GearWrench Vs. Craftsman: How Do These Two Tool Manufacturers Compare?

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Craftsman and GearWrench manufacture and sell many of the same tools, but there are significant differences that make each brand distinct from the other. You may not even be aware of GearWrench — though the company is available in major retailers and has been around for almost three decades, it's not as ubiquitous as some of the best major tool brands, like DeWalt, Makita, and Craftsman. Compared to GearWrench, Craftsman is positively ancient — the company was first established in 1927 as a house brand for Sears. Craftsman is currently owned by Stanley Black & Decker, while GearWrench was founded in 1996 and is owned by Apex Tool Group, which owns tool brands including Cleco and Crescent.

With its roots as a house brand, Craftsman offers a wide range of hand tools, power tools, storage solutions and more. It's less of an innovator in the industry and more of a workhorse, manufacturing traditional tools and equipment at relatively affordable prices. GearWrench, on the other hand, came onto the hardware scene when it introduced the first 5-degree, 72-tooth ratcheting wrench.

While some professionals may use Craftsman as their primary brand, it's more associated with entry-level consumers and DIY-ers — you might have a Craftsman hammer or tape measure in your junk drawer, for instance. By contrast, GearWrench tools are "designed with Pros in mind and manufactured for maximum durability," as stated on Home Depot's website. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from using GearWrench tools more casually, but the brand is more likely than Craftsman to be used by mechanics and other professionals.

GearWrench is more focused on automotive hand tools than anything else, offering ratchets, sockets, pliers, drivers and similar products. Craftsman makes hand tools, but also has a wide range of power tools and outdoor equipment you can use across many disciplines, including woodworking, electrical, and landscaping. For its power tools, Craftsman has its proprietary V20 power system, which allows you to use the same interchangeable battery and chargers for over 100 different products, including drills, string trimmers, circular saws, and even mosquito repellent dispensers.

That's not the only subsystem of products within the Craftsman brand. The V-Series of mechanics tools are geared more toward professionals and are closer to what GearWrench has to offer, and the Craftsman Overdrive tools are designed for particularly tough applications. The Craftsman Versasystem includes all types of tool storage solutions, including stackable units and wall-mounted accessories. GearWrench has its own storage solutions, though, including its massive, all-in-one Megamod Mechanics Tool Set. The set includes a whopping 791 pieces across 15 different product categories, including a 26-inch top chest and rolling cart with nine drawers and modular storage trays. Smaller modular tool sets are also available from the brand.

And, while GearWrench certainly concentrates more on hand tools than Craftsman, its expanding lineup of products includes shop fans, rechargeable work lights, diagnostic tablets and scan tools, and car battery jump starters. As for its hand tools, GearWrench offers mechanics equipment for industries including aerospace, agriculture, energy, transportation, and more, in addition to automotive. Considering its origin, it shouldn't be a surprise that the brand also makes several different high-end ratchets and ratchet wrenches, including 120-tooth ratchets with 3-degree swing arcs for especially tight spaces.

Amazon may not be a hardware store, but the retailer still sells plenty of tools to plenty of people. With thousands of customers weighing in, comparing the Amazon reviews of both brands is one way to see how Craftsman and GearWrench compare. When focusing on mechanics hand tool sets, the tool manufacturers have similar customer satisfaction, though Craftsman appears to have a slight edge. For example, the Craftsman 262-piece Mechanic Tool Set has a 4.7 out of 5 overall customer score, based on over 7,600 reviews, while over 1,000 customers rated the GearWrench 232-piece Mechanics Tool Set a 4.6 out of 5. GearWrench and Craftsman also both offer an 83-piece ratchet and socket set which currently have 4.8 out of 5 average customer scores.

However, some GearWrench sets have lower user ratings — its 68-piece Drive Mechanics Tool Set and 163-piece Socket Set have 4.2 and 4.3 out of 5 overall ratings, respectively. These are not bad scores, but you'd be hard pressed to find any Craftsman mechanics sets on Amazon with less than a 4.5 out of 5. Digging deeper into the reviews, there aren't many complaints with Craftsman's sets, though some mention cheap-quality plastic tool cases and imperfect finishes on the tools.

GearWrench's slightly-lower Amazon ratings seem to mostly derive from customers criticizing the bulky size of the sets. Keep in mind that, since GearWrench markets more toward professionals, these reviews may be more discerning than those of Craftsman's products. Either way, when it comes to overall customer ratings, the advantage Craftsman has over GearWrench is pretty slim.