# MODX Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra

> Is MODX the right Content Management solution for you? Explore 64 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/161662/MODX/reviews

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MODX

4.6 (64)

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/)

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Last updated March 13th, 2026

# Reviews of MODX

Ease of use

4.0

Customer Service

4.7

## Pros and Cons in Reviews

PB

Peter B

Web ProducerMarketing and Advertising, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“MODX offers me complete customization to tailor a website to my clients businesses needs.“

March 31, 2023

Lauren R

Marketing & Sales Support Assistant Chemicals, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months.

“It's not user-friendly and is not mobile optimized.“

November 3, 2022

AK

Andreas K

OwnerInternet, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“Overall it worked well and the website is still on and performs well, however we found the developer-experience too poor to use MODX with any other website.“

September 18, 2023

sr

saif r

Social Media Marketing ManagerTextiles, Self-employedUsed the software for: 6-12 months.

“Some of the issue I have found that it stuck for some time If its not getting updated.“

June 17, 2021

PB

Peter B

Web ProducerMarketing and Advertising, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“Speed, SEO, Security, Flexibility, customization.“

March 31, 2023

RR

Ricky R

Graphic Designer & IllustratorApparel & Fashion, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“My only gripe is its lack of adoption among designers and developers alike.“

March 31, 2020

JH

Jakub H

Designer / FounderDesign, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“Using MODX as a CMS allowed us to create absolute stunning designs which are far away from any generic Wordpress template.“

March 11, 2022

## Showing most helpful reviews

Showing 1-25 of 64 Reviews

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Most Helpful

Rating

Company Size

Reviewer's Role

Length of Use

Frequency of Use

Olga B.  
Entrepreneur  
E-Learning  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "The best CMS for professional web designer"

August 29, 2020

5.0

It is just amazing! I am on cloud nine! Splendid CMS. Spectacular Service. Gorgeous! Dazzling! Fantastic!

Pros

It is the best lightweight CMS. Google PageSpeed Insights skyrocketed on my website with this MODX. It is almost perfection. Secure, trustworthy, ideal for any web developer who wants to innovate. It is easy to customize, modify for your personal needs, and manage on any good, reliable hosting. I cannot imagine any other CMS which could have replaced this one. I am quite a fussy, picky, choosy and troublesome web site administrator, content creator and something like web-developer, so I have spent 2 years to choose the best of the best CMS for my projects and when I have found this one, tried out it myself, created several webpages with using this CMS, I insisted my web designer use only MODX. It is born to inspire! Innovative. Inspiring. Intelligent. Indispensable. Incentive.Impressive.

Cons

For comfortable using this CMS you need to choose a good server and hosting. If you choose an improper, unsuitable hosting, you will have serious problems in the near future.

Alternatives considered

[Moodle](https://www.capterra.com/p/80691/Moodle/)

Reason for choosing MODX

Comfy, secure, easy-to-use, responsive, adaptive, reliable, trustworthy, user-friendly, lightweight, customizable. The most powerful thing I have ever known.

Switched from

[WordPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/131687/WordPress/)

Heavyweight CMS which prevented me to achieve Good Google PageSpeed Performance. Many Wordpress Themes (paid and free) have lots of bugs, malfunctions and vulnerabilities which are almost impossible to get rid of.

Review Source

JH

Jakub H.  
Designer / Founder  
Design  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "The hidden gem of content management systems"

March 11, 2022

5.0

Using MODX as a CMS allowed us to create absolute stunning designs which are far away from any generic Wordpress template. You can create your own frontend designs and then connect it to MODX and add the content. At the end of the day MODX can be used as an API and headless CMS - if needed. But that requires some more configuration. I love the caching feature which can be set extremely gralually and gives the site a much needed performance boost.

Pros

MODX is run on a Apache/PHPH/Mysql infrastructure and this makes it very simple to run pretty much everywhere. The best is the interface and freedom of creation. It is a pure content manager - not a site builder. So you need to code your frontend first (or get a template) but once this is done connecting it to MODX is very straightforward and does require very little "coding". Plus the whole system has a great cache system which is far superior to any other CMS out there.

Cons

The deployment process is tedious - currently there is no way to deploy directly form github etc. Basically all content and code and templates and css etc. is saved in the database so pushing any updates is available generally only via the MODX interface. This is not very developer friendly. But it is very web-designer friendly and can be accessed everywhere.

Alternatives considered

[Wix](https://www.capterra.com/p/169007/Wix/)[Drupal](https://www.capterra.com/p/119594/Drupal/)[WordPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/131687/WordPress/)[Joomla](https://www.capterra.com/p/161648/Joomla/)

Reason for choosing MODX

The ease of use and the possibility to create an user interface for the end-user which allowed him to edit only selected parts of the site.

Review Source

Vladimir O.  
Web Architect Manager  
Marketing and Advertising  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "I had to use it"

August 21, 2018

2.0

If you're working strictly on a template, then you're good. Not a flexible UI at all.

Pros

It does what it supposed to but it just seems outdated.

Cons

It was difficult to use. There just way better options out there.

Review Source

pS

philipp S.  
everything guy  
Information Technology and Services  
Used the software for: I used a free trial

### "10/10 Overall, however there are some concerns"

October 12, 2023

5.0

Can build anything with it from simple 1 pager website, to a backoffice for apps, to a multi website CMS serving many sites at once.

Pros

Any design is possibleSeparates template completely from CMSCan serve any pages, from HTML to JSON for a e.g. mobile appFastVery SecureNo BloatYou can build a website with no to very few plugins if you wishExcellent support community in the forums and on slackMulti Websites in one installVery Flexible Can write any pluginLow maintenance once running

Cons

Small CommunityNot many plugins because of small communityMany outdated old plugins (surprisingly though many still work 100%)Larger learning curve

Alternatives considered

[October CMS](https://www.capterra.com/p/230656/October/)

Reason for choosing MODX

October CMS would be by next go to. The only reason is that I have not had enough time to learn it / get into it.

Switched from

[Typo](https://www.capterra.com/p/276633/Typo/)[Drupal](https://www.capterra.com/p/119594/Drupal/)[WordPress](https://www.capterra.com/p/131687/WordPress/)[Joomla](https://www.capterra.com/p/161648/Joomla/)

Modx is more developer friendly and more is possible. If build right its also easier to use for the end user.

Review Source

Zack W.  
Freelance Web Developer  
Information Technology and Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "A great tool for anything from small utilities and APIs to larger multi-language communities"

April 1, 2019

4.0

I've used it for projects for at least 6 years or so. Anything from a single-page utility to standard websites with custom coded features. There are so many abilities and features that get way more advanced than I've ever needed, with the intense security permissions system to multi-context/multi-domain sites, and more. I have an appreciation for the product and want to see it continue to succeed, and the core people and community that keep it going are some of the best folks around!

Pros

Their slogan "creative freedom" means you are not saddled with a ton of auto-magical output that you don't have control over. You can be in charge of every bit of code and markup that your site produces. MODX is better described as a Content Management Framework (CMF) rather than a CMS. It is better suited for developers to use in creating fully custom designs, rather than out-of-the-box templates. If I need to build something fully custom and want to build from scratch, I choose MODX.

Cons

As of this writing, MODX 3 has not been released, but it will address almost anything I could put here. The biggest problem for a lot of people is being stuck on an older version of ExtJS. Updating that library would break a lot of 3rd party plugins, and there is debate about whether to keep using it anyway. Also it can be daunting to build custom backend admin pages, but there is work to make this easier, it's also partially due to the learning curve of ExtJS. It doesn't yet have a built-in core feature for self-updating. There are 3rd party tools to help update though so this is a minor thing. The addon library is not massive, and there are certainly some older and outdated, or even abandoned plugins. This is not a huge issue due to the fact that plugins are little more than some PHP functions or a class or two, they tend to be super robust and long-lived by their nature, not having to rely on constant changing theme frameworks and other foundational issues.

Review Source

NM

Nathan M.  
Digital Marketing Manager  
Real Estate  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Keeping up with the curve"

May 5, 2022

4.0

Positive. I feel that learning HTML & CSS using MODX gave me an advantage over those who'd started with more basic systems. We never struggled to make it work for us. It's a rapid CMS (when used correctly) and I do recommend it, especially for Medium / Enterprise level websites & systems.

Pros

Massive customisation options. Scalable and dynamic. It can be entirely adapted to the needs of your website / business. It's a little more advanced than most content management systems, so it comes with a learning curve. But it's scalability and adaptability puts it up there with other high end platforms.

Cons

MODX was the first CMS I ever worked with. Learning to use MODX, compared to more basic systems (I won't name names), meant it took a little longer to wrap my head around. However, it does have substantial documentation available, meaning you'll always find the answer you need to support you with any issues that may arise.

Review Source

Cigar T.  
UX designer  
Graphic Design  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "MODX is faster than Wordpress "

September 3, 2021

4.0

he system is clear any light.

Pros

1) it is easy to deployment in sever. 2) the system is clear any light. 3) it powerful if you had some programer experience.

Cons

it powerful if you had some programer experience.

Reason for choosing MODX

it is easy to deployment in sever.

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Programmer  
Retail  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "A good software product"

November 15, 2022

4.0

Pros

There are already many main plugins for implementing an online store

Cons

I would like more extensive documentation or video lessons

Review Source

GV

Gerben V.  
CTO  
Internet  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "MODX is the most user- and SEO friendly CMS i know!"

April 1, 2019

5.0

We at Census develop all our websites based on MODX. This flexible CMS gives us the possibility to create simple and low-budget websites, but also gives us the framework for major websites and/or webshops. We love it, and our clients love it!

Pros

\+ Open-source + Great Community + Secure + Flexable + SEO Friendly + UX Friendly + Manager available in almost all common languages.

Cons

\- Some parts are DB based instead of file-based (only con for developers) - ExtJS based manager (only con for developers)

Review Source

Lauren R.  
Marketing & Sales Support Assistant  
Chemicals  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "It's okay"

November 3, 2022

3.0

Pros

The security is top-notch, which is why large financial institutions use it.

Cons

It's not user-friendly and is not mobile optimized. It's difficult to navigate and alot of people don't even know that MODX exists. There are better options out there. Sorry, I need to be honest.

Review Source

AM

Amanda M.  
Middle School Teacher  
Primary/Secondary Education  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Works with any templates"

November 28, 2019

5.0

Pros

I really like that CMS MODX is not limited to any number of templates. You can download any html-template from the Internet to the platform and it will work. This greatly simplified my work on creating a site.

Cons

The file manager is often inaccessible, to download files, you have to connect to the server directly. This is probably the only drawback that I found in 3 years of use.

Review Source

KR

Karina R.  
Executive Assistant to CEO  
  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Excellent system for creating complex sites"

February 9, 2018

5.0

Pros

I've been building websites for a long time, I've tried many control systems (Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal) and I always realized that it's not very convenient for me to work with them, they are basically created either to quickly make a simple site, or they are complex and uncomfortable. In general, I stopped on MODX and now basically work on it, I can say that it is very convenient for me.

Cons

Minus only one: a simple user without knowledge of programming (at least the basics) will not be able to create a site on this system.

Review Source

MR

Milana R.  
Team lead  
  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Thanks to the developers for the functional solution"

February 17, 2018

4.0

Pros

The MODx admin panel is made in such a way that the block with the structure of the site pages can be seen almost from any of its sections - it is on the left. Thus, for example, you can easily see the id of the material when it is needed.

Cons

In many modules of the system there are errors and the most sad is that to find another, correct extension with similar functionality is unlikely to work, you will either have to put up with bugs, or learn programming and fix them.

Review Source

SG

Sylvie G.  
Directeur Général  
Financial Services  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Platform for people"

December 23, 2019

5.0

Pros

I love CMS MODX for its beautiful, thoughtful and ergonomic design, as well as for the high speed of FTP. Every element of the control system is needed. I have not yet found a single useless tool that I would not need in two years of use.

Cons

MODX has its own tag syntax. This became a problem for me when I wanted to transfer the old site from another platform. I had to learn syntax from scratch.

Review Source

AL

Amy L.  
PR / Marketing Manager  
Marketing and Advertising  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Flexible platform for sites of different complexity"

December 8, 2018

4.0

Pros

On CMS MODX, you can create sites of any complexity, and thanks to open source code we are able to develop and implement the extensions we need, which allow us to increase their functionality.

Cons

The platform does not have a high level of protection, being quite vulnerable. In comparison with other CMS, a rather limited number of ready-made templates and plug-ins are provided.

Review Source

TC

Terry C.  
Risk Analyst  
Financial Services  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Ability to change the template beyond recognition"

June 5, 2019

5.0

Pros

I like MODX that the platform has excellent SEO, and the template placed on the site under her leadership for a small amount of time the members of my team can really transform beyond recognition.

Cons

Members of my team who do not have programming skills were not able to fully configure the system on their own. No statistics in your account.

Review Source

AK

Andrey K.  
SEO-Marketer  
Marketing and Advertising  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "A small number of plugins"

April 26, 2019

5.0

Pros

I choose MODX in those cases when I need to create something fully customizable, for example, custom designs. The system has the ability to add your own variables to any HTML pages.

Cons

It is difficult to create custom backend administrative pages. Not too large library of plugins, many of which have not been updated for a very long time.

Review Source

SN

Sam N.  
Team Lead  
  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Interesting and useful CMS"

February 19, 2018

5.0

Pros

The MODX admin is designed to create templates right in it. There are many free snippets that expand the functionality of the system. Having set the desired snippet, with the help of HTML code and so-called placeholders you can create your own template for each menu on the site (even for a separate menu item, active and inactive!).

Cons

Despite all the advantages, free extensions for MODx exist much less than for other popular CMS. And those that exist are saturated with certain bugs.

Review Source

SB

Shirley B.  
Web-analyst  
  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "I recommend this CMS!"

February 17, 2018

5.0

Pros

In addition to the site pages, the admin panel also has a file structure - all files on the server can be edited directly from it. This is very convenient, especially if you install the code highlighting plugin.

Cons

Despite its convenience, the administrative panel MODx differs by slow work. This is especially noticeable in the fact that very often folders open slowly, it is felt that there are many complex processes in which the system itself is confused.

Review Source

AB

Arya B.  
Chief Marketing Officer  
Computer Software  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Platform with good features"

September 6, 2019

5.0

Pros

It is easy to expand the basic functionality of MODX-based websites through third-party plug-ins and open source code, thanks to which we are able to implement everything we need in a matter of time.

Cons

My team and I really lack the ability to connect popular payment systems for quick payment. For the full use of MODX, I had to study its terminology.

Review Source

AM

Anna M.  
SMM-manager  
  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Convenient commercial CMS"

May 31, 2018

5.0

Pros

The advantage of the system is that anyone can work with it, because it will not even have to be understood. The admin panel is convenient and intuitive. There is a quality SEO module that allows you to customize the pages.

Cons

Ready-made templates are few, so in many situations you will need investments in the work of designers and programmers. And also it should be noted that MODX has a small amount of useful materials in the network relative to its competitors.

Review Source

MS

Michael S.  
President  
Design  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "MODX is Awesome"

November 10, 2019

5.0

Ignore the reviews that say things like "all the plugins are full of bugs", "it's impossible to connect to payment systems", "it can't be easily customized", and "not good for complex sites". These are simply untrue. I've tried many, many CMSs over the years, and once I tried MODX Revolution, my search was over. I've had very few problems with plugins over the years, and authors are generally responsive to bug fix requests. I do tend to write my own plugins, though, because it's so easy. The site manager screens are highly customizable. Create new tabs with custom fields arranged the way you want them. You can show or hide any of the standard fields. Set up a permissions systems and serve completely different admin screens to different users. I can create editing screens with tabs to manage complex data. In Wordpress, this would be a mess. ExtJS does have a learning curve, but most people don't seem to know that you don't have to use it to create your own plugin admin screens. I create plugins using plain old PHP and HTML. It works great, and I've added countless custom admin screens this way to manage extremely complicated data setups. I've created connections to all sorts of payment systems like PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net, etc. It's a breeze to embed third-party shopping systems like Ecwid, FoxyCart and others. And, if you need a completely native store setup, the new plugin "Commerce" is great and has connections to many standard payment gateways built in.

Pros

MODX is endlessly flexible, and easier to plug in custom code than any other platform I've used. There is a sizable library of plugins — not huge like Wordpress for example, but they are generally well written and secure. The MODX community is a great source of help, tricks, and tips. It's very easy to add your own PHP code and plugins. You can set up a site to be edited solely through the standard MODX admin area, or completely on the front end using the plugin FRED. MODX works for everything simple information-only sites to multilingual sites with thousands of pages (I know because I've created these). It has an excellent caching system built-in. MODX has its own API language for programming, but it's pretty intuitive. It didn't take me long to be able to use it effectively, and there is excellent documentation available. I can transfer a normal MODX site to a different server and domain name in about 15 minutes. The fine-grained permissions system lets me give access to specific parts of a site to different users. The core MODX programmers and very responsive to requests and are actively updating, debugging, and adding new features all the time. MODX is the most secure platform I've tried. There are various security features built into the core code. I've only experienced one exploited vulnerability in the past 8 years, and that was rapidly patched by the MODX team. No bloated code gets inserted anywhere in pages, only the code I specifically want.

Cons

If you're looking for a plug-and-play CMS, this isn't it. There ARE some themes available at ThemeForest and other places, so if one of those works for you, great. But in general, MODX is best for custom work. In the past, the site manager was kind of slow, but in 2019 that's no longer generally the case, so this is no longer a negative for me.

Review Source

AK

Andreas K.  
Owner  
Internet  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Good idea, but outdated developer experience"

September 18, 2023

4.0

We've created a complex website for a customer with MODX. We tried out MODX because the customer's designer gave a recommendation to us for using that tool. As we didn't know OctoberCMS back in those days we've been giving it a try. Overall it worked well and the website is still on and performs well, however we found the developer-experience too poor to use MODX with any other website.

Pros

Over all, the configurability and control over your code (frontend & backend) are pretty well. As a developer I can build any website and any plugin with that system.

Cons

The UI and UX. Creating websites with snippets and partials and other code injection methods is way too complicated. There are no tabs to work on different snippets/sites parallel, to compare code etc.Also, there are poor keyboard-commands for the navigation through the contents. However if you like big clicking-orgies to create your website, MODX is the tool of choice.

Switched from

[Joomla](https://www.capterra.com/p/161648/Joomla/)

Recommendation of a colleague.

Review Source

PB

Peter B.  
Web Producer  
Marketing and Advertising  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Be the CMS"

March 31, 2023

5.0

MODX offers me complete customization to tailor a website to my clients businesses needs. No two MODX websites are alike because MODX isn't a cookie-cutter CMS. I've deployed websites on just about every CMS and ran into one issue or another before I found MODX. I say “Yes!” to any client request knowing that there are at least 3 ways to address business needs as they respond to changing business environments.

Pros

Speed, SEO, Security, Flexibility, customization.

Cons

There's nothing I dislike. Get yourself on the MODXcloud!

Reason for choosing MODX

Because it's stressful and humiliating to tell clients large and small, “Nope, your CMS can't do that.” What ever client wants to hear is the most powerful word ever: “Yes”.

Review Source

MW

Murray W.  
Lead Developer  
Internet  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "This is the best CMS software available today. Easily."

March 31, 2019

5.0

Switching to MODX has been a dream. Our agency now saves so much development time and we end up with better quality products than we used to with other systems like Wordpress, Joomla or Drupal. I cannot recommend MODX enough. Our clients love it too!

Pros

Our agency Digital Penguin has switched to using MODX for nearly all our client projects now. It is the fastest, most flexible and secure Content Management System (CMS) that we've ever had the pleasure of using. There are no restrictions in how you implement a design and it's easily the best system for SEO as you have complete control over the HTML output. There is an amazing, friendly community of people using MODX who are eager to help you learn the system, and plugins/extras are available to extend the CMS in any way you need. Don't settle for Wordpress, Joomla or any other system you need to waste time wrestling with to customize the way you want. MODX is quick, easy to learn and designed to be customized.

Cons

There's nothing I dislike about the software so far! With MODX 3 around the corner, things are only going to improve too.

Review Source

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