--- title: ExpressionEngine Reviews meta_title: 'ExpressionEngine Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 56 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how ExpressionEngine works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 3.7 review_count: 56 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-08-07' parent_category: name: Content Management url: https://www.g2.com/categories/content-management --- # ExpressionEngine Reviews **Vendor:** EllisLab **Category:** [Web Content Management Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/web-content-management) **Average Rating:** 3.7/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 56 ## About ExpressionEngine ExpressionEngine is a and secure open-source content management system (CMS) designed to empower developers and content creators to build and manage dynamic websites with ease. Its flexible architecture allows users to organize content into customizable channels, facilitating the creation of diverse content types such as blogs, news articles, product descriptions, and more. With a user-friendly interface, ExpressionEngine enables seamless content editing directly from the front end, eliminating the need to navigate complex control panels. The platform's robust templating system supports the integration of HTML, JavaScript, PHP, and ExpressionEngine tags, providing developers with the tools to craft unique and engaging web experiences. Key Features and Functionality: - Flexible Content Channels: Organize and manage various content types through customizable channels, allowing for tailored content structures. - Front-End Editing: Edit content directly on the live site, streamlining the content management process without accessing the backend. - Comprehensive Templating System: Utilize a powerful templating engine that supports multiple programming languages and ExpressionEngine tags for dynamic content rendering. - Custom Fieldtypes: Choose from over 20 different field types to capture and display content in ways that best suit your website's needs. - Entry Cloning: Duplicate existing entries with a single click to expedite content creation and maintain consistency. - User Management: Efficiently manage different types of members and user roles to control access and permissions. - Multi-Site Management: Administer multiple websites from a single control panel, with the option to share design elements, content, and user data across sites. - Live Preview: Preview content changes in real-time within the site's design before publishing, ensuring accuracy and visual appeal. - Add-On Prolets: Extend site functionality by integrating add-ons that can be accessed directly from the front end. - Robust Security: Benefit from a proven track record of rock-solid security, with no serious security issues reported in its 15-year history. Primary Value and Solutions Provided: ExpressionEngine offers a comprehensive solution for building and managing websites that require flexibility, security, and ease of use. Its customizable content channels and templating system allow developers to create unique web experiences without being constrained by rigid structures. The front-end editing capabilities and live preview features enhance the efficiency of content management, enabling users to make real-time updates with confidence. Additionally, the platform's strong security measures and active community support provide peace of mind for users, ensuring that their websites remain secure and up-to-date. Whether for small personal blogs or large-scale enterprise sites, ExpressionEngine delivers the tools and flexibility needed to bring any web project to life. ## ExpressionEngine Reviews ### 1. User friendly cms **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Hitarthi B. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 11, 2020 **What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?** ExpressionEngine is designed in such a way that any non technical user can easily built basic website. Also this cms provides high level of security as compared with other php based frameworks. **What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?** To customise this cms, it takes bit long process and one has to follow its own method which can be done by technical user. **What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?** While working on ecommerce website built on ExpressionEngine I really found some great payment plugins which are very handy. ### 2. Learning curve is a little steep, but in a few weeks it will get under your skin. **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** aleksandar p. | SEO and automation specialist, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 15, 2020 **What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?** It offers tags that enable you to build quickly the content structure of your page. **What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?** There was misaligned documentation between versions and I needed the information while building plugins and modules. However, after some Googling, I found the needed info... **What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?** It allows building pages very quickly. ### 3. Offers basic CMS functionality **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Medical Devices | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 23, 2020 **What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?** The product is simple and easy to use, with great interface, my clients were able to post regularly and update their web content by themselves. **What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?** Very limited number of addons/extensions are available in the market. **Recommendations to others considering ExpressionEngine:** Check out the extensions available in the market before you decide to choose to go with ExpressionEngine. **What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?** My client want to build a backend inventory management system for his client. Using expression engine I could get away from building lot of components by myself. ### 4. Fairly user friendly, will need to learn some techniques before using **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Oil & Energy | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 26, 2019 **What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?** Ability to quickly and easily add news stories, it is also very easy to close content to remove it instantly. Having the blocks makes it easy to move things around or quickly remove certain content if it is no longer required **What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?** Uploading images, system is difficult to use and has issues when deleting and re-uploading files with the same name. Cannot seem to set news stories to publish in the future, would be helpful if going away on holiday as i am the only one within the company who knows how to update the site. **Recommendations to others considering ExpressionEngine:** Sort issues with uploading images/files with the same name as ones previously deleted. It just makes original file/image come back **What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?** Easy updates to pages, specifically news stories/case studies, i can also easily add in new team members to our 'team' page and all images are stored in the file manager for ease of access at a later date ### 5. Fullstack developer **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Internet | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 23, 2020 **What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?** Easy to use cms. It’s cleary one of the best on the market **What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?** Most of The plugins available are no longer maintained or they were built for an older version of ee **What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?** Build custom sections easy to update for any client ### 6. Meh. **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Software | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 31, 2020 **What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?** Clean cut, older so it loaded faster than most. **What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?** Clunky and not intuitive. Difficult to use, cloogey widget plug ins. I'm glad we moved away from it. **Recommendations to others considering ExpressionEngine:** Look for another solution. **What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?** I'm not- I moved off the platform ### 7. Executive Expression Engine Review **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** JT O. | Executive Director, Non-Profit Organization Management, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 18, 2016 **What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?** It quickly allows our staff to add or edit content to our page and is easily designed and very user-friendly. **What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?** It seems a little dated compared to the abilities of over CMSs out there. **Recommendations to others considering ExpressionEngine:** If you need a system that is easily manageable for very complex systems and workflows of content, then definitely look into EE. **What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?** We can efficiently manage our website without having to rely on an agency or web developer to make edits or updates. ### 8. Expression Engine **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Em E. | Marketing Communications Manager, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 14, 2017 **What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?** Some of the areas are rather intuitive and easy to use. **What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?** The version we have had to upgrade so we could see pages before they were published. **What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?** Being able to navigate and update an easy to use functional website ### 9. Out of date, but fairly intuitive **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Government Administration | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 18, 2017 **What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?** I'm glad to have upgraded from this platform. **What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?** Short of publishing the page, the built-in pages are ill-conceived preview models. Too many tabs and hidden pages to see overall layout. **Recommendations to others considering ExpressionEngine:** be prepared for many many (and hidden) tabs and user interface **What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?** We build our public website using EE, but have recently transferred to Word Press for smoother integration. ### 10. Expression Engine - A new user's opinion **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jared D. | Executive Director, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 07, 2016 **What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?** I like how customizable the software is in terms of layout as well as data. You can have significantly sophisticated data sets that EE easily manages. **What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?** It feels a bit dated from a design and UX perspective. Other CMS I've worked with are a bit more intuitive, but that's coming from a non-developer's perspective. **Recommendations to others considering ExpressionEngine:** I would look at what will work best with your front-end and easily integrates with other tools you're using. One regret I have is that we had a custom site built, rather than building it on Wordpress or something simpler that we could change on our own rather than having a hardcoded homepage. **What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?** We've been able to drastically cut down on the time it takes us to create content for new webpages and we're able to cut down on all double-entry now that our users' data is directly entered into the CMS through our site and then that data is carried over into other webpages without us having to re-enter the same information. ## ExpressionEngine Discussions - [Is ExpressionEngine dead?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-expressionengine-dead) - 1 comment - [Why use ExpressionEngine?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/why-use-expressionengine) - 1 comment - [View ExpressionEngine pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/expressionengine/reviews?filters%5Bnps_score%5D%5B%5D=3§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-07+11%3A24%3A07+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=b9211365-8415-48d6-83e9-63b97c5908f0&secure%5Btoken%5D=a4e10e8a41a299bf1850ac01d3d89040b0ce1144c0adb6ae282b8fc87f2a66e3&format=llm_user) ## ExpressionEngine Features **Content** - Content Authoring - Rich Text Editor - Versioning - Plug-ins/Widgets/Apps - Approval Process - Content Scheduling - Asset Management - Internal Search - Content Repository - SEO Management - eCommerce Management - Forms Management - Campaign Management - Media Management - Drag & Drop Editor - Audio Editor **Design** - Breadth of Pre-Built Templates - Mobile - Branding/Themes - Customization **Platform** - User Community - SEO - Flexible Navigation Structures - User, Role, and Access Management - Enterprise Scalability - Internationalization - Dashboards and Reports - API **Agentic AI - Web Content Management** - Cross-system Integration - Natural Language Interaction - Social Media Integration **Additional Functionality** - AI/Machine Learning - Reporting/Analytics - Collaboration Tools - Image Editing - Website Publishing Options - Chatbot - Content Publishing Options - Text Editing - Access Control - Website Accessibility Tools - Content Delivery - Content Personalization - Configurable Workflow - Generative AI - Alerts/Notifications - Video Editing - AI Copilot - Performance Testing - Activity Monitoring - Multi-Channel Distribution ## Top ExpressionEngine Alternatives - [Craft CMS](https://www.g2.com/products/craft-cms/reviews) - 4.2/5.0 (48 reviews) - [Drupal](https://www.g2.com/products/drupal/reviews) - 3.9/5.0 (406 reviews) - [WordPress.org](https://www.g2.com/products/wordpress-org/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (9,389 reviews)