diff --git a/HISTORY.rst b/HISTORY.rst
index 8af993c7..60e9fbf4 100644
--- a/HISTORY.rst
+++ b/HISTORY.rst
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ PlatformIO 3.0
   + Support for the 3rd party manifests (Arduino IDE "library.properties"
     and ARM mbed "module.json")
 
+* Switched to SSL PlatformIO API
 * Build System: Attach custom Before/Pre and After/Post actions for targets
   (`issue #542 <https://github.com/platformio/platformio/issues/542>`_)
 * Print human-readable information when processing environments without
diff --git a/docs/envvars.rst b/docs/envvars.rst
index 5931e391..4aea55c0 100644
--- a/docs/envvars.rst
+++ b/docs/envvars.rst
@@ -165,3 +165,8 @@ Allows to override setting :ref:`setting_enable_telemetry`.
 .. envvar:: PLATFORMIO_SETTING_FORCE_VERBOSE
 
 Allows to override setting :ref:`setting_force_verbose`.
+
+
+.. envvar:: PLATFORMIO_SETTING_DISABLE_SSL
+
+Allows to override setting :ref:`setting_disable_ssl`.
diff --git a/docs/userguide/cmd_settings.rst b/docs/userguide/cmd_settings.rst
index 04be4260..0219b076 100644
--- a/docs/userguide/cmd_settings.rst
+++ b/docs/userguide/cmd_settings.rst
@@ -87,6 +87,16 @@ Check for the new PlatformIO interval.
 
 Check for the platform updates interval.
 
+.. _setting_disable_ssl:
+
+``disable_ssl``
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+:Default:   No
+:Values:    Yes/No
+
+Disable SSL for PlatformIO API (NOT RECOMMENDED, INSECURE)
+
 .. _setting_force_verbose:
 
 ``force_verbose``
diff --git a/platformio/__init__.py b/platformio/__init__.py
index 1ae99390..28860527 100644
--- a/platformio/__init__.py
+++ b/platformio/__init__.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 import sys
 
-VERSION = (3, 0, "0a9")
+VERSION = (3, 0, "0a10")
 __version__ = ".".join([str(s) for s in VERSION])
 
 __title__ = "platformio"
diff --git a/platformio/app.py b/platformio/app.py
index 3bacc180..507bf528 100644
--- a/platformio/app.py
+++ b/platformio/app.py
@@ -48,6 +48,11 @@ DEFAULT_SETTINGS = {
         "description": "Force verbose output when processing environments",
         "value": False
     },
+    "disable_ssl": {
+        "description": ("Disable SSL for PlatformIO API "
+                        "(NOT RECOMMENDED, INSECURE)"),
+        "value": False
+    },
     "enable_telemetry": {
         "description":
         ("Telemetry service <http://docs.platformio.org/en/stable/"
diff --git a/platformio/managers/platform.py b/platformio/managers/platform.py
index 97295e40..ce37665c 100644
--- a/platformio/managers/platform.py
+++ b/platformio/managers/platform.py
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@ class PlatformManager(BasePkgManager):
     def __init__(self, package_dir=None, repositories=None):
         if not repositories:
             repositories = [
-                "https://dl.platformio.org/platforms/manifest.json"
+                "{0}://dl.platformio.org/platforms/manifest.json".format(
+                    "http" if app.get_setting("disable_ssl") else "https")
             ]
         BasePkgManager.__init__(self, package_dir or
                                 join(util.get_home_dir(), "platforms"),
diff --git a/platformio/util.py b/platformio/util.py
index f32f96d3..21b60c2c 100644
--- a/platformio/util.py
+++ b/platformio/util.py
@@ -346,6 +346,8 @@ def _api_request_session():
 
 def get_api_result(path, params=None, data=None, skipdns=False):
     import requests
+    import app
+
     result = None
     r = None
 
@@ -355,6 +357,9 @@ def get_api_result(path, params=None, data=None, skipdns=False):
         url = "https://%s" % __apiip__
         headers['host'] = __apiurl__[__apiurl__.index("://") + 3:]
 
+    if app.get_setting("disable_ssl"):
+        url = url.replace("https://", "http://")
+
     try:
         if data:
             r = _api_request_session().post(