As a web designer, trying new tools is part of the job. And over the years I have tried a few WordPress page builders like Elementor and Divi.

I was looking for a tool that would give me flexibility and also was light.

Then I discovered Breakdance. And honestly? It changed the way I build websites on WordPress.

A Bit of Context: Why WordPress at All?

Before I get into Breakdance specifically, it's worth explaining why WordPress is still such a relevant choice for many businesses.

WordPress powers around 40% of all websites on the internet. It's open source, incredibly flexible, and gives you complete ownership of your website, no monthly platform fees, no restrictions on what you can build, and no risk of a company shutting down and taking your site with it.

But WordPress on its own is just a content management system. To build beautiful, custom-designed pages without writing code, you need a page builder. And that's where things have historically gotten... complicated.

The Problem with Elementor (And Builders Like It)

Elementor is probably the most well-known WordPress page builder, and for good reason, it's powerful and has a massive community behind it. I've used it. I understand why people like it.

But here's the reality of working with Elementor: it doesn't do everything on its own.

To get a truly functional, professional website with Elementor, you often end up installing a stack of additional plugins to fill the gaps. Things like:

A popup plugin, like Elementor Popup Builder or a third-party alternative, to create lead capture forms and promotional overlays
A form plugin, WPForms or Ninja Forms, because Elementor's built-in form widget is basic
A dynamic content plugin, like JetEngine or Dynamic.ooo, for anything involving custom post types or dynamic data
A sticky header plugin — because getting a sticky, scroll-aware header to behave properly often needs extra help
An animation plugin, for scroll animations and motion effects beyond what Elementor offers natively
A global styles plugin, to manage typography and colour systems site-wide without it becoming a nightmare

That is a lot of plugins. And every plugin you add is another potential point of failure, another thing to update, another thing that can conflict with something else, and, critically, more weight on your website that slows it down.

Slow websites rank lower on Google. Slow websites lose visitors. And a website held together by so many plugins is a maintenance headache waiting to happen.

Enter Breakdance

Breakdance is a newer WordPress page builder, it launched in 2022, and it was built by the same team behind Oxygen Builder. From the very first project I built with it, I noticed the difference.

It is clean. It is lean. And it just works.

What Makes Breakdance Different

It's Built to Be Lightweight

Breakdance was designed from the ground up with performance in mind. It generates clean, minimal code, which means your website loads faster without any extra optimisation work.

For SEO and user experience, this matters enormously.

It Replaces a Whole Stack of Plugins

This is the big one. Here's what Breakdance includes natively, things you would need separate plugins for in Elementor

Forms: Breakdance has a fully featured form builder built right in. No WPForms, no Gravity Forms, no Contact Form 7 needed.

Popups: Need a newsletter signup popup or a promotional overlay? Built in. No separate pop-up plugin required.

WooCommerce builder: Full control over your shop, product, cart and checkout pages natively within Breakdance. No additional WooCommerce design plugins needed.

Dynamic data: Breakdance handles dynamic content and custom fields natively, without needing JetEngine or similar add-ons.

Global styles system: Colours, fonts, spacing, all managed in one place, consistently applied across the entire site. It works the way it should.

Interactions and animations: Scroll animations, hover effects, and motion are all built in. No separate animation plugin needed.

Sticky headers and advanced navigation: Breakdance's header builder is genuinely excellent and handles complex sticky behaviour without any workarounds.

What this means in practice is that a website I build in Breakdance can run on significantly fewer plugins than the same site built in Elementor. Fewer plugins means faster load times, fewer conflicts, easier maintenance, and a much more stable website long term.

My Experience Building with Breakdance

The first time I built a full website in Breakdance, I was genuinely impressed by how intuitive the interface is. Everything is logically organised. The global styles system makes keeping a site visually consistent almost effortless. And the performance of the finished site, even before any speed optimisation, was noticeably better than comparable Elementor builds.

I also found it much easier to build truly custom layouts. In Elementor, getting certain designs to work the way you envision them can involve a lot of CSS workarounds. Breakdance gives you more direct control over the underlying structure, which means less hacking and more building.

The Cons… Because I'll Always Be Honest

No tool is perfect, and Breakdance is no exception. Here's what I think is worth knowing before you get excited:

It's newer, so the community is smaller. Elementor has years of tutorials, forum posts, and third-party resources behind it. Breakdance's community is growing fast but it's not at that level yet. If you get stuck, finding a solution can sometimes take more digging.

The learning curve is real. Because Breakdance gives you so much control, there is more to learn upfront. For someone just dipping their toes into WordPress, it can feel overwhelming at first. It rewards those who invest the time to learn it properly.

Third-party template libraries are limited. Elementor has a huge ecosystem of pre-built templates and kits you can import. Breakdance's template library is improving, but is not as extensive, which means more building from scratch, which I personally enjoy, but some people prefer the shortcut.

So Should You Use Breakdance?

If you're a web designer working on WordPress builds and you haven't tried Breakdance yet, I genuinely recommend it. It's faster, cleaner, and more capable out of the box than anything else I've used on WordPress.

If you're a business owner wondering whether your WordPress website should be built with Breakdance, the honest answer is: it depends. Breakdance is excellent for businesses that want a custom, high-performance WordPress website and are happy to work with a designer who knows the tool well.

It's not the right choice for everyone. That's why I always start every client conversation by understanding your business, your goals, and your technical comfort level before recommending a platform. Sometimes the answer is Squarespace. Sometimes it's Shopify. And sometimes, especially for clients who want maximum flexibility and performance on WordPress, it's Breakdance.

Want to Talk About What Platform is Right for You?

Choosing the right website platform is one of the most important decisions you'll make for your online presence. Get it wrong, and you're either locked into something that doesn't fit or maintaining a bloated site that holds you back.

I help my clients navigate exactly this decision!

👉 Book your free discovery call and let's figure out the best fit for your business together.

My Honest Opinion About Building with Breakdance in wordpress