$279 Milwaukee Chainsaw VS $70 Alternative: How Does The Cheaper Tool Compare?

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Milwaukee Tool makes a variety of battery-powered chainsaws supported by the M12 and M18 battery platforms. A small M12 model, dubbed the Cordless Pruning Saw by Milwaukee, might pique your interest as an adorable Milwaukee mini tool to add to your collection. The M18 Fuel Hatchet 8-inch Pruning Saw is a slightly larger mini chainsaw that's still easy to store in tight spaces and provides one-handed functionality.

For our comparison, we'll focus on the $279 Milwaukee M18 Hatchet mini chainsaw and an alternative red and black mini chainsaw that uses the Milwaukee M18 battery platform, sold on the Bitoon Amazon store. YouTuber Project Farm compared the Milwaukee M18 Hatchet, the Bitoon mini chainsaw, and several other small chainsaws in 2025. At the time, the host listed Bitoon's price for its saw at $70, but more recently, the Amazon price is listed at $52.99. The prices for both chainsaws are for the Tool-Only versions, which is a good point of comparison since you'll have to buy a Milwaukee M18 battery if you're not already part of the Milwaukee M18 battery ecosystem.

The relatively inexpensive Milwaukee alternative chainsaw fared pretty well in the competition, ranking third overall behind Milwaukee in first and Kobalt, by Lowe's, in the runner-up spot. Compared to the Milwaukee, the Bitoon chainsaw is lighter, with a faster maximum sprocket speed, and has a slight edge when adjusting or removing the bar and chain.

There are a number of non-Milwaukee tools that work with Milwaukee batteries, each offering various levels of quality and performance, and Bitoon's M18 Hatchet alternative provides the advantages listed above. However, there's no doubt that the more expensive M18 Hatchet chainsaw from Milwaukee is better than the cheap alternative presented on Project Farm's video.

During Project Farm's test, the authentic Milwaukee chainsaw bested the entire cordless chainsaw field that included entrants from Ryobi, Greenworks, Craftsman, DeWalt, Makita, and several name-brand knock-off versions. The Milwaukee M18 Hatchet was the heaviest model in the test, outweighing its shared-battery alternative by about 2 pounds. The Hatchet's extra 2 pounds may or may not qualify as an advantage depending on your point of view, but there's no denying its superiority when it comes to doing chainsaw things, like cutting wood. In a test of making three cuts through a 2-by-8-inch softwood board, the real Milwaukee completed the task in just over half the time required by the Bitoon chainsaw. 

The secret to the Hatchet's cutting speed could be its powerful motor. Project Farm demonstrated this by using a special scale to measure the amount of force it takes to stall the chainsaw while cutting. The host admitted being unable to stall the Milwaukee even though he applied considerable force. We won't share Project Farm's data, but we will say that the Hatchet withstood well over three times the force of the alternative without stalling.