r/Tools • u/ExpectedUnexpected94 • 19h ago
Best brand
I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately, and I’m ready to fully enter my dad phase.
What’s the better tool brand to settle down with? Dewalt, Ryobi, Milwaukee, kobalt, etc.
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u/woodland_dweller 18h ago
You're kind of asking "what's the best car" without saying if you have 5 kids, want to do weekend track days or tow a travel trailer around the country,.
>> What’s the better tool brand to settle down with? Dewalt, Ryobi, Milwaukee, kobalt, etc.
You need to define your criteria better.
Does better mean cheaper? More powerful? Widest range of products? Longest warranty? Best selection of locally available tools?
What's "best" for me probably isn't "best" for you - it's different for everybody.
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u/ThePerfectLine 18h ago
Miata. That’s always the answer. Hehehe
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u/woodland_dweller 18h ago
Username checks out.
Or you're a coke head.
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u/ThePerfectLine 18h ago
You might be the first person in many years to get the track reference of my username.
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u/bughuntzx 19h ago
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u/ShutDownSoul 8h ago
It's how we train the next generation in the manly art of debating tool merits.
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u/Inconsideratefather 19h ago
Pick your favorite color, and the price point that is acceptable to you.
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u/stillyoinkgasp 19h ago
I went with Ryobi.
Look, I do small one off projects most of the time. Ryobi has been good to me, albeit I can see how they would underperform something more heavy duty.
But for what I do? Ikea hacks? Small trim projects? Ryobi has been fine. And I can afford them.
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u/Ares__ 18h ago
I have dewalt drills cause my drills get the most use and take a beating. Every other battery powered tool i own is Ryobi because the extensive collection of tools they have for a reasonable price is amazing and they dont have 15 different battery types like some other brands. I know if if I buy a Ryobi 18v tool it will take my batteries.
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u/OG_Yellow_Banana 18h ago
Ryobi is the way to go. They make some stuff that even the pros want. The original battery powered nail guns were the best in the industry. They beat even Milwaukee. But they also have the widest range of quality imo
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u/stillyoinkgasp 18h ago
I must say that I was just "whelmed" with Ryobi's power screwdriver, whereas I've been surprisingly happy with their 1-gal air compressor.
Growing up, my dad was a Makita guy (roofer/gutter company). You could drop his drills off the roof and they'd still work.
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u/Dense-Fisherman-4074 18h ago edited 17h ago
And if you're worried about quality, spent a little more for their HP line. I've worked with Milwaukee, Makita, and DeWalt professionally, and bought Ryobi HP myself (eventually using them professionally for my own business), and they hold up with the others. But it also means when I want a work light, a vacuum, etc. that uses my batteries, I can get it cheap rather than paying for the name of the other brands.
But also, if you're talking about corded tools, forget about brand loyalty. Nobody cares if your entire shop is the same color. Just get the tool that makes sense. The only reason for brand consistency is matching your batteries.
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u/trainwreckhappening 17h ago
I just added a huge post on the top comment and can't believe I didn't add that to it. I have a mix of colors in my garage and couldn't agree more. I mentioned the battery thing, but failed to remember the corded reality.
It feels weird to me how much people get sucked into brand loyalty. The best tool for the job that you can afford is really the only way I can think of it. Sometimes that's an almost disposable Harbor Freight item, I have a lot of their tools. I also have some very expensive tools from the top brands.
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u/Intelligent_Rub_5004 19h ago
There is no best.
There’s only millions of YouTube videos pointing out each brands pros and cons. Why don’t you try that?
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u/BobBarrSr 19h ago
There's also a thing called Reddit. You ask questions and people answer them based on their experiences. Why don't you try suggesting that?
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u/Intelligent_Rub_5004 19h ago
Yeah, Reddit where you go for entry level generic questions that have been asked a billion times.
Did you try the search function for the post every other day for 15 years asking the same thing??
Gotta love it, you don’t reply to OP, you try and hijack the thread for yourself. Pure boomer logic there
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u/davidzilla12345 19h ago
Figure out which brands are carried by your nearest hardware store. Convenience of getting the tool is going to outweigh any perceived quality difference, especially if you are just doing normal around the house stuff.
Go with a basic set that you feel is in your price range. I was given a dewalt drill for christmas about 10-15 years ago and I just stuck with that ecosystem cause I already had batteries.
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u/jykfam 18h ago
If you have to ask the question then Ryobi is your answer. Milwaukee and Dewalt dads know from a young age
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u/Fanny_Flapps 16h ago
Milwaukee is just Ryobi for people that don't want to admit they're Ryobi people, let's face it
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u/NotBigFootUR 19h ago
Any of the brands you've listed are fine.
Ryobi has a huge line of tools and is great for DIY. They have some power tools for bathroom cleaning that are awesome.
Dewalt and Milwaukee are heavier duty, but also cost more. If you don't need the performance, then these aren't a good fit.
Admittedly, I have zero experience with Kobalt.
Harbor Freight has battery options as well that are competitively priced with great warranties as well. Their eco system of battery tools are constantly expanding.
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u/Forsaken_Election708 18h ago
Totally agreed. Ryobi is just fine. If you’re a pro, you’ll get some flak, but it’s definitely a great choice for DIYers. I went with Milwaukee in part because I live in a rural area and Milwaukee is more available in the stores around me than any other brand (DeWalt being a close second). I still have some Ryobi tools that I mostly keep to my camper/in my truck. Ryobi is still great because they make some tools that Milwaukee doesn’t (like a hot glue gun), or if Milwaukee does make a version, it’s significantly more expensive (like double the price for a caulk gun).
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u/NotBigFootUR 18h ago
I have Milwaukee, Ridgid and Ryobi. Milwaukee for heavily used tools. Ridgid for stuff I want but don't want to pay Milwaukee prices. Ryobi for the oddball stuff the other two don't have. Lighted magnifying glass, hot glue gun, bathroom scrubbers.
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u/YertleDeTertle 18h ago
I would recommend ignoring the common tools in your decision and think of other stuff like power inverters, inflators, mowers, vacuums, weed eaters, chain saws. Make a list of items like that you’d want and research the brands based on those. They all have drills, drivers, saws, and such that are perfectly fine.
Only mentioning Ryobi because it’s what I have. Our kids have ride on jeeps and stuff. At any given time I could have 4x 4Ah batteries in them, plus backups on the multiport charger. The price point is much better than if I was running Makita or Milwaukee in the jeeps. Never had a problem.
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u/BruceMartinez21 18h ago
You’re really choosing a battery ecosystem more than a brand. Ryobi makes a ton of sense for normal DIY stuff. DeWalt, Milwaukee, Makita if you’re using them harder or more often.
I did a longer breakdown over on r/WorthList if you wanna compare the ecosystems.
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u/BobBarrSr 18h ago
I'm not a boomer, but even if I were, I would not take advice from someone who doesn't know basic grammar.
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u/BobBarrSr 18h ago
I use DeWalt 20V for most of my power tools. They get the job done done and the range of available tools is very extensive.
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u/trainwreckhappening 17h ago
Hijacking the top comment:
AvE on YouTube is probably the best resource on tool quality knowledge. There are several tool trar down and review channels. If OP wants to get into this they need to spend a lot of time reading and watching videos just to understand what's inside the tools to make them better or worse. Things like sintered metal, MOSFETs, trigger detent, and potting controls boards. I would include brushless vs brushed motors but everything seems to be going brushless anyway.
There is no Best Tool Brand. But there are things to consider. The work you are planning to do and how much makes the biggest difference. Commercial woodworkers all swear by Festool and the price is worth it to them. But someone like me who does a lot of woodworking shouldn't really spend that kind of money because it's not worth it.
Brands that use interchangeable parts, like batteries, shoehorn you into brands. If that's what OP is asking then there are pros and cons to each that they need to consider fitting into their life.
Milwaukee is generally the better brand in the home gamer tools. It has multiple battery voltages to fit different levels of use, but they need to be aware of that going in so they don't wind up having to buy twice. That ranking has slipped in the last decade or so as they have introduced cheaper and cheaper oarts. It still has the best show-off quality of that matters to you (even if you don't want to admit it).
DeWalt was genius when they went with 20v batteries, but they didn't really use it as much as they could have (20v times 3 = 60v, 2 60v batteries = 120v). Their battery operated Miter Saw uses two 60v batteries which can also be run off a very simple adapter that slips over the battery slots to plug into the wall. To do the same with other battery configurations takes a huge device (from what I learned years ago, that may have changed). They are the Ford to Milwaukee's Chevy as far as show-off look or devotion.
Ryobi is cheap lower quality stuff, which also tends to be far more than most people need making them very acceptable. I often think I should have gone with them. I put Ridgid in the same boat.
Bosch has some of the best quality items with excellent engineering, but they also have a lot of overpriced junk in the mix. I am frequently disappointed by their tools.
Makita dropped quality to the basement for a while but have started to make a real comeback. Look into each individual tool before making purchases here. Anything more than about ten years old is highly suspicious. This is the Dodge brand, which is probably why it's my 80 yo dad's collection.
Jet, Stihl, and Husqvarna are all top quality brands that are generally unquestionably. But they are also either geared towards one set of tasks or more expensive than any home gammer should be considering.
Harbor Freight has some of the absolute best and worst tools on the market. Some of the air tools, like the Earthquake torque wrenches, are legitimately better than Snap On. I wouldn't trust anything without doing a deep dive into the specific model number, or being ok with it being a temporary tool.
Most tools brands (especially US) are constantly playing a balancing game between costs, customer demands, how much customers will pay (demand curve), and shareholder profits. Which means that they will always try to go as cheap as they can before the quality hurts sales while trying to slip in better technology to improve sales. HF's manufacturers (and other discount tool brands) are constantly finding ways to use improve quality using their cheaper Chinese manufacturing and lower shareholder demand to steal sales from the other makers. German manufacturers (and a few others) are constantly trying to make the absolute best tools no matter the cost (like HILTI, Ingersoll Rand...) and sell mostly to big companies that abuse them hard enough to make it worth paying $1000 for a drill.
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u/dm_me_your_bookshelf 18h ago
I like DeWalt, I was a Milwaukee guy but ever since I switched I've got no plans to ever go back. They always have great sales.
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u/Nay_K_47 16h ago
Starting from scratch, I'd go M12 for most stuff. I'm sworn to Milwaukee now though. If accepted it.
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u/dracostheblack 11h ago
M12 stuff is the best
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u/Nay_K_47 7h ago
I have the 1/2 inch stubby the mini belt sander and the installation driver all of which are some of my favorite and most useful power tools. I barely get my M18 drill and impact out anymore. I use that installation tool for everything.
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u/dracostheblack 7h ago
I got the drill, driver, ratchet, impact wrench, circular saw, reciprocating saw. All been heavily used and I love them
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u/Nay_K_47 7h ago
Do the saws do good. If the leaf blower I have was any worse it'd be a vacuum, the constant load tools had me worried. That being said I like never have to change the batteries in my half inch, but I'm not laying into her at work that much.
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u/ridebikes365 19h ago
Consider Hilti, festool, fien for true dadlore
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u/FitCaptain1008 19h ago
Ryobi has worked just fine for me for about 10 years. That being said, some of them are starting to burn up (cheap ass brushed versions), so im starting to swap to dewalt
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u/metaldark 19h ago
I love harbor freight but I know many homeowners super happy with Ryobi. Unparalleled choice.
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u/lostone3592 18h ago
Of those Dewalt/Milwaukee are excellent pro-level
Brands with a great line up. Look at the tool line up for all the brands you list and decide who has a selection that’ll meet your needs. They’ll all do most jobs very well. You’ll be limited by your own skill far more than the brand of tool you use.
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u/notorious_TUG 18h ago
For me, the simplest "flowchart" is will you ever be into woodworking? If so, the answer is Dewalt. If it's only ever going to be machinery, the answer is Milwaukee. This is of course only for cordless tools. For corded tools, I have 0 loyalty and have found that certain makers excel with certain tools. Bosch router, Bosch jigsaw, ancient Milwaukee hammer drill and sawzall, Makita belt sander, the list goes on. If you haven't gathered, I do some woodwork so I'm in the Dewalt battery ecosystem, but I'd never argue that Dewalt or Milwaukee has a clearer edge and they're both great tool brands. I hear lots of good stuff about Ryobi, but when I started out, they weren't on the radar so I went down my own path without considering them and I'm too deep in a battery ecosystem to reevaluate now.
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u/EdgarasI 18h ago
If only for home use, that brand where you can get free batteries with purchase. So skil for me.
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u/Agreeable_Horror_363 18h ago
Nothing wrong with Ryobi especially if your not working with them daily. I have Milwaukee for work and Ryobi for home/tools I don't need all the time at work. Ryobi is friggin awesome.
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u/Finneus_Anglesmith 18h ago
Uh oh. Trying to start a fight with questions like that lol. My advice is just go HOLD them all in your hand. No sense buying a tool that feels like shit to use. We all have different size hands.
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u/Dull_Coach1101 18h ago
This is a question with a million answers and everyone has their favorites. I would preface it with what are your intentions as far as uses? Just general home and auto repair or more niche stuff like wood or metal working?
I am a dewalt guy but it was more situational as I have a friend who works for Stanley Black and Decker (owns Dewalt) and our work uses Dewalt tools so batteries are avaialbe.
I have used all brands and they are all pretty much the same and do what they intend to do as far as drill, screw, cut etc. Dewalt and Milwaukee are typically more associated with trades jobs and most would say more heavy duty where as Ryobi is a more homeowner/DIY brand.
Personnel preference, availibility, and anticipated uses are all things to take into account. As i stated i prefer Dewalt and have had no issues with any of their tools. I think i have upwards of 20 20V tools in my collection from drills and saws to routers and powerwashers.
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u/nathanb131 18h ago
All tool brands are pretty solid these days, and the list prices generally reflects their relative quality.
What you should focus on is maximizing your opportunities to get clearance deals. Lots of great clearance deals can only be found at the local store. So, pick from the colors that your local store carries.
I have a Home Depot down the street, so I have a collection Ridgid and Makita I got on clearance. If I was close to a Harbor Freight, I'd probably have a lot of Hercules tools.
Don't ever imagine you are "locked in" to 1 battery system. You don't want 5 battery systems to deal with, but up to 3 is completely fine unless you are a mobile contractor. Dudes tend to assume they are "bought in" to a battery system, but this makes no sense when you look at the prices of the kits vs bare tools, vs batteries.
I think every single battery I own came with a tool or kit, because that clearance deal was way cheaper than either a bare tool or separate battery. The brands happily "give away" free batteries in combo kits, because they want you to feel "locked in" and stick to that color. They hope you will buy the full price "bare tool" for that next project.
Don't play their game of being a brand loyalist. Take advantage of the constant brand arms-race and scoop up the clearance deals. If you give yourself some brand flexibility, you'll save hundreds building up a good collection.
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u/mogrifier4783 18h ago
Why limit yourself to a single brand? No one brand makes the best of everything, and every brand has a few tools that aren't good at all. Having a couple of brands, even of cordless tools, gives you a choice when one brand doesn't have what you want.
For example, I have a a lot of Dewalt cordless tools, but also a bunch of Ryobi. There is no Dewalt cordless hot glue gun, but there is a Ryobi, and it's great. I find the Ryobi saws lacking in power, so I have Dewalt cordless saws. As long as you have two or more batteries for each line, you can be using a tool while the other one charges. And most brands have sales on kits, where the tool plus a battery and charger are the same price or even less than a bare tool.
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u/donttakerhisthewrong 18h ago
Hercules 20v from Harbor Freight. They test well on Torque channel and have a 3 year warranty on batteries and 5 year on the cordless tools.
They do not have as wide a range of tools as the other brands. So pick another for the tools HF doesn’t offer.
Brands like Milwaukee and Dewalt might have a few sales but overall are more expensive.
That is just my opinion and what works best for me.
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u/LogRayleigh 18h ago
If you have someone close that you could borrow/lend tools just go with whatever they have
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u/Beginning_Lifeguard7 17h ago
The only place where the team you choose is the battery operated one. There’s absolutely no reason to only buy one brand for hand and corded tools. My problem with only playing with one team is they all have some tools that just aren’t as good as the others. If I was starting over again with battery powered tools I’d go with the team that had the best sale on their starter set.
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u/Life-Berry602 17h ago
I have four different platforms (Ryobi, Ridgid, Milwaukee 12V, Milwaukee 18V). Ryobi will make some cool stuff here and there that no one else has. Ridgid tools are fantastic value for the money, particularly if you camp on the Home Depot site and watch for sales.
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u/GBpackerfan15 16h ago
I have ryobi, doing smaller jobs and helping friends and roybi hasn't let me down. I also do handyman stuff and the new ryobi brushless are good tools. Love that the batteries fit many ryobi tools. I still have original blue ryobi tools from my grandfather and still work. TTI makers of Milwaukee make ryobi tools. Also it saves me money when HD has crazy sales during ryobi days,or holidays
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u/justthegrimm 16h ago
How much do you plan on using the tools and how much of a budget do you have? For the average DIY guy the cheaper stuff is more than adequate.
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u/SV-97 16h ago
It depends (on a lot of things) but in some ways also doesn't matter all that much. Some brands have this or that specialty tool, others have a wider selection themselves or cooperate with other brands to share batteries, and every brand has its hits and misses.
Imo it's also not a huge issue to buy into multiple brands / battery platforms. I have 12V and 18V from both Milwaukee and Bosch (Professional) and really don't regret it; and there are some tools for which I'd probably buy into yet another platform
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u/MisterRufio 15h ago
I’m a new home owner and I went with Milwaukee for the M12 impact driver, Ryobi for the lawn care tools, and mostly Klein for hand tools and it’s been great.
I think it’s been a good mix so far and I can pick tools up as needed down the line.
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u/Zealousideal_Rent261 15h ago
I have had various tools from Craftsman, Ryobi, Bosch, Porter Cable, Dewalt, Makita and Ridgid. The only one I hated was the Ridgid drill.
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u/TheSoakingWetPress 15h ago
I was at Home Depot the other day looking for my first impact wrench. A Milwaukee rep came up to me and said that Ryobi is just as good quality as Milwaukee for 1/2 the price…I still bought a Milwaukee.
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u/SignificantWind 14h ago
The one that works for your needs and budget. I took the approach of things I'm going to use for years like drills and some saws I'll invest money and get a nicer one. My miter and table saw, budget and skill lead me to buying skil brand. Tools I rarely need to only work for one project I go cheap.
I figure with time my skill level will go up or if I end up using a tool a lot later I can justify an upgrade.
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u/King-Of-The-Hill 13h ago
I'm a dewalt guy... Bought my first drill in 1995 from them and used it for work. THat thing took a beating and I still have it up on my pegboard as a sentimental thing. It made me a lot of money.
So now I'm still dewalt for my battery operated tools just to keep my battery invest and charger invest down.
If I had to start over, I would likely go Milwaukee as they have a wider variety of battery operated tools that are specialized. If you do not need that level of variety then either Dewalt or Milwaukee are both good choices to keep battery availability, support etc.
For budget, Ryobi is likely your best mainstream bet.
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u/OhShizMyNiz 13h ago
Canadian?
CrappyTires Mastercraft tools are all I can recommend.
American? Idk fuckin hypertough.
Boujee DIY? Ryobi.
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u/Xtracrispy2000 9h ago
Dewalt, they offer tools for multiple types of carpentry and yard work with batteries that fit both applications.
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u/nov_284 6h ago
I use Dewalt at work as an aircraft mechanic, and they’ve nothing at all to apologize for. I’ve got 7 year old batteries that still run, and the drill has got to have thousands of hours on it at this point. That said, if I had it to do again I’d go with Milwaukee. Dewalt is more optimized towards carpentry and other trades, Milwaukee has tools for plumbers and mechanics and carpenters and electricians and and and……..
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u/LeoNickle Mechanic 19h ago
I'd say for a mechanic work Milwaukee had the best lineup and selection of tools relative to the job I have to do.
Milwaukee also has the best warranties. 5 years on the tool, and 3 years on the battery.
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u/M635_Guy 19h ago
There's no best, but there are tiers: Ryobi, Kobalt and other "house" brands tend to be more "price for value" and compete more often with the entry/mid tier of DeWalt/Milwaukee/etc. The upper end of those guys is generally extremely good.
Here's the good news: there are few truly bad tools/platforms.
Personally I think Milwaukee is better if you're an automotive guy, DeWalt tends to do other things well. Makita tends to have really good ergonomics. Etc.
I'd figure out what kind of thing you find yourself doing often before investing a ton of money.
The HF Bauer and especially Hercules brands have been really strong over the last several years too.
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u/Tarzinator 19h ago
What's your goals and budget? Are you handy or just learning? Have you ever done any type of blue collar work?
You have 2 different categories of tools. Budget/DIY and professional / more expensive.
Ryobi / Kobalt are your budget options. Ryobi is very versatile but some of the their stuff is really not great. I would aim for Ryobi for the most part, and that's how I started my collection. I have had Ryobi impacts, drills and recip saws which I loved. However some of their stuff is cheap and can fail. Just need to know what you need and what you're buying. Their brushless one+ HP line has came a long way so that's a great place to look for deals and start figuring out what you like and don't like.
Dewalt vs Milwaukee - both of these brands are great and have different strengths and weaknesses but cost more because they are meant to be used daily. My honest opinion, most would be happy with either, so which looks better to you? I thought Dewalt looked better, and I have used Dewalt in the past.
I recently stared moving from Ryobi to Dewalt as I'm doing more work consistently and my old 10 year old impact is tired and heavy.
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u/mrtramplefoot 19h ago
There's really only one wrong answer and that's Makita (for cordless). Genuinely don't understand who is still buying it. A lot of xgt 40v stuff doesn't even keep up with other brands 18/20v stuff which is embarrassing. Someone like greenworks pro using 24v as a crutch to match m18 fuel power at a lower price is cool. Double the volts and not whooping everyone is not.
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u/Jay_D826 19h ago
My biggest issue with Makita is the price in comparison to other brands but saying it’s the only wrong answer feels genuinely insane to me lol.
Makita tools are great.
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u/MalcolmApricotDinko 19h ago