A patio is not a driveway. Nobody parks a truck on it, so strength is not the fight here. This one comes down to price against repairability: concrete costs meaningfully less at our example rates, and pavers are the surface you can fix.
The price side
A 20 by 20 patio is 400 square feet. At the example rates:
| Surface | Example rate | 400 sq ft total |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete, broom finish | $9 / sq ft | $3,600 |
| Pavers, standard concrete | $16 / sq ft | $6,400 |
| Pavers, permeable | $21 / sq ft | $8,400 |
Example rates only; your market writes the real numbers. That $2,800 gap between broom concrete and standard pavers is the price of everything in the next section.
Cracking vs settling
Concrete’s failure mode is cracking. Patios pour at about 4 inches, and shrinkage cracks happen even in careful work, which is why finishers cut control joints: you are choosing where the cracks go, not whether. A crack is permanent and cosmetic. The patio keeps working; it just carries the line forever.
Pavers do not crack as a field. They settle where the base was soft or where water found a path. Settling is ugly too, but it is repairable: lift the low section, re-screed the base, set the same pavers back. One failure is a permanent mark, the other is a fixable Saturday. That is the deepest difference between these two patios.
What each asks of you
Pavers come with small ongoing chores: joint sand washes out and wants topping, weeds try the joints if they are not sealed, and the edge restraint has to stay put. Concrete asks almost nothing, an occasional seal at most.
If you like concrete’s price but want more than a plain gray surface, colored and stamped finishes sit between these two options; stamped vs plain concrete walks that math.
Which patio calls for which
Pour concrete when budget leads, you want low upkeep, and a clean broom or colored finish suits the space. Choose pavers for pattern, for a yard you will keep improving in phases, or where tree roots and soil movement make repairability worth paying for. Price your own dimensions in the paver patio cost calculator and the concrete patio cost calculator, and if you build patios for a living, how to price a paver patio covers the method. Around a pool the same choice runs a little differently in concrete pool deck vs pavers, and if the customer is weighing a raised deck instead of ground-level flatwork, concrete patio vs wood deck covers that fork.
PriceDesk puts either calculator on your phone with your own rates. Free for 14 days, no card to start.