Cordless Drill Comparison Chart
Every model in our 34-drill dataset in one chart: voltage, max torque, bare weight, chuck, brushless flag, and price tier. Sort any column, filter by voltage or tier, and the numbers stay tied to their sources. The full interactive tool (with model search, RPM, prices, and side-by-side pinning) is on the comparison page; this chart is the flat, printable view for people who want everything at once.
How to read a drill comparison chart
- Torque is a ceiling, not a rating you live at. A 1400 in-lbs drill and an 800 in-lbs drill both drive a 3 inch deck screw happily; the higher number matters for large spade bits, hole saws, and lag bolts. Sorting by torque mostly sorts heavy hammer drills to the top.
- Weight compounds. The gap between a 2.3 lb compact and a 4.3 lb hammer drill feels small in the hand and large an hour into overhead work. If you do cabinet installs or electrical work overhead, sort weight ascending before anything else.
- More voltage is not more better. 12V compacts (Bosch PS31, Skil DL6290A) do most household jobs at nearly half the weight of 18V/20V full-size drills. The 18V/20V class earns its bulk on hole-saw and masonry work. MultiVolt and X2 tools run on two packs or a 36V pack for concrete-duty torque.
- Brushless mostly buys runtime and lifespan, not raw power at this price spread: brushed picks here (Ryobi PCL206, Hart HPDD02, Bosch PS31) give up little peak torque and cost less. Trade-offs in our brushless vs brushed breakdown.
- Tier is a price band, not a quality grade. Budget here means a street price under about $100 bare (or a kit under $100); premium means $200 and up. Some of the best value rows sit in budget (Hercules 59420 at 1200 in-lbs and $69.99) and some weakest-value rows sit in premium. Sort by torque within a tier to see it.
- Blank cells are honest blanks. Where a manufacturer does not publish a spec or our two sources disagree, the cell stays empty instead of carrying a guess. The full source list per model is on the comparison page.
The chart
Click a column header to sort (click again to reverse). Use the filters to narrow by voltage or tier. Chuck size is only listed where we have verified it; most modern drill/drivers in this class take 1/2 inch bits, with some 12V compacts at 3/8 inch.
| Brand | Model | Voltage | Max torque | Weight (lb) | Chuck | Brushless | Tier |
|---|
Weights are bare tool, no battery. Tier: budget = street price under ~$100 bare or kit under ~$100; mid = ~$100 to $199; premium = $200 and up. Where a model sells kit-only, the kit price sets the tier. Torque figures are manufacturer claims in the unit the manufacturer uses.
What the chart says at a glance
- The torque table has two neighborhoods. Premium 18V/20V/24V hammer drills cluster between 1200 and 1400 in-lbs; everything else spreads from 265 up to about 900. Cross the UWO flag and the neighborhoods blur, which is exactly why we keep the units separate.
- Weight and torque travel together across the 18V/20V class: the 1400 in-lbs rows sit at 3.2 to 3.9 lb, the 500 to 650 in-lbs compacts at 2.3 to 2.7 lb. You are mostly choosing a point on one curve, not trading torque for nothing.
- The 12V escape hatch. The two 12V compacts (2.3 lb class, 265 to 350 in-lbs) cover drilling and driving that surprises people who assumed they needed an 18V.
- Watch battery lock-in, not just the drill. Voltage is a platform decision: your second tool, spare batteries, and charger all follow the first purchase. A cheap drill on an orphaned voltage is not cheap.
Numbers person? The dataset behind this chart with per-model sources is on the comparison page. Not sure which specs matter for your work? Specs explained then the buying guide.
Related guides
Also on this site: drill chuck sizes explained, drill torque settings explained, the best cordless drills for home use, concrete anchor bit sizes by fastener, and drill bit coatings compared. For the whole of one brand's lineup in one place, the Makita drill comparison chart tables all six US Makita rows with per-row weight basis and kit-versus-bare price labels. For brand-against-brand verdicts, the pair pages run the same sourced discipline on the flagships: Milwaukee vs Makita, DeWalt vs Milwaukee, Makita vs DeWalt, and Bosch vs DeWalt, with the budget-tier Skil vs DeWalt pair covering the DL6293B-10 row visible above.