Head to head
BrooklynvsWerkstatt-CreativePortfolioWordPressTheme
Both Brooklyn and Werkstatt are WordPress portfolio themes competing for the same creative niche, but they serve meaningfully different buyers. The real decision is whether you need a sprawling multipurpose toolkit that covers dozens of site types, or a focused, animation-forward portfolio theme built for creatives who want their work to look unmistakably intentional. Getting that distinction right will save you hours of rework.
Assessed on documented capabilities & licensing · updated
Straight answers
Which theme is better for a small agency or freelancer who wants a quick professional launch?
Brooklyn is the better pick for agency owners and freelancers who need speed and breadth. Its one-click demo import covers more than 50 pre-built site styles, from corporate to eCommerce, so you can go live fast without starting from scratch. Werkstatt has fewer demos and is more deliberately minimal, which means more design decisions fall on you before a site looks polished.
Which theme is better for a creative professional focused purely on showcasing a portfolio?
Werkstatt is the better pick for photographers, architects, interior designers, and video artists whose primary goal is showcasing work beautifully. Its feature set is purpose-built for portfolio presentation, and its 2026 updates added advanced scroll-driven animations — parallax, split-text reveal, 3D tilt — that Brooklyn does not match at the same depth for pure creative display.
Which theme has better long-term support and market confidence?
Brooklyn carries stronger market confidence based on publicly available data: over 52,000 sales and 2,100 ratings at a 4.70 average versus Werkstatt's roughly 9,800 sales and 382 ratings at 4.62. A larger install base generally means more community tutorials, third-party integrations, and faster bug discovery. Both themes receive active updates, so neither is a maintenance risk.
Which theme is easier to use without a developer?
Brooklyn is easier for non-developers. It bundles WPBakery Page Builder and is compatible with Elementor, giving buyers two familiar drag-and-drop options and hundreds of ready-made modules. Werkstatt also supports WPBakery but is more design-opinionated, meaning its animation widgets and layout system have a steeper learning curve that rewards users with some front-end sensibility.
At a glance
| BrooklynOur pick | Werkstatt - Creative Portfolio WordPress Theme | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | UnitedThemes | fuelthemes |
| Type | Theme | Theme |
| Pricing model | Paid | Paid |
| What you pay for | — | — |
| Best for | Agencies, freelancers, and multi-purpose site owners who need demo breadth, plugin flexibility, and a proven large install base. | Photographers, architects, and video creatives who want a minimal, animation-forward portfolio site without multipurpose bloat. |
The breakdown
Who Each Theme Is Really For
Brooklyn is a multipurpose theme that happens to excel in portfolio and creative contexts. With more than 50 importable demo sites spanning industries from fitness to law to eCommerce, it is built for buyers who want one theme that can handle multiple client projects or pivot as a business evolves. The sheer breadth of its demo library and plugin compatibility list — including Elementor, WPBakery, WooCommerce, Events Calendar, bbPress, and WPML — means it can serve a web design generalist just as well as a single-site owner.
Werkstatt by fuelthemes is a more deliberate, narrower product. Its stated use cases — minimal portfolio, personal portfolio, architecture, video portfolio, interior design — signal a theme that was designed from the start with one kind of buyer in mind: the creative professional whose work needs to speak first and whose site design should not compete with it. If you are a photographer, videographer, or architect building a single showcase site, Werkstatt's constraints are features, not limitations.
Feature Depth
Brooklyn
- Demo library: Over 50 pre-built sites with one-click import, covering an unusually wide range of industries.
- Page builders: Bundled WPBakery Page Builder with full Elementor and Elementor Pro compatibility — rare to get both in a single theme.
- Bundled premium plugins: Includes Slider Revolution alongside WPBakery, adding meaningful value to the one-time license price.
- Compatibility breadth: Works with Gravity Forms, Contact Form 7, Jetpack, bbPress, and WooCommerce 8 and 9 — making it viable for community sites and online stores.
- WordPress compatibility: Tested and listed as compatible through WordPress 6.9.x, reflecting an active maintenance cadence.
Werkstatt
- Scroll and animation system: The most recent updates in 2026 introduced a serious set of scroll-driven widgets: parallax content, pinned sections, horizontal scroll, 3D tilt, split-text reveal, mask reveal, marquee strips, and scrub animations tied to scroll position. This depth of motion design is unusual in a single theme's native toolkit.
- Update frequency: The changelog shows multiple releases in 2025 and 2026, including a security patch cycle that shows the author is actively monitoring the codebase.
- Minimal design language: The theme's aesthetic is deliberately restrained, which keeps the focus on portfolio content rather than the chrome around it.
- WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads: Supports selling digital files, making it usable for photographers or designers who sell prints or assets alongside portfolio work.
Pricing Model
Both themes are sold as one-time licenses on the same marketplace, with no subscription required and no recurring fees for the theme itself. Brooklyn carries a higher one-time price than Werkstatt, which reflects its larger demo library and the bundled premium plugins included in the package. Werkstatt's lower price point makes it a leaner investment for someone whose needs align precisely with portfolio presentation and who does not need the multipurpose overhead. Neither theme charges extra for future updates during the support period included with the license.
Learning Curve and Lock-In
Brooklyn's reliance on WPBakery Page Builder is a meaningful consideration. WPBakery produces shortcode-heavy content, which can create migration friction if you ever want to change themes. That said, its Elementor compatibility gives a more portable alternative. Werkstatt shares this WPBakery dependency but is a more opinionated layout system overall — its custom animation widgets are theme-specific, meaning moving to another theme would mean rebuilding those effects.
Neither theme is unusually risky from a lock-in perspective by marketplace standards, but buyers should understand that heavily customized content built in any proprietary page builder does not travel cleanly to a new theme.
Ecosystem and Market Standing
Brooklyn's sales volume — over 52,000 licenses — is a material advantage in practice. A large install base means more third-party tutorials, more community forum answers, and more likelihood that a freelancer you hire has already worked with the theme. Its 4.70 rating across more than 2,100 reviews represents a statistically robust signal of buyer satisfaction.
Werkstatt's numbers are smaller but not negligible, and a 4.62 rating across nearly 400 reviews still reflects a theme that buyers are broadly satisfied with. Its more recent last-update date (June 2026 versus January 2026 for Brooklyn) suggests the author is, if anything, more actively shipping features right now.
The verdict
Brooklyn is the sensible default for the majority of buyers landing on this page: its larger demo library, broader plugin compatibility, bundled premium plugins, and massive install base make it the lower-risk, more flexible choice for agencies, freelancers managing multiple clients, or site owners whose needs might grow. Werkstatt is the right pick for a creative professional — photographer, architect, videographer — who wants a purposeful, animation-rich portfolio site and does not need the multipurpose overhead.
Questions, answered
Can I use Brooklyn or Werkstatt for an online store?
Both themes are compatible with WooCommerce, so either can power an online store. Brooklyn's compatibility extends across multiple WooCommerce major versions and includes broader plugin support (Gravity Forms, Jetpack), making it the stronger choice for a full eCommerce build. Werkstatt also supports Easy Digital Downloads, which is useful if you primarily sell digital files like photo prints or design assets rather than physical products.
Does either theme require Elementor to work?
Neither theme requires Elementor. Brooklyn supports both Elementor and WPBakery Page Builder, giving buyers a choice. Werkstatt is built primarily around WPBakery and does not list Elementor as a compatibility. If Elementor is your preferred builder, Brooklyn is the only option of the two that explicitly supports it.
How active are the authors in maintaining these themes?
Both authors demonstrate active maintenance. Brooklyn was last updated in January 2026 and Werkstatt in June 2026. Werkstatt's public changelog shows a regular cadence of feature releases and security patches through 2025 and 2026. Brooklyn's update history and large install base suggest ongoing investment. Neither theme appears to be in maintenance-mode or at risk of abandonment based on available data.
Which theme is easier to set up without coding knowledge?
Brooklyn is generally easier for non-coders. Its one-click demo import system means you can have a fully structured site running in minutes by selecting from more than 50 pre-built designs. Werkstatt's demos exist but the theme is more design-opinionated and its animation system requires more deliberate configuration. Brooklyn's large community and tutorial ecosystem also means more self-service help when you get stuck.
Will either theme work with multilingual plugins like WPML?
Yes, both Brooklyn and Werkstatt list WPML compatibility in their marketplace metadata, so either theme can support a multilingual site when WPML is installed separately. WPML is a paid plugin not included with either theme license and must be purchased independently.
Is the price difference between Brooklyn and Werkstatt worth it?
Brooklyn's higher one-time price reflects a larger demo library and bundled premium plugins, including Slider Revolution, which would otherwise cost extra. If you need those extras, the value-per-dollar is competitive. Werkstatt's lower price is appropriate for its more focused scope — you are not paying for multipurpose features you will not use. Neither theme carries a recurring subscription fee, so the license cost is a one-time consideration.