ExpressionEngine 2026: Benefits, Features & Pricing

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On this page

Overview
Pricing and Plans
Features
User Reviews

Overview

ExpressionEngine

4.0

(12)

Pricing

Starting at $299.00 one time

About ExpressionEngine

ExpressionEngine is a content management system (CMS) that helps organizations create and manage digital content for multiple websites. It allows content editors to preview the pages and modify the interface using custom colors and themes.

The platform enables teams to capture and store content across multiple channels, design web pages using custom templates and configure workflows. Features of ExpressionEngine include role-based access, collaboration, SEO management, analytics, custom templates and more.

Pricing is available on request and support is extended via phone, email and other online measures.

ExpressionEngine Screenshots

ExpressionEngine Pricing and Plans

Starting price: $299.00 one time

Free Trial

Free Version

Basic

$299.00

one time

No plan information available

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ExpressionEngine Features

Popular features found in Content Management
Access Controls/Permissions
Audio File Management
Content Library
Customizable Templates
Image Editing
Search/Filter
SEO Management
Text Editing
Version Control
Video Support
More features of ExpressionEngine
Collaboration Tools
Electronic Forms
Full Text Search

ExpressionEngine User Reviews

Overall Rating

4.0

Ratings Breakdown

25%

58%

Secondary Ratings

Ease of Use

3.3

Value for money

3.9

Customer support

3.9

Functionality

3.8

Vicki F.

Verified reviewer

Human Resources

11-50 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed April 2019

Easy Website Management

Because we have a web designer who is extremely familiar with this product, when we have issues, we reach out to him, but for the easier edits, we can do them ourselves without much of a problem.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

This product is helpful when we want to update and/or change our website. It behaves much like other website design programs.

Cons:

It's not as easy to learn the system and int's not as intuitive as we would like.

Verified

Reviewer

Internet

11-50 employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed December 2019

A great and flexible CMS

I was in love with ExpressionEngine and used it for almost all my project (big and small) for 4 years or so. If you have a big project it can handle it like a charm!

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

ExpressionEngine was one of the first CMS to support extensively custom fields. Via its plugin architecture it was possible to shape content to fit your needs. Moreover its template system was great and HTML free (meaning that you were in full control of the code). ExpressionEngine was a pricy CMS since two years ago when it eventually turned OpenSource, which is a great news.

Cons:

The great template engine was not supported in the forum and member section of the site, so code this sections was a real pain...

Erik M.

Verified reviewer

Internet

2-10 employees

Used other for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed April 2021

Great for Large Companies with Devs on Staff, Terrible for Smaller Companies

Are used to work for a company that specializes in ExpressionEngine installations in the heyday of EE2. The move from EE3 was messy and caused a lot of problems. Experience I have now with ExpressionEngine is helping client migrate their sites away and into more modern and well supported CMS platforms.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

From my personal experience, one of the best things about ExpressionEngine was EllisLabs and their customer support. A lot has changed after Ellis Labs was acquired and then ExpressionEngine was sold off 2-3 years ago. Development seems to proceeding smoother under the new ownership. Another great thing was the level of customization that could be done when building an ExpressionEngine site. Each website could be configured and custom-tailored to the particular client's needs. This made the CMS a great choice for large companies with web developers on staff.

Cons:

It has a really difficult learning curve in my opinion. It can be overcome but website clients have a hard time with using it and maintaining the site without an in-house web developer. This platform was especially difficult for marketing managers with limited HTML knowledge. Overall, the small marketshare size, the lack of third party developer support, and the highly customizable nature of the initial installation all contribute to a high cost to produce and maintain an ExpressionEngine site. Unless you can afford an in-house web developer that is absolutely in love with ExpressionEngine, it's a terrible platform to choose.

Michael H.

Verified reviewer

Internet

Self-Employed

Used other for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed January 2020

A useful CMS whose best days are behind it

I have used ExpressionEngine for several sites, from basic four pagers to full ecommerce solutions. For a few years, ExpressionEngine was my "go to" CMS. However, over the years support has dried up, and it is no longer the first CMS I choose for a new project.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

When I started using ExpressionEngine I liked the variety and quality of add-ons and extensions that were available. It produced clean code, and was highly extensible. Built on CodeIgniter, it was relatively easy to customise with a little knowledge.

Cons:

Over time, many of the add-ons and extensions have lost developer support. Many key development teams have left the platform. As such, it is harder to create sites that fulfil the requirements of clients.

Reasons for choosing ExpressionEngine

Quality of code.

Stephen J.

Verified reviewer

E-Learning

Self-Employed

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed June 2020

Very flexible and dynamic CMS

It's a great CMS and I wouldn't hesitate to build any site or process on top of it.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

It's feature complete and extendable, UI isn't just an afterthought

Cons:

Wordpress gets more plugins and more attention in general, so EE has smaller dev base

Verified

Reviewer

Restaurants

1001-5000 employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed January 2020

Easy Admin of Users and Content Updating

Expression Engine makes it easy to train someone new or entry-level on administrating site content blocks as long as it's all set up properly for them.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Functionality

Pros:

I appreciate the ease of updating content. The channels and entries are easy to navigate and the tabs to easily check categories and other options such as post time and expiration time are most helpful. You can schedule content to post and also schedule when it comes down, so you don't have to do everything in real time.

Cons:

I wish there were easier previews of the changes being made or a content editor that showed the page layout while you were editing. There just isn't an easy way to preview how the changes will appear on the actual page.

Melissa C.

Marketing and Advertising

2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed December 2016

No restrictions on what you can build

It's hard to start with what's the best thing about ExpressionEngine (EE). Member management is definitely at the top, but the biggest thing for us is the ability to build whatever you want to build. EE is a blank slate and you decide what you want to build and how. That's great for developers that know the software. It can be intimidating for those that don't and are more use to a "plug and play" CMS. We've used EE on over 500 sites, from simple blogs, brochure sites, college websites to e-commerce sites to robust custom infrastructures. It never fails and the support is amazing.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

that we can build whatever we want with it and there are a ton of premium addons that build on to the core functionality

Cons:

upgrading can be a challenge since sites are so uniquely built

Alyse E.

Verified reviewer

Computer Software

201-500 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed March 2020

Good Foundation for Heavily Content Managed Apps, A Bit Dated

It was good for a period of time, but now we are transitioning to Craft.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

The platform was robust and allowed us to create a complex event management platform layered on top of Expression Engine. We were able to do most of the things we wanted and it served its purpose.

Cons:

Popularity seems to be waning as more companies are shifting to Craft, which has a simpler interface and we find is easier to use.