Bricks Builder: The Developer's Page Builder That's Changing the Game

Bricks Builder has earned a reputation as "the developer's page builder." Clean code output. Performance-first architecture. The ability to pass Core Web Vitals without fighting your tools.

For developers frustrated with Elementor's div-soup or Divi's shortcode mess, Bricks sounds like exactly what they've been waiting for.

And in many ways, it is.

But "developer-friendly" means something specific. Your site will perform beautifully as long as a developer maintains it. The question most Bricks reviews skip: what happens when that developer leaves?

I'll be honest: I hate page builders. I think they're awful for many different reasons (see my complete guide to WordPress page builders for the full context). When we build a website for a client at FatLab, we don't use page builders unless it's specifically requested. We use Advanced Custom Fields and custom themes.

But if you're committed to using a page builder, Bricks is the one that makes me hate page builders the least.

Here's why, and why that might not be enough for your organization.

What Makes Bricks Builder Different for WordPress

Bricks takes a fundamentally different approach than Elementor or Divi. Instead of being a plugin that layers on top of your theme, Bricks is the theme. It replaces your theme entirely and handles both design and functionality in one package.

This architecture matters for performance. When Elementor loads, it's loading on top of whatever theme you're using, adding its own CSS, JavaScript, and DOM elements to everything your theme already produces. Bricks eliminates that duplication.

Clean Code Output

The performance claims are real. Bricks generates semantic HTML without the "div-itis" that plagues Elementor sites.

Where Elementor might produce this:

<div class="elementor-element elementor-element-abc123">
  <div class="elementor-widget-wrap">
    <div class="elementor-widget-container">
      <h2 class="elementor-heading-title">Your Heading</h2>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Bricks produces something closer to:

<h2 class="your-class">Your Heading</h2>

This isn't a small difference. Elementor sites commonly have 300-400 DOM elements for simple pages. Bricks can achieve the same design with 75-100 elements. Less DOM means faster rendering, smaller page size, and better Core Web Vitals scores.

Intelligent Asset Loading

Bricks only loads scripts and styles on pages that actually use them. If you have a contact form on one page, the form JavaScript only loads on that page, not site-wide.

This is how it should work, but it's not how most page builders operate. Elementor, Divi, and Beaver Builder all load their entire asset library on every page by default, whether you use those features or not.

Built-In Features Replace Multiple Plugins

Bricks includes functionality that would require separate plugins with other builders:

• Mega menus: Built-in, no add-on required
• Contact forms: Built-in
• Popups and modals: Built-in
• WooCommerce templates: Built-in
• Query loops for dynamic content: Built-in and powerful

Each plugin you don't install is one less thing to update, one fewer potential conflict, and one fewer license to manage.

Performance: The Numbers

In comparative testing, Bricks consistently outperforms Elementor on identical designs:

These numbers matter. Every additional DOM element increases render time. Every extra HTTP request adds latency. Every kilobyte of HTML means more to parse before the page displays.

Can you optimize Elementor to perform okay? Yes. But you're fighting the tool itself. With Bricks, performance is the default, not something you achieve despite the builder.

The Developer-Friendly Reality

Bricks is explicitly designed for developers, and that shows in both its strengths and limitations.

What Developers Love

CSS Classes Instead of Inline Styles: Bricks uses CSS classes and custom properties rather than inline styles. You can write global CSS, create design systems, and maintain consistency without clicking through settings panels.

Global Styles That Work: Define typography, colors, and spacing once. Apply everywhere. Change once, update everywhere. This is how design systems should work.

Custom Code Integration: Add custom PHP, CSS, and JavaScript where needed. Bricks doesn't fight you when you need to extend beyond its interface.

Query Loop Builder: Create dynamic content displays without writing PHP. Loop through posts, custom post types, WooCommerce products, or any other content. This is genuinely powerful for developers who understand data structures.

What Non-Developers Struggle With

The Learning Curve Is Real: Bricks assumes you understand concepts like CSS Grid, Flexbox, and responsive breakpoints. The interface doesn't hold your hand through layout decisions.

Fewer Pre-Built Templates: Bricks has fewer drag-and-drop templates than Elementor or Divi. You're expected to build layouts, not assemble pre-made pieces.

Smaller Community: Elementor has 18+ million websites and a massive ecosystem of tutorials, add-ons, and solutions to common problems. Bricks has a smaller, more technical community. When you hit a wall, you might be on your own.

Troubleshooting Requires Technical Skills: When something doesn't work, debugging often requires understanding HTML, CSS, and how WordPress works. You can't just reinstall and hope for the best.

The Organization Question

Here's where my perspective as someone who maintains 200+ WordPress sites comes in.

Bricks is excellent for developers. But "developer-friendly" creates organizational dependencies. Your site performs beautifully as long as a developer maintains it.

I have definitely seen organizations with power users who are great with the editor, but when they leave, they leave a relatively complex system that no one else can pick up. That's a risk with any page builder, but it's especially acute with Bricks because the technical bar is higher.

What happens when:

• Your in-house developer leaves?
• Your agency relationship ends?
• You hire a marketing person who needs to update content?
• Three years pass, and no one remembers how the Query Loops work?

We've seen this pattern many times. An organization hires a developer to build a sophisticated, high-performance site using a technical tool. Then the developer moves on. The organization is left with a site that is difficult to maintain.

With Elementor or Divi, there are at least millions of tutorials and freelancers who know the tool. With Bricks, your options are narrower. You're hiring a Bricks specialist or starting over.

Bricks is powerful, but that power requires ongoing technical capacity to maintain.

The Handoff Problem

I always feel like page builders allow people to get creative. And though creativity is wonderful, getting creative with your website isn't necessarily a great idea. This is especially true with Bricks.

Bricks gives developers tremendous flexibility. But flexibility, time, and multiple editors equal inconsistency.

A non-technical editor working in Bricks can break things they don't understand. Unlike Elementor's more constrained interface (which I also hate, but for different reasons), Bricks exposes enough technical power to be dangerous.

When we build with ACF and custom themes, we create what I call "guard rails." Editors get exactly the fields they need to update content. They can't accidentally break layouts because they never have access to layout controls.

Bricks, like all page builders, lets anyone change anything. And that's the problem.

When Bricks Builder Makes Sense

Despite my general position on page builders, Bricks works well in specific scenarios:

1. Developer Building for Themselves

If you're a developer building your own site or side project, Bricks is excellent. You understand the tool, you'll maintain it yourself, and you can leverage its full power.

2. Agency with Ongoing Retainer

If your agency will maintain the site indefinitely, Bricks' developer-friendliness is a genuine advantage. Your team knows the tool, can troubleshoot issues, and can extend functionality when needed.

3. Performance-Critical Projects

If Core Web Vitals directly impact your business, such as e-commerce, media, or any site where Google rankings matter significantly, Bricks' performance advantages are worth the technical requirements.

4. Migration from Another Builder

If you're already committed to the page builder approach and you're rebuilding an underperforming Elementor or Divi site, Bricks is a genuine upgrade.

When Bricks Builder Doesn't Make Sense

1. Organizations Without Ongoing Developer Access

If you don't have a developer on staff or on retainer, Bricks will eventually become a liability. You'll need technical help for things that should be simple content updates.

2. Non-Technical Teams Doing Their Own Editing

If your marketing team, content editors, or staff will be making regular updates, Bricks' power becomes a problem. They can break things they don't understand.

3. Budget-Constrained Organizations

Bricks itself is affordable ($149 lifetime for unlimited sites). But the ongoing developer time to maintain a Bricks site properly isn't. Factor in the true cost of ownership.

4. Organizations That Need Long-Term Simplicity

If your priority is a site that just works for the next 5-7 years with minimal technical involvement, Bricks' complexity works against you.

Bricks Builder Pricing

Bricks offers straightforward pricing, which is refreshing compared to Elementor's confusing tier structure:

The lifetime option is genuinely good value if you plan to use Bricks long-term. Compare that to Elementor Pro at $199/year for 3 sites or Divi's $89/year (or $249 lifetime).

Bricks Builder vs Elementor: Quick Comparison

Bricks frequently appears as a recommended alternative for those frustrated with performance. See our guides to Elementor alternatives and Divi alternatives for how Bricks compares.

Bricks Builder Review: Our Honest Assessment

Bricks Builder is the best page builder for developers who understand its trade-offs.

If you must use a page builder, Bricks delivers on its promises. Clean code, real performance, and developer-friendly architecture that doesn't fight you at every turn.

But "best page builder" isn't the same as "best solution."

We've rebuilt over a hundred websites originally built with page builders. The pattern is always the same: the site was great when the developer built it, but years of edits, staff changes, and "quick fixes" degraded it into something unmaintainable.

Bricks is better than most at maintaining quality, because its users tend to be more technically sophisticated. But it's still a page builder. It still gives editors more control than they need. It still creates vendor lock-in (try migrating a Bricks site to anything else).

For organizations with long-term needs, our recommendation remains custom themes with ACF. Easier to use, easier to manage, longer lifespan, and better for maintaining brand consistency.

But if you've already decided on a page builder, Bricks is the one I hate the least.

What to Do Next

If you're evaluating Bricks Builder:

1. Honestly assess your technical capacity. Do you have ongoing developer access? If not, think carefully before choosing Bricks.

2. Consider the 5-year view. Where will your organization be in five years? Will you still have the technical resources to maintain a Bricks site?

3. Try the demo. Bricks offers a live demo where you can test the builder. See if the interface makes sense to the people who will actually use it.

4. Consider alternatives. If performance is your primary concern, a custom theme optimized for speed will outperform even Bricks. Page builders always add overhead, even good ones.