Client certificates tend to be used within private organizations to authenticate requests to remote servers. Whereas server certificates are more commonly known as TLS/SSL certificates and are used to protect servers and web domains.

What are client and server certificates?

Client Certificates

Server certificates are used to authenticate server identity to the client(s). Client certificates are used to authenticate the client (user) identity to the server. Server certificates encrypt data-in-transit. No encryption of data takes place in case of Client certificates.

What is the use of client certificate?

In cryptography, a client certificate is a type of digital certificate that is used by client systems to make authenticated requests to a remote server. Client certificates play a key role in many mutual authentication designs, providing strong assurances of a requester's identity.