Flexible and Secure Web Content Management System
Rating: 10 out of 10
June 25, 2024
TC
Vetted Review
Verified User
15 years of experience
- Excellent security
- Flexible and customizable
- Easy for our clients to use
Starting at $299 One Time Fee
View Pricing Overview
What is ExpressionEngine?
ExpressionEngine is a content management system from EllisLab in 2002, a successor to pMachine Pro, a blogging system, which is written in object-oriented PHP and uses MySQL for data storage. ExpressionEngine is their flagship Content Delivery Platform.
Learn from top reviewers
Flexible and Secure Web Content Management System
Rating: 10 out of 10
June 25, 2024We use ExpressionEngine as the web content management system for the majority of our website projects. We do work with other platforms from time-to-time, but ExpressionEngine ...
Tim Carter
Executive - Information Technology
Web Developer
Pedrera Web Development
15 years of experienceGreat Product, Getting Better All The Time...
Rating: 10 out of 10
June 18, 2024ExpressionEngine is our go to solution for building custom websites. The native template engine uses a syntax that is simple to learn and comprehend, which allows our develope...
Verified user
Engineer
8 years of experienceEE - The Peak of CMS Functionality.
Rating: 10 out of 10
January 10, 2024We use ExpressionEngine to create bespoke, powerful, and secure websites for our clientele. It allows us to create highly extensible sites that focus on the client's content, ...
Doug Black
C-Level Executive - Corporate
CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
tripleNERDscore
6 years of experienceWebsite development that's simplified and streamlined
Rating: 9 out of 10
January 18, 2020ExpressionEngine has completely transformed the way we manage our website. This is our first CMS and it has been a life-saver when it comes to making instant updates or creati...
Verified user
Employee
1 year of experienceExpressionEngine. One CMS to rule them all!
Rating: 8 out of 10
June 7, 2019ExpressionEngine is taking care of the day-to-day content input and delivery from several departments within the organization. I recommended ExpressionEngine as an alternate/r...
Robert Bruce Goggins
Professional - Professional Services
Digital Designer
Digital Methods
5 years of experienceSolid, more flexible alternative to WordPress
Rating: 6 out of 10
June 21, 2018I run a web agency which uses ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS for our small business and organization clients. Both are more refined, flexible, and powerful alternatives to the...
ExpressionEngine - the CMS of Choice
Rating: 9 out of 10
March 15, 2018I worked at an advertising agency that used ExpressionEngine for all their client websites; it was their CMS of choice. All of the developers installed it, set up custom field...
Verified user
Employee
4 years of experienceExpressionEngine, not the worst but not my favorite
Rating: 4 out of 10
February 20, 2016My husband and I are software developers. We work for companies with websites built in Drupal, ExpressionEngine, Wordpress or any php based platform. There is one company usin...
Claudia Lorena Aguilar Ayala
Consultant - Engineering
Software Developer - Drupal, Rails, JQuery, ExpressionEngine, PHP, Coldfusion, MySQL, Rubymotion
Eaglepeak Consulting
4 years of experienceGreat For Novices
Rating: 2 out of 10
February 19, 2016We used ExpressionEngine to manage the CMS of one of our smaller sites. It was to be used by a team of writers to collaborate on various topics. They needed to be able to uplo...
EE Above the Rest for Client UX.
Rating: 8 out of 10
February 19, 2016We used ExpressionEngine as our primary CMS for building web client solutions. Most of these solutions were created with fairly large data architectures, giving full control t...
Verified user
Former Employee
4 years of experienceExpressionEngine, Affordable Comercial CMS
Rating: 10 out of 10
February 19, 2016We use ExpressionEngine as our enterprise CMS solution for the entire university. We host over 10,000 pages, support over 75 departments, train and manage over 200 editors, an...
Get ready to commit some time!
Rating: 3 out of 10
December 28, 2015ExpressionEngine was used by the marketing department who is the business unit responsible for the company's web presence. The only users in the organization were myself and a...
Verified user
Employee
2 years of experienceExpressionEngine: A CMS Worth Checking Out
Rating: 5 out of 10
November 11, 2015We used ExpressionEngine to run our news website. We took advantage of the CMS tools that ExpressionEngine offered and used many add-ons and modules to accomplish what we want...
ExpressionEngine is dream of any developer.
Rating: 10 out of 10
September 30, 2015The software's administrative features include admin logs, site membership, searchable (and search-and-replace) content forums, data export, a blacklist/whitelist module, SQL ...
Hercules Schonfeldt
Manager - Marketing
Sr. Manager Digital Technology
The Jewish Federations of North America
3 years of experienceExpressionEngine can do it all... For a price.
Rating: 5 out of 10
August 29, 2015Satdaya is a creative services firm that includes web development among our services. We recommend and use ExpressionEngine to our clients when their projects and IT needs req...
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Reviewer Pros & Cons
Pricing
License
$299.00
Cloud
One Time Fee
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Product Demos
Entry Analytics EEDPX Demo
YouTube
EE Harbor's Transcribe Add-on Demo
YouTube
ExpressionEngine Demo of a Staff Section
YouTube
ExpressionEngine demo door Kees™ Internetbureau
YouTube
DevDemon's Channel Forms add-on for ExpressionEngine
YouTube
Solspace's Calendar Add-on for ExpressionEngine
YouTube
Features
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Product Details
- About
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is ExpressionEngine?
ExpressionEngine is an open source content
management system developed by EllisLab in 2002 as a successor to pMachine
Pro, a blogging system, which is written in object-oriented PHP and uses MySQL
for data storage. EllisLab closed in 2018, but ExpressionEngine is still available, as an open source CMS.
With CodeIgniter, an agile, open-source framework, web professionals can use ExpressionEngine to build websites and applications. The software is meant to be useful for companies of any size and private individuals as well, and to that end it is highly customizable, and implementation may vary. Like many content management systems, various add-ons will determine what the system does, though the core features are somewhat broader than similarly classed free offerings. The Multiple Site Manager allows a user to create and manage multiple sites from a single ExpressionEngine installation. Nexcess (a partner) provides a hosting environment for an ExpressionEngine-powered website.
With CodeIgniter, an agile, open-source framework, web professionals can use ExpressionEngine to build websites and applications. The software is meant to be useful for companies of any size and private individuals as well, and to that end it is highly customizable, and implementation may vary. Like many content management systems, various add-ons will determine what the system does, though the core features are somewhat broader than similarly classed free offerings. The Multiple Site Manager allows a user to create and manage multiple sites from a single ExpressionEngine installation. Nexcess (a partner) provides a hosting environment for an ExpressionEngine-powered website.
ExpressionEngine Video
10-Minute ExpressionEngine Primer
ExpressionEngine Technical Details
| Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
| Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
ExpressionEngine is a content management system from EllisLab in 2002, a successor to pMachine Pro, a blogging system, which is written in object-oriented PHP and uses MySQL for data storage. ExpressionEngine is their flagship Content Delivery Platform.
Reviewers rate Role-based user permissions and Code quality / cleanliness and Content taxonomy highest, with a score of 10.
The most common users of ExpressionEngine are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
Comparisons
Compare with
Reviews and Ratings
(88)
Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
Reliable Performance: Many users have praised the product for its reliable performance. Several reviewers mentioned that the product consistently meets their expectations and performs well in various scenarios. Ease of Use: The ease of use is a common pro mentioned by several customers. Users appreciate how intuitive and user-friendly the product is, making it easy to navigate and operate without any hassle or confusion. Great Customer Support: Some users have expressed their satisfaction with the great customer support provided by the company. They have found the support team to be responsive, helpful, and efficient in resolving any issues or inquiries they had.
Cons:
- Quality Issues: Some users have experienced quality issues with the product, including defects and malfunctions. Several reviewers have mentioned receiving damaged items or products that broke shortly after purchase.
- Lack of Customer Support: Many customers have expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of responsive customer support. Several users have reported difficulties in contacting the company for assistance or resolving issues related to their purchase.
- Limited Features/Functionality: Some users feel that the product lacks certain features or functionalities they expected. Reviewers have mentioned specific features missing from the product, such as advanced customization options or compatibility with other devices, which have impacted their overall experience.
-
ExpressionEngine is recommended by many users as a great and promising update in the CMS market. It is praised for being free, open-source, and supported by a helpful developer community. Users suggest exploring extensions in the market to enhance its capabilities.
-
Improvement is needed in areas such as help and support, as well as managing SEO. Those concerned about security should consider alternative solutions. Reading the developer documentation thoroughly is advised, along with using EE Harbor extensions.
3.ExpressionEngine is suitable for creating different channels and effectively managing website content. It is favored by confident HTML and PHP developers seeking customization options. The platform is considered user-friendly and secure, with the ability to handle large data or databases through proper caching.
While some express concerns about the direction and progress of ExpressionEngine, many still regard it as a leading commercial offering. It is advised to carefully consider project requirements and customization needs when choosing between ExpressionEngine and other CMS platforms like WordPress or Drupal. The value of the EE support plan and the helpfulness of the community are also mentioned as factors to consider for web agencies.
Reviews
(1-25 of 62)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Great Product, Getting Better All The Time...
Rating: 10 out of 10
June 18, 2024
Verified User
Vetted Review
Verified User
8 years of experience
- Easy to learn
- Enables rapid development
- Secure by default
EE - The Peak of CMS Functionality.
Rating: 10 out of 10
January 10, 2024
DB
Vetted Review
Verified User
6 years of experience
- Highly flexible content management system.
- Incredible extensibility to provide any functionality needed.
- The best CMS experience on the market.
Website development that's simplified and streamlined
Rating: 9 out of 10
January 18, 2020
Verified User
Vetted Review
Verified User
1 year of experience
- Editor contains preview windows to check work before saving changes.
- Each section has a WYSIWYG which instructs users on the dimensions needed for images.
ExpressionEngine. One CMS to rule them all!
Rating: 8 out of 10
June 07, 2019
RB
Vetted Review
Verified User
5 years of experience
- Content is not constrained or controlled by set templates, unlike other CMS.
- Gives you total control over the look and feel. You decide the design direction and what your visitors will see.
- The UI is sublime. It's a pleasure to configure and work with.
- The expandability, flexibility, and customization of the entire system is unsurpassed.
Solid, more flexible alternative to WordPress
Rating: 6 out of 10
June 21, 2018
BS
Vetted Review
Verified User
12 years of experience
- Wide range of fields types - allows collection and display of different types of information (date, image, multi-relation, etc.)
- Security. Excellent security record, does not face hacking risk like WordPress.
- HTML-agnostic templating system. Write whatever HTML, JS, CSS you want, and then integrate it into ExpressionEngine's templates.
ExpressionEngine - the CMS of Choice
Rating: 9 out of 10
March 15, 2018
Verified User
Vetted Review
Verified User
4 years of experience
- ExpressionEngine manages content and users extremely well and with ease.
- ExpressionEngine is reliable and scales for small websites to enterprise websites.
- ExpressionEngine has a large community following and many reliable plugins.
ExpressionEngine, not the worst but not my favorite
Rating: 4 out of 10
February 20, 2016
CL
Vetted Review
Verified User
4 years of experience
- Simple admin interface for the end user.
- Generates clean markup for front-end theming.
Great For Novices
Rating: 2 out of 10
February 19, 2016
LM
Vetted Review
Verified User
2 years of experience
- The blog tool was decent.
- Managing users was easy.
EE Above the Rest for Client UX.
Rating: 8 out of 10
February 19, 2016
Verified User
Vetted Review
Verified User
4 years of experience
- Content architecture. It's very easy to create highly customizable display of content in various pages and templates; equally importantly it's very easy for a user to create the content within these structures.
- Features / Plugins. Out of the box EE is exceptional for a CMS, but when you add in some of the offered plugins from the EE community, the customization and usability reaches 5 star status.
- Community. There is a huge, devoted community of power users who contribute to the CMS. Developers create and maintain plugins with full reliability and service. This cannot be said for other CMS's I've used through time.
ExpressionEngine, Affordable Comercial CMS
Rating: 10 out of 10
February 19, 2016
JW
Vetted Review
Verified User
9 years of experience
- Extremely flexible and extensible
- Fabulous user and developer community on Twitter, Facebook and Slack Chat.
- Wide range of third party add-ons that solve many challenges. Ranging from calendars to special field types.
- Cost of entry is extremely affordable compared to other commercial solutions.
- Runs on any LAMP server setup. Though, larger installations will require something with more horsepower. We run on a load balanced, 3 server setup.
Get ready to commit some time!
Rating: 3 out of 10
December 28, 2015
Verified User
Vetted Review
Verified User
2 years of experience
- It has very specific user-access controls. You can create custom categories of user access and assign users to any of them. It has the capability to grant very specific access to virtually any area of the site. Assigning new users and deleting old users is very easy as well.
- The ability to customize the CMS is probably the most robust feature. No site is exactly the same and the live version shouldn't feel like a template. ExpressionEngine makes sure you are in charge of exactly what you need.
- More and more, there are developers creating great new modules that add higher functionality and customization. Installing and removing modules is very easy.
ExpressionEngine: A CMS Worth Checking Out
Rating: 5 out of 10
November 11, 2015
MG
Vetted Review
Verified User
4 years of experience
- ExpressionEngine offers a customizable publishing tool. Each channel can be customized for its specific needs.
- ExpressionEngine offers simple APIs that allows for many add-ons to be developed.
- ExpressionEngine's short codes make it easy to accomplish advanced coding tasks.
ExpressionEngine is dream of any developer.
Rating: 10 out of 10
September 30, 2015
HS
Vetted Review
Verified User
3 years of experience
- We noticed extensive capabilities in the area of user management. The application allows for multiple administrators so that work can be spread out through multiple resources at a company rather than bottlenecking with the web developer.
- ExpressionEngine has gained a significant following through its high level of customization and ease of use. The interface is straightforward and offers easy access to both front-end and back-end editing. Because this CMS software is open source, you get the best of both worlds. You can add to your website’s functionality through the use of PHP, which means the functionality you desire from a website is easily within reach. For the non-technical user, you can simply work on your site from a simple front-end interface with a simple navigation.
- For functionality and flexibility, ExpressionEngine content management system software is a versatile option for operations large and small. It has obviously extended its reach to many professional websites, which is evidenced on the front page of their product site.
- ExpressionEngine has a thriving community base filled with veteran CMS users who can help you with questions through the community forum. For the programming-savvy individual, you have access to a developer portal complete with documentation, forums and tips for increasing your knowledge of the software.
- Very powerful CMS. Expressionengine can be thought of as a database, where you create your collections and tables and define all sorts of fields for them. Then you can gather the information in this collections any way you want and show it on front-end or at the backend.
- EE very easy to setup. For a site that is based on eCommerce/ Articles / News this CMS is excellent.
ExpressionEngine can do it all... For a price.
Rating: 5 out of 10
August 29, 2015
LW
Vetted Review
10 years of experience
- Content structuring. You can set up channels and fields to hold just about any kind of information imaginable; text, images, videos, numbers, code, etc. You can structure this information any way you want and in any order. You literally create your own information database just the way you want it using a clear, easy online interface.
- Template system. Utter freedom. Need I say more?
- Exensible. There are a lot of add-ons, extensions, and other external modules that extend the core functionality of ExpressionEngine. Need a user management system? Check out the User module at http://solspace.com.
Free yourself from convoluted CMS markup with ExpressionEngine
Rating: 10 out of 10
August 25, 2015
BS
Vetted Review
Verified User
6 years of experience
- ExpressionEngine does a fantastic job in separating the content from the code, allowing you to build custom templates using only your own code and markup.
- ExpressionEngine has great documentation. It's easy to find clear and concise explanation of all of the core features.
- ExpressionEngine has a great module community. Many of the modules require a license, which will seem different from WordPress or Drupal, but many of these module developers also provide great customer service and support.
Powerhouse CMS great for ecommerce and large sites
Rating: 4 out of 10
August 19, 2015
RR
Vetted Review
Verified User
2 years of experience
- Large community base provides excellent support when needed
- Extensive catalog of modules to expand capabilities as needed
- Built in management of member profiles and permissions saves time
ExpressionEngine and why you should choose it as your next CMS
Rating: 10 out of 10
July 27, 2015
JT
Vetted Review
Verified User
6 years of experience
- Flexibility is a huge aspect of ExpressionEngine, other CMSs lock you into certain ways your site must be built. You write the templates and write the way you want the website you are building to function with ExpressionEngine.
- Creating editable content in ExpressionEngine is easy, allowing you to control and make your website more dynamic.
- The plugins for ExpressionEngine are wonderful, I have never had a request for integration from a client that I can't find a plugin for ExpressionEngine.
Beginner!
Rating: 6 out of 10
July 21, 2015
KL
Vetted Review
Verified User
4 years of experience
- Ease of use.
- Similar or same menu selections that I'm used to using with other MS office products.
There's a Lot to LovEE about ExpressionEngine!
Rating: 9 out of 10
July 20, 2015
TR
Vetted Review
Verified User
6 years of experience
- The number one thing that I think ExpressEngine allows for is its flexibility. I always tell people there isn't anything that it can't do and that proved true in this case as well. For instance, we needed a few levels of membership for providing access to different areas of the website and ExpressEngine handled this without issue. In addition, some of the library resources are accessible based on that membership group.
- One of the things that I love about ExpressEngine is that it doesn't come with any expectations about your website look/feel/code. We created the layout and coded our pages, then plugged in the necessary tags.
- ExpressEngine is a very secure system out of the box, and there are numerous tips and guides to help you further secure the back-end. That was an important feature for us.
- The ExpressEngine community is probably one of the greatest strengths. There are so many great people involved who are willing to lend a quick hand or provide some advice to help out.
ExpressionEngine: The Flexible Content Management System.
Rating: 9 out of 10
July 17, 2015
JD
Vetted Review
Verified User
4 years of experience
- ExpressionEngine has no preconceived ideas about how your content should look or what code is generated.
- A robust template engine makes integrating designs and content a breeze.
- The control panel can be customized to control what content managers have access to.
ExpressionEngine review
Rating: 10 out of 10
July 17, 2015
SK
Vetted Review
Verified User
8 years of experience
- Extensibility: ExpressionEngine's core is extensible, allowing for third-party code to be modularized and installed. ExpressionEngine's community has a number of highly talented add-on developers that contribute to its pool of add-ons.
- Flexibility: ExpressionEngine is tremendously flexible, allowing for a single installation to manage everything from static pages, to blogs, to full fledged eCommerce platforms.
- Ease of Use: ExpressionEngine's control panel can be themed and its publish layouts customized, allowing for a very pleasant experience for our clients. This increases the likelihood of them actually using the platform which reduces the number of support hours we must provide.
ExpressionEngine has potential
Rating: 4 out of 10
July 17, 2015
CL
Vetted Review
Verified User
3 years of experience
- Extremely robust. To be able to start from absolute scratch in the CMS and get it configured precisely to each individual client's needs.
- Combined with Pixel and Tonic's Matrix and Playa addons alone, EE's channel fields become a whole new world of awesome.
ExpressionEngine - the Content Management System for Designers and Developers
Rating: 9 out of 10
July 09, 2015
SG
Vetted Review
6 years of experience
- First-party and Community Support - ExpressionEngine has a large support base both from EllisLab, the maker of ExpressionEngine, and the vast community of users. Any challenges that arise during a project, there is either a third-party plugin or a solution already posted on a discussion forum.
- End-User Experience - Every website we build is custom from the ground up; no two are alike. Each install of ExpressionEngine is built and organized to fit that specific client. With the use of custom fields, our clients can easily update and maintain their website while keeping the styling intact. Many systems will give one large WYSIWYG box and it's up to the user to ensure the styling of the content matches the page and branding. ExpressionEngine allows us to create a entry form guiding them through the process of creating or editing a web page. We can decide how strict or loose the content areas are based on the technical expertise of the client or website administrators.
- Templates - The templates built into ExpressionEngine use native HTML for rendering. Within the HTML, we're able to inject their tags into our code to process the functionality. This makes moving our front-end code into the back-end quick and seamless. This is incredibly helpful for maintenance purposes as we find reading HTML is far quicker and easier to read and diagnose than PHP code.
- Third-party Plugins - ExpressionEngine has a large community of module, extension and plugin developers to help solve any challenge. Custom fieldtypes can be easily installed for better user experience. Powerful add-ons for eCommerce and site searches developed by well-known and highly reputable companies ensure support is always available. ExpressionEngine does not suffer from an over-abundance of third-party plugins questioning the level of support especially with ExpressionEngine system updates.
ExpressionEngine is clean, easy to use, and easy to learn
Rating: 8 out of 10
July 07, 2015
RS
Vetted Review
Verified User
2 years of experience
- It integrates well with your design and development features, so all you have to do after setup is create the appropriate fields and enter content.
- It integrates well with many different tools and plug-ins, so whatever you need in addition to ExpressionEngine features, there's a tool out there that will connect and work effectively.