What $500 Buys You At Lowe's Vs. Harbor Freight

For a lot of DIYers, it seems like anytime we end up with a little extra cash, we think about buying tools or something for the garage to make our projects a little easier, safer, or better. For this comparison, we'll imagine that we've gotten our hands on $500. It doesn't matter whether it came from an income tax return, a gift, working some extra hours, or selling the stock wheels and tires from a Jeep after adding a lift kit.

We'll limit our choices to two prominent retail chains with the best tool departments, Lowe's and Harbor Freight. While Harbor Freight is well-known for offering its proprietary tool brands — Hercules, Icon, Pittsburgh, etc. — at discount prices, Lowe's has a selection of dependable name brands, in addition to the Lowe's store brand — Kobalt — on its shelves and online for sale at competitive prices.

Since $500 is a big investment for most of us, we'll see what each store offers and fill a few shopping carts with various items from different categories at each store. We'll do our best to compare items with similar quality and user ratings, keeping in mind that we won't find any brand overlap between the two retailers.

If you're willing to go all-in on a cordless tool battery system instead of buying a single tool to try it out, it's often cheaper to buy a power tool combo kit that comes with multiple power tools, batteries, and a charger. Lowe's carries the Craftsman 20V Max 6-Tool Combo Kit, one of the best power tool starter kits you can buy, and Harbor Freight sells a similar 6-Tool Combo Kit from its Bauer brand.

The Craftsman 20V 6-Tool Combo Kit from Lowe's is priced at $329. The six tools it comes with include a two-speed 1/2-inch capacity drill/driver, an impact driver with 1,460 in-lbs of torque, a 5.375-inch circular saw, an oscillating multi-tool, a reciprocating saw, and a 140-lumen task light. The kit also includes a pair of 2.0 amp-hour batteries and a battery charger. Adding a 380-CFM Craftsman Leaf Blower to our Lowe's cart brings the total to $428, leaving enough to buy the Craftsman 4-volt Cordless Screwdriver for $54.

The Bauer 20V 6-Tool Combo Kit from Harbor Freight costs $250 and includes similar tools like a 1/2-inch capacity drill/driver, an impact driver delivering 1,300 in-lbs of torque, a 6.5-inch circular saw, an oscillating multi-tool, and a task light with up to 300 lumens. The Bauer kit comes with a 338 CFM Jet Fan Blower instead of a reciprocating saw, and its two batteries are rated at 1.5 and 3.0 Ah. We'll add a Bauer Reciprocating Saw and a Bauer 4V Screwdriver to our Harbor Freight order to make our selections similar, bringing our total to about $335. That leaves plenty of room to buy the Bauer 5 Ah Battery 2-Pack Bundle, normally priced at $130, and still cover most of the tax.

Generators and power stations come in a variety of designs and power outputs measured in watts. However, using an inverter generator to power sensitive electronics in your home, like gaming consoles, laptops, or smart televisions, is a good idea. Lowe's carries the Champion Power Equipment 2,500-Watt Gasoline Generator with a 4.8-star rating from 325 reviews. The Champion Inverter Generator is priced at $469, leaving enough in the budget to add a 5-gallon gas can for $30.

The Champion 2,500-Watt Generator provides up to 2,500 starting watts and 1,850 watts of continuous running power. As an inverter-type generator, it produces 53 decibels when measured from 23 feet and provides up to 11.5 hours of run time on its 1.05-gallon fuel tank. It accepts standard 120V household appliance plugs, delivering up to 15.4 amps and up to 8 amps through the 12C DC accessory receptacle, like the one found in automobiles.

Harbor Freight sells Predator brand power solutions with options including power stations and portable generators with or without inverter technology. While we often think of Harbor Freight as the low-cost solution for the products it carries, that's not the case with inverter generators. A Predator Inverter Generator with specs comparable to the Champion listed above sells for $630, way out of our $500 budget. If we're not worried about powering sensitive electronics, we could pick up the Predator 5000 Watt Gas-Powered Portable Generator for $500 to provide twice as much power as the Champion. A good option for cleaner off-grid power while staying under budget is the Predator 350 Watt Power Station paired with a Predator 100 Watt Foldable Solar Panel for a combined price of $410.

If you're thinking about buying a battery-powered electric mower to tackle your lawn care chores, the highly rated Ego electric lawn mower from Lowe's comes in just under our $500 budget. At Harbor Freight, we find a similar offering from Atlas that also fits within our price cap.

At Lowe's, the Ego Power+ 600 Series 21-inch Battery Lawn Mower is priced at $499 with an included 6 Ah battery and charger, holds a 4.6-star user rating with 6,296 reviews. The Ego Power+ (model LM2114) runs on a 56-volt system that powers its brushless motor for up to 55 minutes using the included 6.0 Ah battery. The mower's 21-inch cutting deck is adjustable from 1.25- to 4 inches in over seven positions, and provides three functions — mulching, bagging, or side discharge — to choose from. While this Ego push mower isn't self-propelled, the adjustable-height handle and low vibration enhance comfort while mowing.

Harbor Freight's Atlas 80V 21-inch Self-Propelled Lawn Mower, $270, doesn't come with a battery or charger. However, adding them separately is relatively painless with a dual-voltage Atlas 80V 2.5 Ah (5 Ah at 40V) battery priced at $140, and a compatible Atlas battery charger for $80, we're still under budget. The total price for our Harbor Freight cart comes to $490. While the Atlas mower with battery and charger is only $10 less than the Ego, it offers similar specs, and it's self-propelled, making mowing the lawn less physically demanding.

Whether your passion is a favorite hobby or tackling DIY projects, you need a place to store your stuff. There are admittedly more options than we have time to cover here, but if we're holding $500, one of the popular 46-inch 9-drawer wood-top rolling work bench/storage cabinet models would be a welcome addition to our workspace. 

The Kobalt 9-drawer 46-inch Rolling Work Bench from Lowe's maxes out our budget with its $498 price tag. It's available in black, blue, or white, with other colors shown as "out of stock." The black color scheme features a unique blue-trimmed drawer pull design, while the blue and white models have standard chrome-finished drawer pulls. All models have a sturdy grab-handle on the side to pull the box where it's needed and a wooden top to use as a work bench. The Kobalt work bench holds a 4.4-star rating at Lowe's with 1,835 reviews.

At Harbor Freight, we can get the Yukon 46-inch 9-Drawer Mobile Storage Cabinet for $360. It's available in black, red, blue, or white for the same price. Like the Kobalt work bench, the Yukon has a sturdy handle and a wooden-top work surface. We could add a Yukon Work Bench to our space if we wanted, and still stay under budget, as it is $120. The Mobile Storage Cabinet holds a 4.8-star rating, while the workbench is rated at 4.6 stars by Harbor Freight customers.