Drupal vs ExpressionEngine
Drupal
drupal.org
ExpressionEngine
expressionengine.comSide by side
| Figure | Drupal | ExpressionEngine |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $3.25/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 10 |
| Spec score · Content Management Systems | 9.0 (#10) | 9.1 (#9) |
| Spec score · Website Development tools | 8.9 (#3) | 9.1 (#2) |
| Spec score · Web Content Management Software | 8.8 (#3) | 9.0 (#1) |
| Custom content types | Yes | Yes |
| Custom user roles | Yes | Yes |
| Editorial workflows | Yes | Yes |
| Extensibility | Drupal can be extended with thousands of modules, themes and distributions. | A community add-on ecosystem extends ExpressionEngine's capabilities. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Media library | Yes | Yes |
| Multilingual content | Yes | Yes |
| Platform type | hybrid | self_hosted |
| Product type | Drupal is content management software used to make websites and applications. | Packet Tide describes ExpressionEngine as a free, open source content management system. |
| SEO tools | Yes | Yes |
| Support | Drupal CMS support is available through its user guide, Drupal Slack’s #drupal-cms-support channel and the project issue queue. | Support plans provide guaranteed first responses ranging from one business day to two business hours, depending on plan. |
Plans
ExpressionEngine
- CoreFree
- Pro$249, paid once
- Pro Renewal Subscription$49 a year
- Pro Renewal$59, paid once
- Additional MSM Site$49, paid once
- MSM Pro Renewal Subscription$39 a year
- MSM Pro Renewal$49, paid once
- MSM Pro Renewal$49 a year
- Pro Renewal$59 a year
- MSM Pro License Renewal$49 a year
In their own words
Drupal
Drupal is content management software for building websites and applications. Drupal CMS is a ready-to-use platform for marketing teams, content creators, and site builders, built on Drupal 11 core. Included tools cover media management, SEO, AI-driven website building, consent management, analytics, search, and automatic updates. Drupal supports structured content, multilingual publishing, editorial workflows, custom user roles, and APIs for serving web, mobile, and other channels from one source. Thousands of modules, themes, and distributions can extend it, and it can connect with external services and organizational applications. Drupal identifies accessibility, API-first architecture, security, performance, and scalability as core capabilities. The software is free open-source software with no licensing fees, but self-hosting and technical setup are required. Linux or a similar system is recommended for hosting; Windows is supported only for development, not production. Drupal CMS offers temporary browser-based trial sites. After setup, Drupal CMS itself is not updated, although installed modules and themes are updated like other Drupal sites.
ExpressionEngine
ExpressionEngine is an open source CMS from Packet Tide for storing, managing and publishing website content. Its flexible channels and fields support custom content types, editorial workflows, multilingual content, SEO tools and a media library. Templates can include HTML, JavaScript, PHP and ExpressionEngine tags, and the CMS provides more than 20 field types. Editors can update content on a site's front end, while administrators can also bring the control panel there. One installation can manage multiple sites and share design, content and members; each additional MSM site requires an additional MSM Pro License. The free Core plan allows one control panel user. Pro costs $249, paid once, includes unlimited control panel users and one year of updates. Continued updates are available through renewal options, including a Pro Renewal Subscription at $49 a year. ExpressionEngine runs on web, self-hosted and API platforms. Learning resources include documentation, forums and ExpressionEngine University.