Elementor vs Breakdance: Which One is Better?

The positioning of Breakdance is clear. It is created to become an alternative to Elementor. Meanwhile, Elementor, as you know, is still the most popular page builder plugin for WordPress with over 20 million websites built with it.

As a plugin designed to become an Elementor alternative, Breakdance offers nearly all features that Elementor has. From a form builder, popup builder, loop builder to theme builder.

To attract Elementor users (and WordPress users at large), Breakdance offers advanced features above mentioned for free.

The question is, is Breakdance really better than Elementor? You will find the answer shortly.

Elementor vs Breakdance in a Nutshell

	Elementor	Breakdance
Layout system	Flexbox and CSS grid	Flexbox and CSS grid
Number of design elements	100+	140+
Design system	Global variables, components, global elements, global classes	Global variables, global elements, global presets
Form builder	Supports integration with email marketing platforms. Allows to create a multi-step form. Comes with built-in submission manager	Supports integration with email marketing platforms. Allows to create a multi-step form. Comes with built-in submission manager
Popup builder	Offers a dedicated popup builder feature with an easy workflow	Offers a dedicated popup builder feature with an easy workflow
Loop builder	Requires a template creation	Requires a global block creation
Motion effect	Scrolling effects, mouse effects, page transition, sticky effect, entrance animation, parallax	Scrolling effects, sticky effect, entrance animation
Ecosystem and compatibility	More established ecosystem with extensive add-ons and is compatible with more WP plugins	Harder to find dedicated add-ons. Less compatible with other WP plugins
Pricing	Starts from $60/year. Doesn't accept one-time payment	Starts from $99/year. Doesn't accept one-time payment

Elementor vs Breakdance: Features Comparison

1. Layout System: Both Support Flexbox and CSS Grid

Both Elementor and Breakdance have a modern layout system with the native support for CSS flexbox and CSS grid.

This feature is worth mentioning as some page builders still don't adopt flexbox and CSS grid. With CSS flexbox and CSS grid, you can create a design with a more complex layout.

CSS grid is especially crucial if you often create a page with a card grid section. With this feature, you can create a fully responsive card grid section.

Both Elementor and Breakdance come with a dedicated design element to create a grid section. You can set the number of grid items per tow, set space between grid items and several other things.

2. Number of Design Elements: Breakdance Has More Design Elements But Elementor is Better In Terms of Usability

Breakdance has more design elements than Elementor. Actually, this completely makes sense because one of the goals of Breakdance is to create a page builder where users can add more design elements without needing to install an extra plugin.

In total, there are over 140 design elements that Breakdance offers. Elementor, meanwhile, has "only" about 100 native design elements.

Although Breakdance offers more native design elements than Elementor, it is not necessarily better because not all of the design elements that Breakdance offers are not really usable for real use cases.

Also, some of the basic the elements that are supposed to be free, like Tabs, Progress Bar and Counter are only accessible with the pro version.

In Elementor, all basic elements (including Tabs, Progress Bar and Counter) are accessible on the free version.

You only need to upgrade to Elementor Pro if you need to add pro widgets like Form, Animated Headline, Carousel and so on.

In terms of usability, I still find the free design elements of Elementor are better than Breakdance's free design elements.

Furthermore, Elementor (the pro version) has two useful elements -- the PayPal Button widget and the Stripe Button widget -- which you can use to accept payments.

These elements are super useful if you want to create a landing page to promote a certain product. Breakdance has no native elements for the same functionality.

I have published a dedicated post in case you want to learn more about the differences between Elementor Free and Pro.

3. Design System: Elementor Allows to Create Components, Breakdance Doesn't

Not every WordPress project needs a design system. But if you need one and are looking for the best page builder plugin to implement your design system, then I can say that Elementor is better than Breakdance in this area.

In Elementor version 4 (Elementor v4), the design system is the main focus. In this version, you can create components and add global variables.

A component is a part of a design system where you can have a design block with the same design across your website. The best part is that you can add different content to a component.

I have a dedicated post in case you want to learn how to create a component in Elementor.

Apart from components, Elementor also allows you to create global CSS classes. With a global class, you can create a group of design settings and apply it anywhere you want.

To encourage users to use a design system, Elementor even adds a dedicated menu icon on the top bar to access variables and classes. And you can also export and import classes.

Breakdance, meanwhile, uses the similar approach adopted by Divi to allow users to work with a design system. It doesn't offer the ability to create components like Elementor. Also, you can't add global classes.

In Breakdance, you can implement your design system by creating global elements, global presets and global variables.

A global preset has the same functionality as a global class in Elementor where you can use it to create a group of design settings which you can apply across your website.

4. Form Builder: Breakdance Has Multiple Form Elements, Elementor Has Only One Element

If you prefer using a page builder in which the form builder feature is available on the free version, then Breakdance is the option because in Elementor, form builder is only available on the pro version.

Also, some form-related features -- including the submissions manager -- are not accessible on all Pro plans.

In Breakdance, you can create a form even if you use the free version. You can create several form types. From a simple contact form, an email opt-in form to collect leads to a user registration form and so on.

You only need to upgrade to Breakdance Pro if you want to connect your form with a CRM or an email marketing tool.

Be it Elementor or Breakdance allows you to create a multi-step form, which is great if you want to create an interactive form like, for instance, a survey form.

Another reason why Breakdance form builder is better than Elementor is that you can create a user registration form and a password recovery form.

Elementor Form Builder vs Breakdance Form Builder Comparison Table

	Elementor	Breakdance
Number of fields	16	14
Submissions manager	✅	✅
CRM and email marketing integration	✅	✅
Ability to create multi-step form	✅	✅
Ability to create registration form	❌	✅
Ability to create login form	✅	✅
Ability to create password recovery form	❌	✅
Security	reCaptcha, Akismet, Honeypot	reCaptcha, Honeypot, CSRF

5. Popup Builder: Elementor Requires Pro Version, Breakdance is Accessible on The Free Version

Breakdance is also a better option than Elementor if you are looking for a page builder with a popup builder feature which you can use for free.

The best part of creating a popup using Elementor and Breakdance is that you have full control over design since the popup creation is done via their visual editor.

The popup builder feature of Breakdance and Elementor have the same workflow. They offer a dedicated screen to manage popups. This is way better than Divi.

In Divi, you can create popups using Canvases, but you have no dedicated screen to manage the popups.

Also, the popup builder feature of Elementor and Breakdance allows you to easily control the popup behavior and display conditions.

Thanks to the ability to set popup behavior (trigger) and display conditions, you can create a popup with precise targeting.

Here are the popup behavior (triggers) you can set in Elementor and Breakdance.

Trigger Types Supported by Elementor and Breakdance Popup Builder

	Elementor	Breakdance
On page load	✅	✅
On page scroll	✅	✅
On scroll to element	✅	✅
On click	✅	✅
After inactivity	✅	✅
Exit intent	✅	✅
AdBlock detection	✅	❌
After X page views	✅	✅
After X sessions	✅	✅
When arriving from a specific URL	✅	✅
When arriving from search engines	✅	✅
Login status	✅	✅
Devices	✅	✅
Browsers	✅	✅

6. Loop Builder: The Two Have the Same Workflow to Create a Loop

Both Elementor and Breakdance come with a built-in loop builder feature. This feature is useful if you often create WordPress projects that involve custom content. You no longer need to install too many plugins with this feature.

In Elementor and Breakdance, loop builder is only accessible on the pro version.

Same as popup, the loop builder feature of Elementor and Breakdance also has the same workflow. You need to create a loop template and then display and loop it using dedicated design elements that they offer.

To be honest, Divi is better than Elementor and Breakdance in this area. It has a simpler workflow that doesn't require you to create a loop template. In Divi, you can loop any item with a single click.

Back to Elementor and Breakdance.

The loop builder of Elementor and Breakdance support integration with ACF and similar plugins.

They also come with useful features like pagination and filtering.

	Elementor	Breakdance
Filtering	✅	✅
ACF integration	✅	✅
Pagination	Numbers, previous and next, numbers + previous and next, load more, infinite load	Numbers, previous and next, numbers + previous and next, load more, infinite load

7. Motion Effects: Elementor Supports More Motion Effects than Breakdance

Elementor and Breakdance have never been the best options if you want to create an animation-heavy site.

In the WordPress space, a better solution to create an animation-heavy site is Kirki which has a timeline editor to create trigger-based animation effects.

Elementor has improved its animation feature in version 4 where you can create stacked animation effects. But still, you can only create basic animation effects unless you install an extra add-on or use custom code.

The animation feature of Breakdance is not better than Elementor. You can also add basic animation effects like entrance animation, sticky effect and scrolling effect.

	Elementor	Breakdance
Entrance animation	✅	✅
Sticky effect	✅	✅
Parallax	✅	❌
Scrolling effect	✅	✅
Page transition	✅	❌
Page loader	✅	❌
Mouse effect	✅	❌
Stacked animation effects	✅	❌

As you can see on the above table, Elementor supports more motion effects than Breakdance. You can even add page transition and page loader.

But again, these effects fall into basic compared with what you can add in Kirki. Let alone Webflow.

8. Other Features Available in Elementor and Breakdance

Apart from the above mentioned features, Elementor and Breakdance also come with some other useful features. One of which is client mode. This feature is particularly useful if you are a freelancer or agency.

With client mode, you can prevent clients (who typically have no design background) from changing the design by disabling the design capability in the editor. But you can still allow them to change the content (image, text, icon, etc).

Elementor and Breakdance also come with a code snippets manager. Not as advanced as a dedicated plugin like FluentSnippets or WPCodeBox, but it is useful enough to add JavaScript code snippets to connect your website with a third-party service (Google Analytics, CRM tool, etc).

Here are some other useful features available in Elementor and Breakdance:

	Elementor	Breakdance
Display condition	✅	✅
Code snippet manager	✅	✅
Custom font and icon	✅	✅
SVG upload	✅	✅
Maintenance and coming soon mode	✅	✅
Client mode	✅	✅
Generative AI	✅	✅ (requires an extra plugin)
Mega menu builder	✅	✅

Elementor vs Breakdance: Ecosystem and Compatibility

Being a WordPress plugin, both Elementor and Breakdance have an extremely open ecosystem. Third-party developers are welcomed to develop add-ons to enrich their capability.

Since Elementor existed first before Breakdance, no wonder if it has a more established ecosystem than Breakdance.

In the WordPress plugin directory, you can easily find plugins designed specifically for Elementor.

From general-purpose plugins like Essential Addons and JetElements to specific-purpose plugins like Animation Addons to JetEngine (JetEngine used to be built exclusively for Elementor).

If you need templates, you can also easily find ones on ThemeForest (our our website 🙂).

The availability of Breakdance add-ons and templates may be not as many as Elementor but it has a dedicated marketplace to make it easy for you to find templates and add-ons.

Compatibility with Other WordPress Plugins

Another area where Elementor outranks Breakdance is plugin compatibility. Most plugins in the WordPress ecosystem (membership plugins, LMS plugins, form builder plugins, etc) have native integration with Elementor.

With the integration, you have full control over the front-end design of your website.

If a certain plugin doesn't have native integration with Elementor, an add-on usually can become the bridge.

For instance, if you are a Gravity Forms user (Gravity Forms doesn't have native integration with Elementor), you can install Essential Addons to have full control over the form designs.

Elementor vs Breakdance: Pricing Comparison

Both Elementor and Breakdance adopt the same business model. They make money by offering a pro version of their plugin.

In other words, the free version of Elementor and Breakdance are available.

The pro version of Elementor starts from $60 for one site while the pro version of Breakdance starts from $99 for one site as well.

Crucial to note that Elementor adopts a tiered plans model. Not all Pro features are available on the lowest plan (the Essential plan). To unlock all of the Pro features, you need to subscribe to at least the Advanced Solo plan (tier 2 plan).

Be it Elementor or Breakdance doesn't accept one-time payment like Divi. They only accept subscription-based payment.

I've created the following table to make it easy for you to find out how much money you need to spend on Elementor Pro and Breakdance Pro based on the number of websites.

To make the comparison fairer, I skip the Elementor Essential plan since this plan doesn't include all Pro features. I started with the Advanced Solo plan.

To give a better insight, I also include Divi in the table.

Number of websites	Elementor	Breakdance	Divi
1	$84/year	$99/year	$89/year (or $249 one-time)
2 - 5	$204/year	$199/year	$89/year (or $249 one-time)
6 - 10	$204/year	199/year	$89/year (or $249 one-time)
11 - 25	$204/year	$199/year	$89/year (or $249 one-time)
26 - 100	$540/year	$199/year	$89/year (or $249 one-time)
100+	$540/year	$199/year	$89/year (or $249 one-time)

Summary: Should I Use Elementor or Breakdance?

Elementor and Breakdance are two page builder plugins for WordPress that have similar editing experience. Breakdance even admits that it is highly inspired by Elementor.

The two also target the same market segment (mainly beginners) although Elementor also chases professional designers with the release of version 4 which focuses on design system.

You can use Elementor and Breakdance to create a wide range of site types. From a simple one-page website, a simple landing page, a blog, an e-commerce site and so on.

They live on WordPress so that you can extend the functionality of your website using plugins.

So, which page builder should you use?

Elementor is an Ideal Option if:

• You are looking for a page builder plugin with a more established ecosystem (community support, add-ons and templates availability, plugin compatibility, etc)
• You are looking for a page builder plugin with a more robust design system feature
• You are a freelancer or agency and are looking for a page builder plugin your clients are more familiar with
• You want to create a landing page to sell a digital product

Breakdance is an Ideal Option if:

• You are looking for a more affordable page builder plugin to build multiple websites
• You are looking for a more affordable page builder plugin to create landing page to collect leads
• You are looking for a page builder plugin with more design elements