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We build client sites on Breakdance, Bricks, Elementor and Oxygen, so we have no reason to sell you one over another. Each is a good tool for a certain kind of project and a poor one for others. This comparison focuses on what matters to a business owner: speed, how easy the site is to edit, how easy it is to find help, and what happens in three years.
Side by side
| Breakdance | Bricks | Elementor | Oxygen | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Plugin | Theme | Plugin | Plugin |
| Ease of use | Easy | Moderate | Easy | Harder |
| Code output | Light | Very light | Heavier | Very light |
| Built-in features | Very broad | Broad | Broad with Pro | Leaner core |
| Add-on ecosystem | Small | Growing | Largest | Small |
| Finding a developer | Moderate | Moderate | Easiest | Harder |
| Best for | Business sites and stores | Custom, developer-led sites | Sites needing niche add-ons | Developers who want full control |
Breakdance
Breakdance aims to feel as approachable as Elementor while producing lighter pages. Forms, popups, a header builder, mega menus and WooCommerce styling are included, so a business site needs few extra plugins. It is our usual recommendation when the client's own team will edit the site. Read our Breakdance pros and cons for more detail.
Bricks
Bricks is a theme with a builder inside. It is class-based, which suits developers who think in CSS, and its output is very clean. It handles dynamic data and custom layouts extremely well. The trade-off is a steeper learning curve for non-technical editors. We recommend it for custom, design-led builds that a developer will maintain.
Elementor
Elementor has by far the largest user base and add-on market. If you need an unusual feature, someone has probably built a widget for it, and finding a freelancer is easy. The cost is weight: pages tend to carry more code, and sites with many add-ons need more optimisation work to score well on speed. It remains a sensible choice when a specific add-on is essential or your team already knows it well.
Oxygen
Oxygen is made by the same company as Breakdance and now shares its core engine. It is aimed at developers who want to control markup and CSS directly. See Breakdance vs Oxygen for how the two differ.
What about speed?
Breakdance, Bricks and Oxygen all start from a lighter base than Elementor. In practice, hosting, image sizes, fonts and third-party scripts decide most of your score. A carefully built Elementor site can beat a careless build on any other tool. The lighter builders simply make a good result easier to reach.
Which should you choose?
- A business site your team will edit: Breakdance.
- A WooCommerce store with custom layouts: Breakdance or Bricks.
- A highly custom site maintained by a developer: Bricks or Oxygen.
- A site that depends on a particular Elementor add-on, or an existing Elementor site that works: stay with Elementor.
Should you switch builders?
Switching means rebuilding the design layer. Your content, images and SEO settings stay in WordPress, but templates and page layouts are rebuilt. It is worth doing when:
- The site is slow because of how it is built, and optimisation has reached its limit.
- You are redesigning anyway.
- Licence or add-on costs have grown out of proportion.
It is not worth doing just because another builder is fashionable.
Get an opinion on your site
Send us your site and we will tell you whether to stay, optimise or move. See our Breakdance, Bricks, Elementor and Oxygen services, or book a free call.
