12 Home Improvement Tools Under $10 Users Say Are Actually Worth Buying

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There's a myth out there that all good tools have to be expensive. It's true that you definitely get your money's worth out of something like a good set of Snap-On tools, but plenty of affordable alternatives at Harbor Freight, for instance, will also get you where you need to go, especially if you're not working in a professional environment. Ultimately, the best tool is the one you have on you, and for home projects at least, it doesn't have to be the biggest, strongest, most expensive one on the lot. You can very often get away for things that are under $10. 

As a homeowner, this is something I can attest to. Two of my most used tools are a multi-bit screwdriver and a cheap tape measure. You can do a lot around the house with just those, and maybe a couple of others like a basic claw hammer and an adjustable wrench. 

If you're in the market for some cheap tools for an upcoming home improvement project, the ones listed below are a good place to start. The people who bought them seem to like them quite a bit, and you can buy everything on this list for well under $120. 

The magnetic parts holder is arguably one of the most underrated tools ever made. These things come with magnetic bases, so you can stick them to your toolbox or your refrigerator, and the inside of the dish is magnetized as well. That means screws, bits, sockets, and small tools won't roll away, or otherwise get lost. These kinds of magnetic gadgets tend to be fairly inexpensive, so it should cost only a few dollars to add one to your toolbox. You don't even have to store it in the toolbox. You can just slap it on the side and call it a day. 

The U.S. General 6-inch Magnetic Parts Holder is an excellent option here. It rings in at $5 even and comes in five colors.  On the larger end of medium size, it should hold plenty of nuts, bolts, screws, and sockets. This tool has over 1,500 reviews on Harbor Freight's website with over 1,500 of them being 5-star or 4-star reviews. The overwhelming majority of the praise is simple. It contains a strong magnet, and it holds parts. In short, it does what it's supposed to do. 

Never underestimate the value of a good pair of safety glasses. Even in a home improvement project context, there are some things you simply do not want to get in your eyes, like errant drywall bits, dust, insulation, and paint. As many will tell you, the best pair of safety glasses is the one you actually wear, and since you can get these things for as little as $2, there's no reason not to have a pair on hand. In fact, at that price, you can pick up several pairs and give some to your friends so their eyes stay safe too. 

If you want the cheapest ones possible, you can check out Harbor Freight's Western Safety glasses for $1.99, which come in clear and tinted varieties. They're definitely good enough for home improvement use. You can step up to these safety glasses from 3M for $9.95, which are slightly higher quality but still provide similar protection. Either way, having something to protect your eyes is a huge boon and at under $10 a pair with several options, there's no real reason not to have them. You'll be grateful for it once you hear that first thing clanks off of your glasses instead of flying into your eye. 

While products from big names like Leatherman can run for a decent chunk of change, these days it's not hard to find multitools for well under $50. These tools are considered widely useful because they can tackle small jobs without needing a handful of tools and a whole trip to the garage to get everything. They won't work miracles, but if you need something to crimp a wire really quickly or tighten the odd screw around the house, it's nice to have one on hand. Setting correct expectations will make them feel that much more useful — this is a "jack of all trades, master of none" situation.

The Ozark Trail Trailside 12-in-1 Multitool is a good choice for budget shoppers. Its under $10 at Walmart and has 12 tools loaded into it. They include a flathead and Philips screwdriver, a can opener, a bottle opener, two knives, pliers, and a few other things. None of these will supplant full size versions of any of those tools, but you can't fit all of those tools into a single pocket, and that's where this tool shines during home improvement projects. You don't always need a full-size pair of pliers if you have a multitool in your pocket.

One of my favorite tools in my possession is a multi-bit screwdriver that I use for loads of stuff. It's small, easy to carry around the house for whatever project I'm working on, and the interchangeable bits make on-the-fly adjustments easy. I wouldn't use it for high torque applications, but in my experience, few home improvement projects require serious torque for screws, and many just need it to be hand tight. For that, a multi-bit screwdriver will work just fine.

This kind of tool is also generally less expensive than a whole set of screwdrivers, and the Kobalt 10-in-1 Multi-bit Screwdriver is a great example. For $9, you get Philips, flathead, and four Torx options, which will work for most things like changing a light socket or electrical socket plate. Torx screws are commonly used in decking and other carpentry work. The Kobalt model is a bit small for decking, according to user reviews, but it's otherwise a solid general-use screwdriver for basic home improvement projects, and even some light electronics and glasses repair, should the need arise. Larger models are only a hair over $10 if you need something more robust.

Multi-bit tools come in all shapes and sizes, and the Pittsburgh Ratcheting Screwdriver set is the largest one I could find for under $10. This is a full-size screwdriver with a bit driver at the end, and it comes with a wide range of screwdriver bits and ratchet sockets. The screwdriver usage is pretty self-explanatory, as screws are a common thing in home improvement projects. Ratchet sockets are also nice to have, as a wide variety of furniture, lighting fixtures, and other in-home things have nuts that can be easily loosened and tightened with a screwdriver-sized tool. Pittsburgh's offering is a $10 on the dot at Harbor Freight. 

When you get to tools with so many bits and functions, the price to performance ratio starts to become suspect. Fortunately, users seem to really enjoy the screwdriver set, with a 4.7-star rating across nearly 800 total reviews. Reviewers say that the screwdriver and its bits are highly functional, reliable, and usable even in a professional setting. Most reviewers especially like the ratchet sockets, as a screwdriver can reach places that a normal ratchet might not, which adds some versatility over regular screwdriver bit sets. Overall, it's a solid use of $10. 

There are times when working on home improvement projects where you might wish you had three hands. It's tough to hold something in place while screwing it in or bolting it down. For that, a clamp is a miracle worker, and there are so many to choose from. Clamps can be used for virtually anything in a home improvement project. I've used them to hold stuff together after gluing them and over this last December, I used them to clamp some Christmas lights up while I prepared to mount them to my gutter. Any time you need a third hand to hold something, a clamp is useful. 

A good choice for under $10 is the DeWalt 6-inch Trigger Clamp. This little guy has 100 pounds of force, which is good enough to hold things together while you get them situated. If you want something more traditional, you can get C-Clamps in varying sizes at Harbor Freight for as low as a couple of bucks. Regardless, the user reviews are solid on all of these products. It's pretty hard to mess up a clamp, and clamps are simple tools, so the overwhelming majority of user reviews just say that the product works. For a clamp, that's all you can ask for. 

A utility knife is another inexpensive tool that works for many DIY home projects. Virtually any task that requires cutting, trimming, slicing, or opening things is a valid use for such a knife, and many people often use them for things outside of their intended purposes. That makes having one a must, especially if you do a lot of stuff around the house. I most often use mine as a box opener, but I've been known to cut the occasional piece of drywall, and I've seen my neighbor (carefully) use his as an ad hoc wire stripper on occasion. 

These usually go for $25 or so from bigger names at the big box retailers, but Harbor Freight has them for well under $10. This Folding Lock-Back Utility Knife from Gordon goes for a scant $7, and at that price, you can buy two or three and still undercut some of the bigger competitors. Home Depot's house brand, Husky, also sells them for around $7. User reviews for both are outstanding, boasting thousands of five-star reviews between them. Like most simple tools, most of the praise is just stating that the tool works as described, and many people appreciate that it folds in and locks for safety reasons. 

Simple tools are always valuable for home improvement projects, and the humble claw hammer is arguably one of the most useful tools in existence. Its best known for hammering and removing nails, but you can use it as a replacement crowbar, a tool of destruction when something needs to be torn down, and to help shape metal pieces. I've used my claw hammer for all of those things in my various DIY homeowner projects over the years, and my hammer has held up just fine. In fact, it was one of the first tools I ever purchased. 

It's not easy to do, but you can buy a decent claw hammer for under $10. Lowe's sells the Project Source 10-ounce Claw Hammer for $9, and a couple at Harbor Freight dip under the $10 price as well. Hammers are simple tools, so even the cheapest variants are still pretty good. They just might not hold up under long-term abuse as well as the more expensive guys. Regardless, users seem to like these inexpensive hammers, with customers saying that they still work great for home improvement projects even if they are cheaper and often smaller than a normal claw hammer. 

Every household should have a tape measure, even if you don't do a lot of home improvement projects. They're useful for basically any type of task and they come in a wide variety of price points, brands, and lengths. In my experience, most homeowners can get away with a 25-foot tape unless you're doing something massive like building a deck or adding a whole room onto your house. Tapes that size are in great abundance at very low prices, making them accessible to everyone. I have two such tapes and they're both more than good enough for my needs. 

There are tons of 25-foot tapes for under $10, but for this list, I like the Bauer Self-Locking Tape Measure from Harbor Freight. It's a 25-foot tape just like the less expensive models, but this one has a self-locking mechanism where the tape will stay when you pull it out, which is a nice feature to tack on for a couple of extra dollars. It has a 4.7-star rating, with over 600 four- and five-star reviews from people saying that the tape measure works well. Lowe's sells the Kobalt Self-Lock tape measure for a similar price, and it also has excellent reviews. 

There are times to use regular wrenches and times to use adjustable ones, and mostly it comes down to space and how much torque you need to apply. For high torque applications, a good set of wrenches can't be beat. However, for most home improvement projects, you rarely need that much torque, and a solid adjustable wrench is can cover a wide range of applications. That is, of course, provided that it can fit into the space, which it should most of the time.

Since you only need one, the price can come down pretty far on these, and the Pittsburgh 12-inch Steel Adjustable Wrench from Harbor Freight is a good mix of quality and budget. Despite being one of the least expensive adjustable wrenches on the market, users are supremely happy with it, giving it a 4.5-star rating with over 450 four-star and five-star reviews. People like that the adjustable part stays tight, and how the tool feels like a good overall quality. One reviewer noted that he used it extensively when adding some bathroom fixtures and that it worked perfectly.

A rubber mallet is also nice to have when working on home improvement projects. I have one, and while I don't use it terribly often, it's really nice to have one around when I need one. Mallets are often used in flooring, and any other time where you need to tap something into place and don't want to use the metal head on a standard claw hammer. The soft head is the key here. Not everything needs to be rammed into with metal, and so, rubber mallets are good in those situations. 

Some people recommend using white mallets over black, since black can leave scuff marks, and a good one that doesn't break the bank is the $9 Lowe's Project Source 16-ounce Rubber Mallet. Of all the tools on this list, I would personally recommend spending as little on the mallet as possible, since this isn't a common tool and you'll likely only need it for a few projects. Fortunately, user reviews praise this mallet for being simple, effective, inexpensive, and usable. Like most simple tools, there wasn't a bunch of insight. It's a rubber mallet and it does things that a rubber mallet would do. That's good enough for most people, it seems.

Jab saws are great tools mostly used for a single thing: cutting drywall. They're made perfectly for the task, as they can jab into the wall and saw out the drywall, giving you a nice, square spot to add a patch or a new segment. I've had to do this a few times, and a jab saw works better than anything else I've thought to use. While drywall is their primary function, jab saws can be used on other things as well, including PVC piping, plywood, insulation, and some paneling. It's even usable on wood, provided it's not too thick.

As a more niche tool, it's probably a good idea to get one of these on the cheap, and the Kobalt 6-inch Jab Saw is a good candidate. It's available for $10, and six inches should be more than enough for home improvement uses. Customers who purchased this give it a 4.7 rating, which is quite good for a tool this inexpensive, and praise the jab saw for being sharp out of the box and generally easy to use. One enterprising individual even uses it to carve pumpkins, which is a good secondary use for a jab saw. 

For this list, I leaned on my homeowner experience and the various projects I've done to give me an idea of where to look. From there, it was a matter of selecting tools under $10 that would actually be helpful to have in the garage for your next home improvement project. Power tools and things like that are universally more expensive, so those were out. So were super niche tools, since those are situational at best, and everyday things like scissors, which aren't really what you think of when you think of home improvement tools. 

In terms of metrics, every tool on the list had to have a high volume of positive customer reviews. Harbor Freight was great for this, as its shoppers tend to leave reviews by the bucket load, although Home Depot and Lowe's also had tools with a decent number of reviews. We wanted at least 50 reviews, and every tool listed has that many — most have way more, too. In all, if the tool was useful, under $10, and had a bunch of good customer reviews, it came under consideration for the list.