Walmart Vs Harbor Freight: Who Has The Best Deal On Small, Everyday Tools

When it comes to shopping for tools, there are two titan of industry that both come to mind: Harbor Freight and Walmart. But which actually provides the better deal? We crunched the numbers and got deep in the weeds to find the real winner. And while Harbor Freight ultimately edged out Walmart in our everyday tool shootout, don't start singing that na-na-na-na-goodbye song to Walmart just yet. This was just close enough to call — Harbor Freight took six wins, five losses, and two ties — and if we had been comparing a random list of products, we might have called it a tie overall.

We took two of our lists — one featuring hand tools and one featuring power tools — and shopped the two stores' local shelves. We refined the categories until they were meaningful (narrowing "wrench" to "8-inch adjustable wrench," one of the specific types of wrenches homeowners should have, for example), then looked at the prices and quality of everything meeting that description that was in stock. We tried to compare similarly priced products, but took into account the range of products offered and the number of high-quality, less-expensive-than-average products offered. (And we excluded Black Friday deals.)

The two ties illustrate how close a thing this was. Harbor Freight's Pittsburgh 8-inch adjustable wrench ($6.99) and Walmart's Hyper Tough model ($6.97) were virtually indistinguishable. The Pittsburgh is nickel-plated, while the Hyper Tough is chrome-plated, and the Harbor Freight model has a microscopically larger jaw capacity. We called it a tie. And there was some grey area when it came to 24-inch box frame levels, and ultimately we called it a tie. Walmart's prices are lower on average, but Harbor Freight's materials and quality appears to be substantially better.

Walmart edged out Harbor Freight in categories from our basic household toolkit for less than $100. The fact that Harbor Freight doesn't bother to sell painter's tools — surely a basic — seems questionable. Since Walmart does bother, it gets the win.

Other Walmart wins included pliers, hex keys, and hacksaws. It won the battle of 8-inch groove-joint pliers with the cheapest overall, the lowest price, and the best of the bunch. The two stores' folding hex key sets were similar, but Walmart's Hyper Tough three-piece folding hex key set ($6.00) edged out the Harbor Freight Pittsburgh set ($6.99) on price. And Walmart's Hyper Tough 12-inch hacksaw ($5.98) takes the win over the Pittsburgh 360-degree adjustable hacksaw ($8.99) on price. While the Pittsburgh's rotating blade is a potentially useful idea, the reviews made us question the saw's durability.

Harbor Freight's Pittsburgh line had a better showing in hammers, rubber mallets, and multi-bit screwdrivers. The Pittsburgh antishock rip hammer ($14.99) was roughly comparable to Walmart's Hart fiberglass-handled rip hammer ($15.22), but with an antishock handle and durable steel construction. Walmart's Hyper Tough multi-bit screwdriver ($6.00) was no match for the comparably priced Quinn from Harbor Freight ($8.99), and might not even be a match for Harbor Freight's Pittsburgh 6-in-1 screwdriver/nut driver (which, at $2.49, is quite a deal). And we don't know which company's 1lb, single-surface mallet is actually best. But Harbor Freight's average mallet price was lower ($4.99 versus $8.71), and the Pittsburgh's price ($3.99) was much lower than the Coughlan's ($6.97) we compared it to.

Harbor Freight had the better deals in three of the four categories we examined from our list of must-buy power tools for first-time homeowners. But none of them were easy calls except when Harbor Freight didn't bother to carry a product at all.

In the battle for best 18-21v cordless drill, Harbor Freight's BAUER drill/driver kit ($54.99) and Walmart's Hart drill/driver kit ($59.00) are a close call. Both are 20-volt, 1/2-inch tools that come with a 1.5 Ah battery and charger. Walmart's average prices are lower than Harbor Freight's, but only because of Harbor Freight's higher-end offerings. Bauer wins on price. On the other hand, Walmart's Hyper Tough 20V 6.5in. Brushless Circular saw ($$76.38) is the only 18-21v cordless circular saw either store had in stock locally, so Walmart wins this one by default.

Comparing Walmart's corded oscillating multi-tools to Harbor Freight's was almost impossible. Harbor Freight's cheapest was far cheaper than Walmart's, and again we see that Harbor Freight's average price is much higher only because the store offers a wider range of options. Overall, Harbor Freight looks like the best place to find a deal on the oscillating saw that's fit for your needs. Electric staplers are often mostly fit to be thrown from a high place, but Harbor Freight's Bauer 4v cordless stapler ($39.99) and Walmart's Arrow corded electric staple gun ($36.58) are comparably priced and well-reviewed. In the end, we gave Harbor Freight the edge for overall selection.