Pick a WordPress page builder in 2026 and you're really choosing between four serious contenders: Bricks, Oxygen 6, Breakdance, and Elementor. The catch is that most comparisons assume you're starting fresh. If you're an Oxygen Classic user weighing where to move your existing sites, the decision looks different — so this comparison answers both: which builder is best in general, and which makes sense if you're migrating off Classic.

TL;DR by user type:

Developers who want total control: Bricks or Oxygen 6

Agencies optimizing for cost + control: Oxygen 6 (one-time) or Bricks (lifetime option)

Agencies optimizing for speed + consistency: Breakdance

Marketers / business owners / beginners: Elementor or Breakdance

Already own an Oxygen Classic lifetime license: Oxygen 6 is included — start there

The 2026 landscape in 60 seconds

A lot changed in the last year, which is why older comparisons feel off.

The biggest shift: Oxygen 6 launched in February 2026 as a complete ground-up rewrite of Oxygen, replacing a decade-old codebase. It's a different product from the Oxygen Classic many developers know, and it isn't backwards compatible with it.

Meanwhile, Breakdance — from the same company as Oxygen (Soflyy) — has matured into a stable, polished builder since 2023. Bricks has quietly become the momentum leader among developers and agencies, with arguably the most enthusiastic community of the bunch. And Elementor, the incumbent powering well over 15 million sites, has leaned hard into AI (its "Angie" copilot) and a rebuilt Editor V4.

So you're not comparing four similar tools. You're comparing two developer-grade builders (Bricks, Oxygen 6), one polished mid-market builder (Breakdance), and one mass-market incumbent (Elementor).

At a glance

Pricing changes frequently — treat these as a snapshot and confirm on each official site before buying.

	Bricks	Oxygen 6	Breakdance	Elementor
Best for	Developers, agencies	Developers, agencies	Builders, marketers, agencies	Beginners, mass market
Philosophy	Code-aware control	Maximum control	Guardrails-on workflow	Easy, widget-driven
Maturity	Mature, strong momentum	New (Feb 2026), iterating fast	Mature (since 2023)	Most mature, huge ecosystem
Pricing model	Annual or one-time lifetime	One-time lifetime	Annual subscription	Annual subscription
Entry price	~$79/yr (1 site)	Lifetime bundle; free for Classic lifetime holders	Free tier; ~$99.99/yr (1 site)	~$59/yr (1 site)
Unlimited / top tier	~$249/yr unlimited; ~$599 lifetime	Unlimited projects included	~$199.99/yr unlimited	~$399/yr (up to 1,000 sites)
Free version	No	No	Yes (80 elements)	Yes (limited)
Code output	Very lean	Very lean	Lean	Heaviest of the four
Ecosystem size	Large, growing	Smallest (newest)	Growing	By far the largest
Migrate from Oxygen Classic	Not automatic	Not automatic	Not automatic	Not automatic

Performance and code quality

For anyone who cares about Core Web Vitals, this is often the deciding factor.

Bricks and Oxygen 6 sit at the lean end — both are built around clean markup and minimal bloat, and both can hit strong PageSpeed scores with little manual optimization. Breakdance is also notably light, producing meaningfully smaller pages than the heavyweight builders. Elementor is the heaviest of the four; it has improved a lot with Flexbox containers and the Editor V4 work, but it still tends to add more page weight than the developer-focused trio.

The honest caveat: for most real sites, your hosting, image strategy, and third-party scripts move the needle far more than the builder's baseline output. The builder difference matters most at scale and on performance-critical projects.

For Oxygen Classic users: Classic already had a lean-code reputation, so moving to Bricks, Oxygen 6, or Breakdance keeps you in familiar performance territory. Elementor would be a step toward heavier output.

Workflow and learning curve

This is where the four genuinely diverge.

Oxygen 6 and Bricks assume you understand HTML, CSS, and the box model. They reward that knowledge with granular control and get out of your way. The trade-off is a steeper learning curve.
Breakdance sits in the middle: visual and forgiving, with best practices baked in, but still capable of real structural work. It's the "powerful but you won't constantly break things" option.
Elementor is the most beginner-friendly. Drag, drop, done. If you learn by dropping in widgets and templates, nothing here is easier — at the cost of the cleanest output and the tightest control.

If you've used Oxygen Classic, Bricks and Oxygen 6 will feel most natural; Breakdance is an easy step sideways; Elementor will feel like a different mental model entirely.

Pricing and licensing compared

The pricing models differ as much as the prices, and that matters more than the headline numbers.

Oxygen 6 — one-time lifetime purchase that bundles Oxygen Classic, Oxygen 6, and the premium add-ons. Crucially, existing Oxygen Classic lifetime license holders get Oxygen 6 included free. No recurring cost.
Bricks — flexible: roughly $79/yr (1 site), $149/yr (3 sites), $249/yr (unlimited), or a one-time ~$599 lifetime unlimited license. The lifetime option is a favorite among agencies who hate recurring tooling costs.
Breakdance — subscription only: a capable free tier, then ~$99.99/yr (single site) or ~$199.99/yr (unlimited), with an AI tier above. Renewal price is locked, so no nasty year-two jump.
Elementor — subscription, tiered by site count: ~$59 (1 site), ~$99 (3 sites), ~$199 (25 sites), ~$399 (up to 1,000 sites). The most granular tiers, but everything is recurring.

The pattern: Bricks and Oxygen 6 let you escape recurring costs (lifetime options), while Breakdance and Elementor are subscription-based. If you already hold an Oxygen Classic lifetime license, Oxygen 6 is the only option that costs you nothing extra.

Head-to-head: the comparisons people actually search

Breakdance vs Elementor

The clearest "do I need the heavyweight?" matchup. Breakdance includes form, popup, WooCommerce, and dynamic-data builders in the box, produces dramatically lighter pages, and costs less for unlimited sites than Elementor's top tiers. Elementor counters with an enormous ecosystem — more templates, tutorials, and community answers than any builder alive — plus its new AI copilot. Verdict: Breakdance for performance and value; Elementor if ecosystem size and beginner hand-holding matter most.

Bricks vs Elementor

Similar story, sharper. Bricks is the developer's answer to Elementor: far leaner output, code-level control, and a lifetime license option versus Elementor's perpetual subscription. Elementor still wins on sheer ubiquity and ease for non-technical users. Verdict: Bricks for developers and agencies who value performance and one-time cost; Elementor for beginners and template-driven workflows.

Bricks vs Breakdance

The two most-recommended "modern" builders, and the closest fight. Bricks leans more developer-centric with deep control and a class-based workflow; Breakdance leans more polished and forgiving with a smoother out-of-the-box experience. Both are fast and capable full-site builders. Verdict: Bricks if your team is technical and wants control (and a lifetime option); Breakdance if you want the most refined editing experience and don't mind subscribing.

Oxygen 6 vs Bricks

The developer's dilemma. Both prioritize clean code and granular control, and both appeal to the same audience. Bricks is the mature, proven choice with momentum and a large community. Oxygen 6 is the newer rewrite — promising and actively developed, but younger and less battle-tested for production work. Verdict: Bricks if you want proven stability today; Oxygen 6 if you're already in the Oxygen ecosystem (especially with a lifetime license) and want to stay.

Bricks vs Gutenberg

Worth addressing because some people wonder whether a paid builder is even necessary. The WordPress block editor (Gutenberg) has improved enormously and is free, native, and lightweight — great for content-driven sites and editorial work. But for complex layouts, dynamic templates, and the kind of design control agencies need, Bricks (and the others here) still offer a far more capable, structured workflow. Verdict: Gutenberg for lean, content-first sites; a dedicated builder for design- and template-heavy work.

Which should you choose?

By scenario:

Solo developer: Bricks or Oxygen 6. Pick Bricks for maturity and a lifetime license; pick Oxygen 6 if you already own Oxygen and want to stay in the family for free.
Agency, many client sites: Bricks (lifetime unlimited) or Oxygen 6 (one-time, unlimited projects) for cost control; Breakdance if a fast, consistent, low-error editing experience across your team matters more than avoiding a subscription.
Marketer or small business owner: Elementor or Breakdance — both are friendlier, and both have free entry points to learn on.
Performance-critical project: Bricks or Oxygen 6, with Breakdance close behind.
Already on Oxygen Classic with a lifetime license: Start with Oxygen 6. It's included, it's the same family, and it costs nothing to evaluate.

The part every other comparison skips: moving your existing sites

If you're switching builders — not starting from zero — there's a step the comparison articles gloss over: your current site doesn't come with you automatically.

This is especially sharp for Oxygen Classic users. Oxygen 6 is a ground-up rewrite that is not backwards compatible with Classic, so even staying in the Oxygen family is a migration, not an update. And Bricks, Breakdance, and Elementor each store their content in entirely different formats. Whichever builder you choose, the templates, components, and layouts you've already built live in Oxygen Classic's structure — and historically, moving them meant rebuilding every page by hand.

That manual rebuild is the real cost of switching, and it's why so many teams stay frozen on a builder they've already outgrown.

TransferForge exists to remove it. It converts Oxygen Classic templates and components directly into Oxygen 6 or Breakdance format — preserving structure, classes, and styling — so your choice of builder is a design decision rather than a rebuilding project. Because it's built around a builder-neutral intermediate format, you're not locked into one destination either. You can convert your first few pages free to judge the output before committing.

Frequently asked questions

Which page builder is best for WordPress in 2026? There's no single winner — it depends on your priorities. Bricks and Oxygen 6 lead for developers who want control and clean code; Breakdance is the best balance of power and ease; Elementor is best for beginners and anyone who relies on a huge template-and-tutorial ecosystem.

Is Oxygen Builder better than Elementor? For developers and performance-focused work, generally yes — Oxygen produces leaner code and offers more control. For beginners and template-driven sites, Elementor's ease and ecosystem often win. They're built for different users.

What's the difference between Oxygen and Breakdance? Both are made by Soflyy. Oxygen (6) gives you complete, code-level control and expects technical knowledge. Breakdance enforces best practices automatically and offers an easier, more visual workflow.

Will Bricks and Oxygen merge? They're separate products from separate companies (Bricks is independent; Oxygen is Soflyy's). There's no announced merger — the community speculation tends to stem from how often the two are compared, not from any official plan.

How much do they cost? Roughly: Elementor from ~$59/yr (up to ~$399/yr for 1,000 sites); Breakdance free tier, then ~$99.99–$199.99/yr; Bricks ~$79–$249/yr or ~$599 one-time lifetime; Oxygen 6 a one-time lifetime bundle that's free for existing Classic lifetime holders. Confirm current pricing on each official site.

Bottom line

Your priority	Best fit
Maximum control + clean code	Bricks or Oxygen 6
Avoid recurring costs	Oxygen 6 (lifetime) or Bricks (lifetime option)
Most polished, forgiving editor	Breakdance
Easiest for beginners + biggest ecosystem	Elementor
Already own an Oxygen Classic lifetime license	Oxygen 6 (included free)

All four are capable enough that you won't regret a thoughtful choice. The mistake is letting the fear of rebuilding your existing sites keep you on a builder you've outgrown — because that part is now a solved problem.