Pergola vs arbor, pagoda and pavilion: which one do you need?

An arbor is a small garden structure, usually with two or four posts and an arched, peaked or flat top, that marks an entrance or frames a path. StruXure describes it as smaller and often simpler than a pergola, used as a garden entrance or a decorative focal point, where a pergola can cover a walkway, a seating area or a whole patio. Walpole Outdoors draws the same line: an arbor is intimate in scale, a pergola is a large open frame of posts and cross-beams.

So the practical difference is whether you sit under it. You walk through an arbor and you sit under a pergola. An arbor has no seating area, no furniture clearance and no real shade, and a pergola is sized for all three.

We sell pergolas and gazebos, not arbors. If what you want is a gate or a vine-covered entry, a garden arbor from a cedar or vinyl maker is the right product. If you want a place to sit, start with a pergola kit.

A pagoda is a tower from East and Southeast Asia, usually Buddhist, built in several stories, each with its own roof that curves upward at the edge. Merriam-Webster defines it that way. It is a monument you look at, not a shelter you sit in.

The pagoda sold for American backyards is something else. A timber-frame builder notes that "garden pagoda" is used loosely: it can mean a small ornamental structure, or a gazebo, pavilion or pergola with Asian-style details. Read the listing for the frame and the roof. The name tells you the look, not the structure.

Against a pergola, the difference is the roof. A pergola has open beams and rafters, or louvers. A pagoda-style structure has a solid, tiered roof, so when you are choosing what to buy, it sits with the gazebos.

A pavilion is a freestanding structure with a solid roof on posts and open sides. Yardistry gives its pavilions a hard A-shaped roof and a pergola a partial top. Others describe a pavilion as a large rectangular shelter that is always roofed, where a pergola gives filtered shade.

So a pavilion keeps rain off and a pergola does not, unless it is a louvered one that closes. If you want a roof you never have to think about, that is the pavilion or gazebo side of the line.

Where the line between a pavilion and a gazebo falls is a separate question, and sellers disagree. The gazebo vs pavilion guide sets their definitions side by side. How a gazebo compares with a pergola is in the gazebo vs pergola guide.

There is no standard price for a pagoda, because the word is not a standard product. What you pay follows the structure under the roof. A small cedar garden pagoda arbor is about a thousand dollars; a pagoda-style roof on a gazebo costs what a gazebo costs; and a big one you can sit under is a custom build.

The numbers below mix kits and custom builds, so read them as the range, not a like-for-like list. A typical hardtop gazebo kit at 10×12 is about $1,150, a manual louvered pergola is about $1,800 and a canopy pergola is about $400, all as median kit prices in the Pergola Price Index.

The pavilion row is where the price gap comes from. A kit arrives in boxes for you to assemble. A custom timber pavilion is built to your site, and its price covers a much larger solid-roofed structure. The 12×12 version of the same builder’s entry tier is $12,100, so size adds less than the build does.

Louvered pergolas are the only kit that closes its roof, and they cost more for it. The cost of a motorized one is in the motorized pergola cost guide, and what installing any of these adds is in the pergola cost guide.

It depends on the size, the roof and whether it touches your house, and the rules are local. The model building code exempts a freestanding structure up to 200 square feet, and many cities draw the line at 120. The pergola permit guide has the sizes and a checker.

A pavilion is the likeliest to need one, because it is the largest and has a solid roof. Arbors are inconsistent. Seattle’s own guidance says arbors generally need a building permit, so do not assume a small garden structure is exempt.

A pergola attached to the house or wired for lights and a motor usually changes the answer. Call your building department before you order, whichever one you choose.

A patio or deck with a table: a pergola for shade, or a hardtop gazebo if rain matters. A 10×12 is the size most kits are sold in, and it is also the largest footprint that many towns let you build without a permit.

A path or a garden gate: an arbor, from a garden maker. It will not shade a seat.

A big lawn space for a crowd: a pavilion, usually built to order. We list no pavilions.

The look of a pagoda: a hardtop gazebo with a tiered, curved roof. Check the posts, the roof material and what is in the box, since the name does not tell you.