Choosing a page builder is one of the most critical decisions you’ll make for your WordPress website. It dictates your design capabilities, site performance, and day-to-day workflow. For years, Elementor has been the undisputed king, powering millions of websites with its user-friendly interface and massive ecosystem.
But a powerful new contender has entered the ring: Breakdance.
Created by the team behind the developer-focused Oxygen Builder, Breakdance aims to offer the best of both worlds: the ease of use of a traditional page builder and the clean, high-performance output of a modern tool.
So, how do they stack up? Is it time to switch from the reigning champion, or is the new challenger the perfect fit for your next project? Let’s dive into the ultimate Breakdance vs. Elementor showdown.
A Quick Introduction
What is Elementor?
Elementor is the most popular visual page builder for WordPress. It launched in 2016 and revolutionized the platform by allowing users to build complex layouts with a simple drag-and-drop interface, all without writing a single line of code. It works with your WordPress theme to control the content and design of your pages.
What is Breakdance?
Breakdance is a modern, all-in-one website builder for WordPress. Its key differentiator is that it disables the WordPress theme system entirely. This allows it to take full control, generating cleaner code and delivering exceptional performance. It packs a massive amount of pro-level features into its core, aiming to be a complete toolkit right out of the box.
The Head-to-Head Comparison
We’ll compare these two builders across the categories that matter most:
1. Performance and Speed
This is where the fundamental difference between the two builders becomes crystal clear.
- Elementor: While Elementor has made significant performance improvements, it can still be prone to “div-ception” (nesting lots of container divs), which can add code bloat and slow down your site. Achieving top-tier performance often requires careful optimization, good hosting, and caching plugins.
- Breakdance: Performance is Breakdance’s main selling point. By disabling the theme and outputting lean, clean HTML and CSS, it consistently produces faster-loading websites. It also includes built-in performance optimizations like a script manager and font loading controls, reducing the need for extra plugins.
Winner: Breakdance. If raw, out-of-the-box speed is your number one priority, Breakdance has a clear advantage.
2. Ease of Use and User Interface (UI)
Both builders are visual and user-friendly, but their approach is different.
- Elementor: Features a fixed sidebar on the left where you find all your widgets and settings. This is a very intuitive and familiar layout for millions of users. It’s incredibly easy for beginners to pick up and start building immediately.
- Breakdance: Uses a floating Properties Panel. You click on an element, and its settings appear in this movable panel. This gives you a full-screen view of your design, which many developers and designers prefer. While it might take a moment to get used to, it’s a powerful and efficient workflow once you do.
Winner: Tie. This is purely subjective. Elementor’s UI is more traditional and arguably more beginner-friendly. Breakdance’s UI is more modern and flexible, appealing to those who want an unobstructed view of their canvas.
3. Features and Elements
- Elementor: Comes with a solid set of widgets in its free version and a much larger set in Pro. Its real power, however, comes from its vast ecosystem of third-party add-ons. If you need a hyper-specific feature, there’s probably an Elementor add-on for it.
- Breakdance: Adopts an “all-inclusive” philosophy. Breakdance Pro comes packed with an enormous number of advanced elements, including a native Mega Menu builder, a powerful Form Builder with post-submission actions, a content-loop builder, and an advanced slider. The goal is to eliminate your need for many separate plugins.
Winner: Breakdance, for its native feature set. While Elementor is endlessly extendable, Breakdance gives you more professional-grade tools without needing to install (and pay for) extra plugins.
4. Theme Building and WooCommerce
- Elementor Pro: Offers a robust Theme Builder that allows you to create custom headers, footers, post templates, and archive pages that work with your chosen theme. Its WooCommerce Builder is also very powerful, giving you full control over your product and shop pages.
- Breakdance: Since it disables the theme, its entire interface is a theme builder. You create global styles, headers, footers, and templates from scratch within Breakdance. Its WooCommerce integration is incredibly deep, giving you tons of elements and styling options for every part of the shopping experience right out of the box.
Winner: Tie. Both are exceptionally capable. The choice depends on your philosophy: Do you want a builder that works with a theme (Elementor), or one that is the theme (Breakdance)?
5. Pricing
- Elementor: Has a good free version. Elementor Pro is a yearly subscription with different tiers based on the number of websites (1, 25, or 1000). This can get expensive for agencies or freelancers with many sites.
- Breakdance: Also has an excellent free version. Breakdance Pro has a simple, incredibly compelling offer: one flat yearly fee for use on unlimited websites. This provides tremendous value, especially for professionals building sites for clients.
Winner: Breakdance, for value. The unlimited site license at its price point is one of the best deals in the WordPress space.
The Verdict: Who Should Use Which Builder?
There is no single “best” builder—only the one that’s right for you.
Choose Elementor if:
- You’re a beginner looking for the most straightforward, most documented entry point into website building.
- You rely on a specific theme or third-party add-ons that are built for the Elementor ecosystem.
- You’re working on an existing site built with Elementor and want to maintain consistency.
- Your clients already know and love Elementor, making handoffs easier.
Choose Breakdance if:
- Performance is your absolute top priority.
- You’re a developer or agency who wants a clean, modern workflow and excellent value for unlimited sites.
- You want an all-in-one toolkit and prefer not to rely on lots of extra plugins for things like forms and menus.
- You’re starting a new project from scratch and want to build on a lean, fast foundation without theme conflicts.
Final Thoughts
Elementor is the established, reliable, and incredibly versatile choice with an unmatched community and add-on market. It’s a safe and powerful bet.
Breakdance is the ambitious and powerful newcomer that challenges the status quo by prioritizing performance and a feature-complete core. It’s an exciting choice for professionals and anyone who wants to build blazingly fast websites with a modern tool.
The best way to decide? Try them both! Both offer free versions or online playgrounds. See which workflow clicks with you, and build something amazing.
