7 Best Cordless Drills On Amazon And What To Buy Instead

It all started with a simple question… Would we buy the top 7 cordless drills on Amazon or something else? When we took a look at the top-selling options, we knew we could do better in most cases. It’s not just about getting higher performance, though. We challenged our team to come up with better options and stay within $10 of the price.

Note: Amazon’s prices and Top 100 list change frequently. This information is based on the state of things on August 14, 2023, when we wrote the article.

DeWalt’s DCD771 is the number one top-selling cordless drill on Amazon. Part of it is because DeWalt is a massively popular brand. The other part is that it’s a kit that includes two batteries.

The performance is excellent for DIY projects and having two speeds is nice when you’re drilling larger holes or setting bigger fasteners. Of course, there’s certainly nothing wrong with DeWalt as a brand, and we use plenty of their tools on a regular basis.

Ridgid’s R86001 has a significant number of advantages over DeWalt’s DCD771. It’s lighter and more compact while offering higher speed and torque.

It only comes with one battery, which might make you hesitate, but it’s not only about the number of batteries. Ridgid includes a 2.0Ah battery. DeWalt’s two batteries are 1.2Ah each, totaling 2.6Ah. So while DeWalt has the advantage here, it’s not as big as it might look at first.

There’s one more significant point for Ridgid—if you register your purchase, you get a Lifetime Service Agreement. As long as you own the tool, Ridgid will repair or replace it if something goes wrong. They also include the battery in the deal.

If you want to be on DeWalt’s 20V Max battery system, then yes, the DCD771C2 is the best deal you’re going to get at the $100 price point. You can also find this kit at the same price from other retailers, so you’re not tied to Amazon in this case. But if you’re willing to consider other brands, Ridgid offers a significant upgrade.

For less than $60, there’s a good reason Black and Decker owns the number 2 spot on Amazon’s list with the LDX120C drill kit. It’s a compact, lightweight drill from one of the most-recognized and trusted brands in DIY.

This drill is a single-speed model with relatively low speed and power, but it’s fine for the majority of your household projects and repairs. Other retailers have the kit for $59, so you save a few dollars shopping on Amazon. For the price, it’s going to be hard to find a better alternative.

Taking a look at what HART tools has going on over at Walmart, the HPDD01 drill offers higher performance than Black and Decker at the same price. It’s a two-speed model with a much higher top speed of 1600 RPM. While HART doesn’t list the torque value, having the ability to drop down to the 440 RPM low gear offers higher torque when you’re working with larger bits is a definite upgrade.

The trade-off is that it’s a larger, heavier drill than Back and Decker’s. Considering that’s one of B&D’s big advantages, it’s something to take into consideration.

This one’s a toss-up. Both brands are solid DIY picks with a wide range of other tools and products that use the same battery. If a compact size and light weight are your highest priorities, Black and Decker is the way to go. If you want higher performance, HART takes the win.

Just $29.00 for the kit on the day we’re writing, it’s easy to understand why bargain hunters flock to Black and Decker’s BDCDD12C. The performance is limited to light-duty tasks with a top speed of just 550 RPM.

Keep in mind this is a 12V Max tool, not 20V Max. Even though the battery that comes with the drill is a 1.5Ah pack, it doesn’t have the same capacity as the one that comes with the 20V Max models. When you look at the watt-hours as a measure of total capacity (voltage x amp hours), the 1.5Ah 20V Max battery has 27 watt-hours. The 1.5Ah 12V battery has 16.2 watt-hours.

Read more about voltage vs amp hours or how 18V and 20V Max batteries have the same voltage.

Most retailers that carry this model have it for $39.99, so the $29.00 price we’re seeing from Amazon today is a significant discount. It’s listed by Amazon as a deal, so the price they’re offering this drill at is unlikely to hold.

We couldn’t find a viable alternative to Black and Decker’s 12V drill within $10. If you’re willing to look a little higher, you can jump up to a completely different level, though.

Skil’s PWRCore 12 Brushless Compact Drill driver is $59.99, which is a ridiculously low price for a brushless drill kit. It’s a two-speed model that tops out at 1700 RPM and 350 in-lbs of torque, moving you to a performance level that’s much more versatile.

Skil packs a 2.0Ah battery in the kit, giving you 33% more capacity than Black and Decker. There’s also a USB port built into it for use as a portable power source.

The upgraded PWRJump charger is another nice benefit, getting the battery from 0% – 25% charge in 5 minutes and reaching a full charge much faster than B&D can get its smaller battery back in the game.

As long as Amazon’s price holds, there’s no reason to turn to another drill if you need a light-duty kitchen drawer model for occasional projects. Even at the regular price, you’ll have to go up in price another $20 to find a better option. If you’ve got the extra money in your budget, though, Skil’s brushless 12V drill is a significant upgrade in quality, performance, and features.

Avid’s 20V drill is tempting at its sub-$50 price, especially with its bit set that includes a flex shaft bit holder. However, it landed on our Do Not Buy list after we brought it in for testing and broke it far too easily on a fastening test that other DIY drills completed easily.

Ryobi’s PDD209 drill kit is within $10 of Avid’s and gets you into a massively popular battery system that has more than 280 compatible products.

Ryobi’s model has a little more top-end speed but not as much torque. Both drills are limited to light-duty work, though you can tell the difference in torque between the two. Even, so, we have much more confidence in Ryobi’s ability to last for more than a few jobs.

We don’t recommend buying Avid’s drill at any price. Spending a little more to move over to Ryobi’s 18V platform makes more sense to us. If you don’t mind a 12V system, the Skil PWRCore 12 drill we mentioned earlier is another excellent alternative.

Technically, the number 5 spot on Amazon was held by DeWalt’s DCF845B, but that’s an impact driver, so we’re moving on to number 6. That gives Black and Decker 3 of the top 5 selling drills on Amazon, telling us how much people appreciate B&D’s value proposition.

The LD120VA could be considered a step up from the LDX120C which came in at number 2 overall and is a newer model. It’s not as compact and its newer counterpart is more comfortable to use, but it does have more top-end speed. Considering it comes with a handy bit set to get you started, it’s a tempting option when the price drops.

Considering we’re still in that $50 – $60 price range, we’ve already offered three options from HART, Skil, and Ryobi that are good alternatives. For the sake of variety, we tried to dig up another one to consider, but those three really are the best options unless you want to push into the $80 range or turn to brands that we don’t trust.

If you are interested in upping the budget to get a better tool, Craftsman’s CMCD700C1 kit is a good bet. As a two-speed model, it has a 1500 RPM top speed and 280 unit watts out, making it a good all-around drill for projects and repairs around your home.

Black and Decker’s LD120 is an older model that’s still capable of doing a good job and the bit set is a nice add-on. However, newer alternatives from HART, Skil, and Ryobi will give you better performance and features in the same price range.

DEKO is a brand we’re not familiar with and isn’t sold at any retailers we can find other than Amazon. The description says it’s lightweight and powerful. At 1.65 lbs, we believe it’s lightweight. Powerful? No.

Reading further, they do set a reasonable expectation that this drill is useful for drilling and driving screws in wood and plastic, and they specifically say it’s not for professionals.

If you’re looking at DEKO’s drill primarily as a tool for setting and removing screws, Skil’s Twist 2.0 cordless screwdriver may be a better option. While it doesn’t have the speed DEKO does, its 220 RPMs offer more control.

With a simple push button forward and reverse and no switch to toggle, it’s easy to use. Plus, the head pivots to make it easier to work in tight or awkward spaces.

Note: This tool launches September 15, 2023.

DEKO’s speed makes it a faster option than cordless screwdrivers in the same price range. Understanding that we can’t speak for its quality and longevity, it might be useful as a kitchen drawer drill for that reason. However, we recommend you step up and get your hands on a quality 12V drill to make sure you have the performance you need for a wider range of tasks, or go with a cordless screwdriver if that’s your main draw.

COMOWARE is another brand we haven’t tried hands-on and don’t intend to. The product page makes at least one blatantly false claim—that its 3/8-inch chuck is the widest on Amazon. There are plenty of 1/2-inch chucked drills to choose from. We’re also highly suspicious that a $50 drill kit is both waterproof and drop-proof, especially when there’s no IP rating or drop test raring to back it up.

On the good side, it’s a 2-speed drill, which we highly recommend for DIYers and homeowners. Overall, it appears to have all the main features you need.

Considering we’re back in the $40 – $50 price range, several of the recommendations we’ve already made are beyond the $10 range we’re trying to keep. Your best bet is to step up and get one of our previous recommendations from HART, Ryobi, or Skil.

If we’re going to hold to the limit, then we’ve only got $50 to spend, and we’d go with the Black and Decker Riviva 12V drill. It’s a newer product from B&D that uses Tritan Renew recycled plastic in its construction. For this model, it’s the equivalent weight of eight 16.9 plastic bottles.

The performance is there as well. While it’s a single-speed model, it has 230 in-lbs of torque and 550 RPM. You miss out on the high-speed mode of COMOWARE, but it’s a drill that’s well-suited for a range of tasks around your home.

While we can’t vouch for COMOWARE’s quality and there are some suspect claims, its design, features, and performance level make it tempting as an occasional use drill around the house. We. have a lot more confidence in the quality of Black and Decker’s build, though. Even though it’s a step down in speed, the torque is in a similar range and the Riviva’s use of recycled material is compelling enough that it’s the way we’d go.

Be sure to check out our best cordless drill recommendations for the year to see options that run the gamut from entry-level to high-end professional.

If it’s the best lightweight drill you’re on the hunt for, we have you covered there as well.

Milwaukee and Ryobi both show up on the list, but we highly recommend you don’t buy them on Amazon. There are no authorized retailers for either brand on Amazon. We don’t know where the tools are coming from or whether they are knock-offs, so avoid buying those and check out the deal pages at your favorite authorized retailers to find a way to save money on those brands.