Five Cheaper Alternatives to Black and Decker Tools
If you have a workshop at home or enjoy doing DIY projects, you probably know that tools were expensive even before tariffs came along. Anyone who works with tools on a regular basis is usually willing to pay a little more for something that won’t fall apart after a few uses, so going with a big brand that’s still in the low- to mid-budget range, like Black and Decker (Stanley Black and Decker also owns the Craftsman and DeWalt brands), has always made sense.
As expected, the company just announced a price hike in response to the tariff situation, which means that buying tools from Stanley Black and Decker may now be out of the budget of many people. If that sounds like you, it’s time to explore some of the more affordable tool brands that can still get the job done for you.
It’s important to note that almost all major tool brands manufacture most, if not all, of their tools overseas, and will therefore be subject to some amount of duty — but if you’re starting at a lower price point, the extra duty tax may not be enough to knock you off your feet. Here are your best affordable alternatives to Black and Decker tools.
Bauer
If you regularly buy tools, you know that Harbor Freight is a company known for tools that are often suspiciously cheap. The mystery of Harbor Freight is that sometimes its tools seem to disintegrate into the atoms of their components right before your eyes the moment you use them, but other times its tools are surprisingly durable.
Bauer is one of Harbor Freight’s in-house tool brands that gets decent reviews for durability and utility, but Bauer tools are almost always much cheaper than Black and Decker and other competing brands. For example, at the time of writing, I found this 6-amp B&D hammer drill for $85, while a slightly more powerful one from Bauer is only $45.
Ridgid
Ridgid tools are sold exclusively in physical Home Depot stores, though you can buy them online at a variety of locations. It’s long been considered a solid mid-range brand — you might not pass a Ridgid tool down to your kids, but you’ll probably use them a lot, and they’re generally good enough for most jobs. They’re also significantly cheaper than most Stanley Black and Decker brands. Ridgid and Black and Decker tools have typically been in the same price range, but with Stanley Black and Decker’s price hikes, Ridgid may be the cheaper buy — for now.
Skill
Skill is the budget offshoot of the more professionally oriented Skilsaw brand. Most of its tools have a solid reputation for quality, but are generally less expensive than Black & Decker tools. For example, a 15-amp 7-1/4-inch circular saw like this one costs about $70, while a comparable Black and Decker version sells for about $80 . That’s not a huge difference, but as tariffs rise, you can expect the gap to widen a bit.
Hart
Hart is a Walmart exclusive brand of power tools, and as you can imagine, anything sold at Walmart is going to be relatively affordable. For example, you can pick up this cordless 4.5-inch angle grinder for just $50 — about half the price of the DeWalt version . One thing to keep in mind when shopping for Hart power tools is that most of their tools don’t come with batteries, so that’s an extra expense, and they’re not compatible with other brands of batteries, so you won’t be able to use them interchangeably. But Hart’s quality and performance are pretty decent for the price, making them a great alternative to Black and Decker.
WEN
This brand always comes up in conversations about affordable tools (it’s normal for those conversations to happen often, right?). If you think Black and Decker tools are no longer the budget win they once were, WEN is a solid alternative. Its tools are considered well-made, with acceptable performance for the price — and they’re generally cheaper than comparable B&D products. For example, this variable-speed jigsaw from WEN will get the job done for less than this Black and Decker offering .
If price is your primary consideration when shopping for tools, then tariffs can cause some chaos, but if Black and Decker is charging you a bad price, you have a few options to consider.