Delaying an ExpressionEngine upgrade is easy to justify. The site still works, the budget is committed elsewhere, and nothing has broken yet. But delays in this area follow a predictable pattern, and the costs accumulate in ways that are not immediately visible.
ExpressionEngine has released several major versions over the past decade. Each major version involves architectural changes that affect how upgrades are handled. A site that upgrades steadily through versions is a much simpler project at each step than a site that skips multiple major versions in one go. The further behind you fall, the more each version gap contributes to migration complexity and the time required to complete it safely.
Third-party addons for ExpressionEngine are maintained by independent developers. Each time you delay, there is a higher probability that one or more of your addons has been abandoned, is no longer compatible with the current EE version, or requires replacement rather than a simple update. Replacing addons is not just a technical task. It may involve workflow changes, retraining, or rebuilding functionality that was previously handled by a plugin that no longer exists.
Sites that were built several years ago often contain customisations that were never properly documented. As time passes, the people who built those customisations move on. By the time an upgrade is finally commissioned, the scope of the work includes not just the upgrade itself but also an archaeology project to understand what the site actually does and why certain things were built the way they were.
The most expensive scenario is the forced upgrade: a hosting provider announces an end-of-life PHP version, or a security incident occurs, or a critical addon stops working. At that point, the upgrade has to happen under time pressure, without the luxury of planning, testing, and staging. Work done under pressure is more expensive and carries more risk of introducing new problems.
The alternative to all of this is a simple maintenance arrangement where your ExpressionEngine site is reviewed on a regular basis. Core and addon updates are applied in a controlled environment, tested, and deployed systematically. Issues are caught before they become crises. The total cost of that approach over three years is typically a fraction of what a deferred upgrade under pressure costs in year four.
If you have been putting off an ExpressionEngine upgrade, get in touch with Karl to find out what it is costing you.
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There’s no single answer to when you should upgrade your ExpressionEngine installation, but there are several clear signals that tell you it’s overdue. Most business owners don’t think about this until something goes wrong. By then, the upgrade is usually more involved than it would have been if it had been done earlier.
If your website is running on ExpressionEngine 4 or 5, it may look fine on the surface. But underneath, you are carrying costs that most business owners do not see until something goes wrong. This is not about upgrading for the sake of it. It is about understanding what your current situation actually means.
ExpressionEngine has changed hands several times over the years. The current owner, Packet Tide, acquired the platform and has been responsible for its ongoing development. If your business runs on ExpressionEngine, understanding who owns the platform and what their priorities are is worth knowing.
Most clients come to us when their site has started to feel like a risk rather than an asset. Whether the agency relationship has ended, an upgrade has been delayed, or the site has simply grown beyond what it can handle, a conversation costs nothing.
Get in touch with KarlTrusted by established businesses and growing brands across the UK
Expression 37 works with a small number of clients at any one time. These are some of them.
Karl founded Expression 37 in 2007 and has worked exclusively with ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS ever since. He does not take on work in other platforms and does not hand work to other developers. Expression 37 is deliberately small, because the kind of support that matters to clients with business-critical sites is specific to their site, not something that scales in the conventional sense. If you work with Expression 37, you work with Karl.
Find out how we workOur ExpressionEngine website had been running on an outdated version for some time and we knew it needed attention, but finding someone with the right expertise to handle it properly was a concern. Expression 37 assessed the site thoroughly, explained exactly what was involved, and carried out the upgrade with no disruption to our business. The site has been noticeably more reliable since, and having ongoing support in place means we know any issues will be dealt with quickly. Straightforward to work with and clearly know what they are doing.
James Dawber - Managing Director
Dawber Williamson