The best workshop in Bannerlord is one that can buy cheap inputs and sell its output profitably in a safe town. Silversmiths, wine presses, olive presses and weaveries are candidates to compare, not guaranteed winners. Choose using your campaign’s market prices, competing workshops and supply routes before buying.
Reviewed September 8, 2026. This guide incorporates documented warehouse mechanics and v1.3.4 economy changes. Town suggestions are starting points, not fresh profit tests or a ranking for every patch and mod.
Table of Contents
Bannerlord’s Best Workshops Overall
| Workshop | When to consider it | What can undermine it |
|---|---|---|
| Silversmith | Silver is affordable and jewelry has a worthwhile selling price. | Expensive silver or weak demand for jewelry. |
| Wine Press / Olive Press | Grapes or olives are readily available at a low cost. | Several producers selling the same goods into the market. |
| Linen / Velvet / Wool Weavery | Flax, cotton or wool is available with a useful margin on finished goods. | Input shortages, expensive supplies or weak output prices. |
| Pottery Shop / Wood Workshop / Smithy | Clay, hardwood or iron supply and local selling prices support production. | Assuming an old town ranking still applies. |
| Brewery | Cheap grain and a beer market that is not already oversupplied. | Cheap grain alone does not guarantee profitable beer. |
My recommendation is to shortlist a few towns you can keep supplied, then compare workshops inside those towns. A slightly less lucrative business in a stable location may be easier to maintain than one exposed to repeated raids and sieges.
Bannerlord’s Best Workshops by Town
The list below preserves the original guide’s town-by-town starting points so you can quickly find a place to investigate. It is not a current profit ranking. Before buying, confirm the input is actually available and the output price is worthwhile in your save. The old fixed village counts have been removed: TaleWorlds changed the production of 15 villages in v1.3.4.
For example, compare Sanala’s brewery candidate with a silversmith only if your market has affordable silver. The same rule applies in Ortysia and Quyaz: their names alone do not make jewelry the best business. Imports and your warehouse can support a workshop even where the nearest villages do not produce its input.
Aserai
| Town | Workshop candidate to investigate |
|---|---|
| Askar | Brewery |
| Hubyar | Linen Weavery; Olive Press |
| Husn Fulq | Pottery; Brewery |
| Lyakis | Pottery |
| Razih | Check imported inputs or supply a warehouse |
| Sanala | Brewery |
| Qasira | Brewery; Olive Press |
| Quyaz | Linen Weavery; Olive Press |
Western Empire
| Town | Workshop candidate to investigate |
|---|---|
| Amitatys | Brewery |
| Jalmarys | Brewery |
| Lageta | Olive Press; Wood Workshop; Brewery; Smithy |
| Ortysia | Olive Press |
| Rhotae | Brewery |
| Zeonica | Brewery |
Northern Empire
| Town | Workshop candidate to investigate |
|---|---|
| Amprela | Velvet Weavery |
| Argaron | Wood Workshop |
| Diathma | Check imported inputs or supply a warehouse |
| Epicrotea | Smithy |
| Myzea | Velvet Weavery |
| Saneopa | Brewery |
Southern Empire
| Town | Workshop candidate to investigate |
|---|---|
| Danustica | Pottery |
| Lycaron | Wool Weavery |
| Poros | Wool Weavery |
| Phycaon | Brewery |
| Syronea | Olive Press |
| Vostrum | Brewery |
Vlandia
| Town | Workshop candidate to investigate |
|---|---|
| Charas | Olive Press |
| Galend | Olive Press |
| Jaculan | Olive Press |
| Ocs Hall | Brewery |
| Ostican | Olive Press |
| Pravend | Olive Press |
| Rovalt | Smithy |
| Sargot | Brewery |
Battania
| Town | Workshop candidate to investigate |
|---|---|
| Car Banseth | Wood Workshop |
| Dunglanys | Brewery |
| Marunath | Smithy |
| Pen Cannoc | Pottery Shop |
| Seonon | Wood Workshop |
Khuzait
| Town | Workshop candidate to investigate |
|---|---|
| Akkalat | Wool Weavery |
| Baltakhand | Wool Weavery |
| Chaikand | Silversmith / Brewery |
| Makeb | Smithy / Wood Workshop |
| Odokh | Pottery Shop |
| Ortongard | Wood Workshop |
Sturgia
| Town | Workshop candidate to investigate |
|---|---|
| Balgard | Linen Weavery |
| Omor | Brewery |
| Revyl | Linen Weavery |
| Sibir | Tannery |
| Tyal | Wool Weavery |
| Varcheg | Linen Weavery |
| Varnovapol | Smithy |
The original resource shortlist drew on this community workshop spreadsheet. Use the checklist below to reassess any candidate. These base-map groups do not cover every settlement added by expansions or mods.
How do you make a profitable workshop in Bannerlord?
- Inspect the town market. Check the price and availability of the input and the price of the finished product.
- Look at existing workshops. Competing producers can make the same output less attractive.
- Check prosperity, loyalty and trade access. Avoid assuming a town is healthy because it was strong in an older guide.
- Consider wars and raids. Repeated supply interruptions can undermine an otherwise sensible choice.
- Buy through the workshop’s owning notable, then check the workshop management screen.
- Record the purchase cost and observe several in-game days of results before changing another variable.
Nearby villages are useful supply clues, not a guarantee. A workshop can obtain inputs through the town’s trade network or a warehouse you supply. Likewise, several grain villages do not prove that another brewery is the best choice.
How to Use Workshop Warehouses
Warehouses let you provide raw materials and keep some finished goods for later sale. In workshop management, check whether the workshop should use stored inputs and what share of its output should be stored. The feature arrived with v1.2.0; the original interface placed these controls under Clan → Others.
For a business you want to leave running with little attention, start by allowing output to sell. If you deliberately store goods, collect them and sell them yourself. A small daily payout can reflect inventory being retained rather than a failure to produce. When judging the result, include what you paid for supplies and what you actually earned selling stored goods.
Why Is My Workshop Making No Money?
| Check | What to do |
|---|---|
| Low town loyalty | In v1.3.4, workshops stop producing below 25 loyalty but still incur expenses. Check the workshop tooltip. |
| Missing inputs | Check market stock and any enabled warehouse-input setting. Supply the correct resource. |
| Output going into storage | Inspect stored goods and your chosen output allocation before interpreting the daily payout. |
| Poor margin or competition | Compare input and output prices and inspect competing producers. |
| Disrupted trade | Look for raids, sieges and blocked supply routes. |
| New purchase or conversion | Observe multiple days. Avoid repeatedly paying to change production based on one daily result. |
The loyalty rule and revised AI workshop selection are documented in the v1.3.4 release notes. That update also changed wood workshop output to planks and added felt production to wool weaveries, another reason to check the actual goods in your installed version.
What workshops make the most money Bannerlord?
There is no reliable universal winner across all campaigns. Compare the businesses in the first table using your current market. Marunath’s smithy and Pen Cannoc’s pottery shop are candidates to investigate, not guaranteed top earners. Keep the workshop that produces a sustainable margin under your conditions.
How Much Money Do Workshops Make?
Treat profit as something to measure in your save. The old 200–1,000 denars-per-day range should not be read as a promise. Production, expenses, stored output and market changes can produce very different results.
Illustrative payback calculation: a 25,000-denar purchase earning an average of 250 denars per day takes 100 in-game days to recover its purchase price. That is an example, not a measured workshop yield. Add conversion and supply costs where relevant, and do not count unsold stock as cash already received.
Workshops vs. Caravans
A workshop ties your investment to one town and its market. A caravan trades along a route and exposes your investment to travel risk. Choose according to your campaign: a workshop suits a town you understand and can keep supplied; a caravan suits a trading plan with manageable travel conditions. Neither guarantees a particular daily return.
Compare the mechanics in our Bannerlord caravan guide. For other ways to fund purchases and army upkeep, see how to make money in Bannerlord.
Should You Change a Workshop’s Production?
Change production when you have a specific reason, such as a persistent input shortage or an oversupplied output market. Check the conversion cost first. Repeatedly switching between workshop types without tracking results makes it harder to learn which business works and increases the amount you must earn back.
Before buying your next workshop, repeat the same checks. A town list helps you find candidates; your current campaign determines which one deserves the investment.
