legacy) | 5% | — | — |
| 3DES / DES | 0% | — | — |
| TLS 1.3 handshake | 67% | — | — |
| TLS 1.2 handshake | 32% | — | — |
| TLS 1.0 / 1.1 | 0.8% | — | — |
Breakdown by Platform
| Platform | Share | Pass / Detail | avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare edge | 21% | ChaCha20: 38% / AES: 62% | — |
| AWS CloudFront | 14% | AES-128-GCM: 85% | — |
| Google Frontend | 9% | ChaCha20: 55% | — |
| Fastly | 4% | AES-256-GCM: 72% | — |
| Nginx default | 26% | AES-128-GCM: 88% | — |
| Apache default | 18% | AES-128-GCM: 82% | — |
Why It Matters
- ChaCha20-Poly1305 is recommended for mobile — ARM without AES-NI computes it 3x faster than AES-256
- TLS 1.3 displacing TLS 1.2 — 67% of negotiations in 2026. Mozilla and Google plan to disable TLS 1.2 by 2027
- 3DES (CVE-2016-2183 Sweet32) is gone — not offered by any top-100k site
- Cipher suite priority: AES-256-GCM (strong server) → AES-128-GCM → ChaCha20 (ARM fallback)
Methodology
Top-100k Tranco list (March 2026). TLS handshake via openssl s_client -connect -servername -tls1_3 / -tls1_2. Cipher suite extracted from Cipher: field. Server groups: by SOA/CNAME and Server HTTP header.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does ChaCha20 matter for mobile?
AES speeds up via AES-NI instructions on x86. Old ARM processors (iPhone < 6, Android < 2017) lack them — ChaCha20 runs purely in software and wins by 2-3x.
What cipher list on nginx?
Modern: <code>ssl_ciphers TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256:TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256;</code> for TLS 1.3 + <code>ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:...</code> for TLS 1.2.
AES-128 or AES-256?
AES-128 is enough for 99% of cases and faster. AES-256 only for compliance (PCI DSS, FIPS 140-2 L2+) or protecting 100-year secrets.
How do I check my site's cipher?
<a href="/en/ssl">Enterno SSL/TLS</a> shows the negotiated cipher + supported list. Or: <code>openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -tls1_3</code>.