5 Cheap Tool Alternatives At Home Depot That Beat The Expensive Versions

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Home Depot is easily one of the biggest hardware retailers in North America, boasting over 2,000 locations across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, with roughly 35,000 products per store and over a million available online. Considering the sheer scale of the orange home improvement empire, it's no surprise that the company carries some of the biggest brands on the market, including some of the best power tool brands like DeWalt, Milwaukee, and Makita.

That said, many of these premium brands come at a premium cost, and not every shopper is looking to spend an arm and a leg every time they visit their local warehouse. Many craftspeople might prefer to take a look at some of the more affordable tools that Home Depot sells–particularly among its more budget-oriented store affiliate brands like Husky and Ryobi.

The old adage that you get what you pay for is generally good advice, as premium brands often earn their reputations by making superior products, but there are always exceptions. Home Depot sells a surprising number of budget tools, and some of them might actually boast specs and features that are even more expensive than what you'll find from one of the more expensive products sold by other brands. By taking a look at comparisons from pro tool reviewers, you can get a better idea about which of these hidden gems is worth adding to your collection.

There are a few different factors that you might consider when you think about what makes a premium hand tool. Ergonomics and rust resistance are important, and you may also need to consider mechanical functionalities in tools with moving parts, but one thing that's always important is the quality of the steel that it's made from. This is particularly important in components like the infamous ½-inch to ⅜-inch Square Drive Socket Adapter, which places a lot of torque strain on a slender square of metal.

Torque Test Channel compared several different brands of these adapters, using a machine that progressively added more and more torque pressure until the adapter snapped, thus verifying the resilience of the steel. This allowed the channel to rank the adapters and the quality of the steel used by the brands.

Husky's standard ½-inch to ⅜-inch Square Drive Socket Adapter retails for just $7.97, making it more affordable than the vast majority of the premium options. This wasn't exactly the top-performing one by Torque Test Channel's metric. With a failure point of 145 ft. lbs., it was on the lower end of par with most of the brands that were measured. Even so, it did still manage to outperform two of the more expensive chrome models from DeWalt and Snap-On. So while you can certainly expect higher resilience from brands like Milwaukee and Mac Tools, Husky steel seems to be a decent performer for the price. The part has a 4.5 out of 5 on the Home Depot website, with 88% of buyers claiming that they would recommend it to others. There have been some complaints of breakage and loose fitting, but the majority of users seem impressed by its build quality.

Ridgid often gets lost in the shuffle when people talk about top brands, relegating it to a middle child that's generally a little less affordable than Ryobi and a little less powerful than DeWalt. That said, there are always exceptions. It might surprise some of you to learn that the orange brand is actually considered one of the best major cordless impact wrench brands on the market.

One particular standout is the Ridgid 18V Brushless ½-inch High-Torque Impact Wrench. This tool goes for $249.00 at Home Depot and boasts some pretty impressive specs by any metric. It promises 900 ft. lbs. of fastening torque and 1,300 ft. lbs. of breakaway torque, as well as several other advanced features like an Auto-Tightening Mode that is available in addition to the three standard speed modes, a friction ring anvil, and a die-cast gearbox. Compare this to the $339.00 Makita 18V LXT Brushless High Torque ½-inch Impact Wrench, which only offers 740 ft. lbs. of fastening torque and 1,180 ft. lbs. of breakaway torque, and also doesn't offer all the same special features. Additionally, Torque Test Channel compared it to its pricier Milwaukee M18 sibling and found that the Ridgid actually marginally outperformed Team Red on several speed and torque-based metrics.

The Ridgid Impact Wrench has a stellar 4.9 out of 5 on the Home Depot Website with an 85% recommendation rate. The overwhelming majority of reviews mention its power and build quality, while the few complaints that it has received appear to be regarding Ridgid's registration policy and not anything to do with the build or performance of the tool itself.

A lot of what gives a cordless tool its power is its battery size. 40V batteries give more juice than 18V batteries, which are in turn stronger than 12Vs. This is why most of the tools that are on 12V systems tend to be ones that don't require a whole heck of a lot of power. That said, 18V and 20V versions of the same tool are still going to be a lot stronger.

Ryobi, for instance, sells an 18V HP Compact ¼-inch High Speed Ratchet that you can get for $129.00. This little tool is able to generate up to 460 RPM and 40 ft. lbs. of torque. It also has a 4-position rotating head, a ¼-inch anvil with a pin dent, and a variable speed trigger. Milwaukee only makes this tool in a 12V. The specs on the M12 Fuel High-Speed ¼-inch Ratchet are impressive given the battery size, offering 450 RPM and 35 ft. lbs. of torque, but they still don't quite match the power of the Ryobi and, unfortunately, it's also significantly more expensive at $199.00. Meanwhile, DeWalt makes a 20V Max ¼-inch Extended Reach Cordless Ratchet that is stronger at 45 ft. lbs. of torque, but significantly slower at only 250 RPM. Oddly enough, Torque Test Channel places the Ryobi lower than these two in terms of power under load, but it still ranked third out of all the models tested, placing it higher on the list than several other, more expensive models from Ridgid, Milwaukee, and Makita.

In terms of overall customer satisfaction, the tool has a 4.8 out of 5, with an astounding 100% recommendation rate from previous buyers. Users praised the ratchet for its compact versatility, its overall design quality, and its functionality.

Having a quality inflator on hand is great for air mattresses and pool toys, but you really get to flex its capabilities when you use it on tires. To that end, you want to make sure you have one that's powerful, without having to spend an arm and a leg on air.

The Ridgid Hybrid 18V Dual Function Cordless Inflator is a powerhouse of a tool that is able to output 160 PSI with a flow rate of 16 SCFM. With these two metrics together, Ridgid promises that this inflator is able to top off a truck tire in under a minute. As a Hybrid tool, it can run off Ridgid's 18V battery system, or you can plug it into your car's 12V DC adapter if needed. It has a nice little digital display with a dial around the screen that allows you to monitor and adjust pressure one-handed on the fly. It also has the ability to deflate, which is particularly handy when you have an air mattress that you want to be able to roll up tight or if you accidentally overfill a tire.

The Ridgid inflator retails for $99.00. It matches the max pressure of the $169.00 DeWalt 20V Max Cordless Portable Inflator, and actually outperforms the 150 PSI Milwaukee M18 Cordless Portable Inflator that goes for a full $199.00.

Pro Tool News spent some time testing the inflator on some tires and found that it performs exactly as intended. The inflator has a 4.7 out of 5 on the Home Depot Website with 93% of users stating that they would recommend it to other buyers. These reviewers have claimed that the tool is well-built, works as intended, and is very easy to use.

Ryobi is often considered one of the more budget-oriented brands made by Techtronic Industries, but there are a few sleeper tools that can outperform the pricier models out there. One example of this is the Ryobi 18V One+ HP 4 ½-inch Angle Grinder which has recently been reduced from its starting MSRP of $129.00 to a new standard price of $99.00 at Home Depot.

This tool is able to generate speeds up to 9,000 RPM, utilizing a motor that Ryobi claims is the cordless equivalent to 11 amp corded performance. It has an improved foot angle that allows for easy flush cutting, a paddle switch, a three-position side handle, an onboard wrench for accessory changes and a tool free adjustable guard. Now compare this to the $134.43 DeWalt 20V Max 4 ½-inch to 5-inch Angle Grinder which can only get up to 8,000 RPM, or the $189.00 Makita 18V LXT Cordless 4 ½-inch to 5-inch X-Lock Angle Grinder which can only get up to 8,500 RPM. The Ryobi simply offers more power for less money.

The DIY Guy Tested several Ryobi tools against more expensive counterparts from other brands. He found that, while not all the green tools had performance that could match up, the HP angle grinder could go head-to-head with the higher end brushless XR DeWalt model without any noticeable difference in performance. The Ryobi Angle Grinder has a 4.6 out of 5 on the Home Depot site with a 97% recommendation rate from users. Dozens of these reviews specifically call out the tool's light weight and impressive power as it's best qualities.