The shortcomings of the conventional drug delivery systems necessitate the need to use other routes. On account of its merits over other routes, the transdermal approach has drawn the interest of investigators globally. Transdermal drug delivery systems aim to achieve therapeutic concentrations of the drug through skin. Ethosomal systems are unique lipid vesicular transporters that contain comparatively high ethanol content. The efficient distribution of drugs with various physicochemical characteristics into deep skin layers and across the skin is the specific purpose of these nanocarriers. Since their invention in 1996, a great deal of study has been done on ethosomes; new compounds have been introduced to their core formula, resulting in the development of new types of ethosomal systems. Various methods of preparation are employed for developing these innovative carriers. This review offers an in-depth investigation of ethosomal systems, classifying them into three categories: classical ethosomes, binary ethosomes, and transethosomes, based on the components of each system. The formulation, size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency, skin-permeation properties, stability, and other distinctions between these systems are studied. The effects of ethosomal system components, preparation techniques, and their important roles in defining the final properties of these nanocarriers are reviewed in detail in this work.