ExpressionEngine has never had a single dominant ecommerce solution the way WordPress has WooCommerce or Craft CMS has Commerce. Instead, the EE ecommerce landscape has historically been served by a range of specialist add-ons, some of which are still actively maintained and some of which have fallen away over the years.
If you run an online shop built on ExpressionEngine, understanding what is still viable in 2026 is important, both for planning ongoing maintenance and for making informed decisions about the long-term future of your store.
The current landscape
The main EE ecommerce options that have been used over the years include:
- CartThrob. One of the longest-running EE ecommerce solutions, CartThrob has continued to be maintained and has versions compatible with current EE. It remains a viable option for EE stores that use it, and has an active developer behind it.
- Expresso Store. Formerly a popular choice for ExpressionEngine ecommerce, Expresso Store is no longer actively maintained. Sites still running Expresso Store are running on unsupported software, and the longer this continues, the more fragile the situation becomes.
- Custom-built ecommerce. A number of EE businesses had bespoke ecommerce functionality built specifically for them, often by specialist agencies. These range from relatively simple order management systems to complex, highly customised platforms. The viability of these installations depends entirely on how well they were built and whether anyone who understands the code is still available.
- Stripe or payment gateway integrations without a full ecommerce layer. Some businesses use ExpressionEngine for content management and handle ecommerce through direct integrations with payment providers or external systems. These arrangements can be more resilient than full EE ecommerce add-ons, but they have their own maintenance requirements.
What makes sense for your situation
The right path forward depends on the specifics of your business and your current setup:
- If you are on CartThrob and it is working. The priority is keeping your EE installation and CartThrob version current, and ensuring the payment gateway integration is maintained. This is a viable long-term arrangement with a clear upgrade path.
- If you are on Expresso Store. You need a plan. Depending on how your store is built, the options range from migration to CartThrob, building a replacement for the abandoned ecommerce layer, or, if the business has changed significantly, considering whether a platform migration makes more sense than continuing to extend a legacy EE store.
- If you have custom ecommerce code. The critical question is whether anyone understands that code well enough to maintain and extend it. If the original developers are no longer available, the first step is a proper audit to understand what exists before any decisions about the future are made.
When to consider migrating away from EE for ecommerce
There are situations where a platform migration makes genuine sense, and it is worth being honest about them:
- The ecommerce functionality has grown well beyond what EE and its add-ons can sensibly support
- The current EE ecommerce stack is so outdated that rebuilding it within EE costs more than migrating to a purpose-built ecommerce platform
- The business has changed and a complete rethink of the store is warranted anyway
However, for many ExpressionEngine ecommerce businesses, the site works well, the content management is exactly what the business needs, and the problem is simply that the installation needs proper ongoing maintenance from someone who knows the platform. In those cases, staying with EE and investing in a proper upgrade and support arrangement is the right answer.
If you run an ExpressionEngine ecommerce site and want an honest assessment of where things stand and what your realistic options are, get in touch.