CKEditor 5 vs Lexical

CKEditor 59.3Visit Lexical7.8Visit

Higher score CKEditor 5 #1 in Rich Text Editor Software 9.3/10 Free plan · 14-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 3 of 3 features Visit CKEditor 5

vs

Lexical #7 in Rich Text Editor Software 7.8/10 Open source ✓ 3 of 3 features Visit Lexical

• CKEditor 5 fits best

  Teams needing a complete production editor

• Lexical fits best

  React teams needing an accessible editor core

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Side by side

Feature	CKEditor 5 9.3/10 Visit ↗	Lexical 7.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	7.8
Ranking	#1 in Rich Text Editor Software	#7 in Rich Text Editor Software
Best for	Teams needing a complete production editor	React teams needing an accessible editor core
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free
Starting price	$144/mo	Open source
Free plan	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Free trial	14 days	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android	Web
Support	Community, Docs, Tickets	Community, Docs
Integrations	15 integrations	2 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features CKEditor 5 3/3 · Lexical 3/3
Structured content	✓	✓
Real-time collaboration	✓	✓
Table editing	✓	✓
Specs
Deployment	Both	Not checked yet
Framework support	Angular, React, Next.js, Nuxt, Vue.js, Svelte, Spring Boot, jQuery, Electron, Salesforce, SharePoint SPFx, Drupal, .NET, Laravel	React
Media handling	Image upload, drag and drop, clipboard and URL insertion; media embedding for YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify, Dailymotion, Instagram, Twitter, Google Maps, Flickr and Facebook	images; file import/export; HTML import/export
Our review
Pros	Structured content model with tables, media, and customizable builds Real-time collaboration, comments, track changes, and revision history Framework integrations plus cloud-hosted and self-hosted deployment options	Open-source modular architecture with extensible packages JSON state plus HTML and Markdown conversion Tables, Yjs collaboration, React bindings, and accessibility support
Cons	Self-hosted deployment is available only with the Custom plan Professional collaboration features are not included in Essential Paid plans start at $144 per month with annual billing	Requires developers to build the editing experience around the core Official framework support is centered on React Web-focused with limited platform and integration coverage
Our verdict	CKEditor 5 is a JavaScript rich-text editing framework for developers adding content creation to web applications and business software. Its plugin-based architecture supports customizable editor builds, structured tree-based content,… Read the review →	Lexical is an open-source JavaScript framework for building text-editing experiences in web applications. It is aimed at development teams creating plain-text editors, rich-text editors, CMS interfaces, messaging inputs, and collaborative… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• CKEditor 5 — where it wins

  • Structured content model with tables, media, and customizable builds
  • Real-time collaboration, comments, track changes, and revision history
  • Framework integrations plus cloud-hosted and self-hosted deployment options

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment is available only with the Custom plan
  • Professional collaboration features are not included in Essential
  • Paid plans start at $144 per month with annual billing

• Lexical — where it wins

  • Open-source modular architecture with extensible packages
  • JSON state plus HTML and Markdown conversion
  • Tables, Yjs collaboration, React bindings, and accessibility support

  Where it doesn't

  • Requires developers to build the editing experience around the core
  • Official framework support is centered on React
  • Web-focused with limited platform and integration coverage

• CKEditor 59.3/10 · Free plan · 14-day trial

  A structured editor framework with collaboration, media, export, and flexible deployment.

  Visit CKEditor 5Full verdict →
• Lexical7.8/10 · Open source

  A flexible, open-source editor core for React teams building custom web experiences.

  Visit LexicalFull verdict →