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Ask twelve Costco regulars why they like the company so much, and you'll get a dozen different answers. The retailer is known for its generous return policy, with most electronics being eligible for a refund if brought back within 90 days. Many customers also take advantage of Costco's famous Food Court and the well-stocked Grocery and Household section.
If there's one area where the members-only warehouse falters, however, is with home improvement and DIY tools. That's not to say there aren't some Costco tools worth buying, but those used to doing their shopping in hardware stores (or even at the rival superstore Walmart) will not find the wide selection they're used to. Sometimes — whether they're looking for tools as niche as a soldering iron or as basic as a pair of pliers — they won't find anything at all.
The massive difference in breadth of options is almost certainly why Home Depot is able to consistently offer better deals on hand and power tools compared to Costco. That said, here are four instances where the difference between Costco and Home Depot is especially noticeable.
Ryobi One+ HP 18V Brushless Cordless 2-Tool Combo Kit
Ryobi
Costco doesn't have a lot of power tools, but it does carry some of the basics like shop vacs, hammer drills, sanders, and impact drivers. One popular choice, with 4.4 stars based on 25 user reviews, is the Greenworks 24V Drill and Impact Driver combo kit. Buyers on Costco's website say this bundle works great, but we believe that the price of $299.99 makes it a little on the expensive side. Plus, it's only available online, making it a worse option than what Home Depot has to offer.
A good comparison is the Ryobi One+ HP 18V Brushless Cordless 2-Tool Combo Kit. Just like the Greenworks bundle, the Ryobi kit includes a drill and an impact driver but is a full $100 cheaper. Greenworks' bundle comes with an extra 4Ah battery, but the two 2Ah batteries included in the Home Depot bundle are of the High Performance line, which are about 50% more expensive than Greenworks' standard 24V/2Ah batteries when purchased separately. The other difference between the two bundles is the lack of drill and driver bits in the Ryobi, a difference that can be bridged with a $15 Drill and Impact Drive Kit, or even completely surpassed with a bigger $30 kit, sill providing plenty of savings thanks to the inexpensive nature of these kits.
What remains to evaluate are the tools themselves, and it's here that Home Depot has the real advantage. Greenworks' impact driver has a max torque of 1,950 in-lb, while the Ryobi goes up to 2,200 in-lb. The story is similar with the two drills: Respectively, Greenworks and Ryobi offer 18 and 24 clutch positions, 400 and 850 in-lb of torque, and finally, 2,000 and 2,150 rpm of speed.
DeWalt 21-inch 60-Volt Electric Single Stage Snow Blower
DeWalt
If there's one aspect where Home Depot wins on all tool and home improvement-related fronts, it's choice. This is especially useful when looking for affordable models of notoriously expensive tools, like a cheap snow blower. Speaking of which, DeWalt's 21 in. 60-Volt Max Cordless Electric Single Stage Snow Blower might not sound too affordable at $789 for just the tool, but it has a relatively high 3.9-star rating, great user reviews, and it comes highly rated by Consumer Reports. With an additional investment of about $200 more, you can get two powerful and versatile DeWalt Flexvolt 6Ah batteries to go with it.
Costco will sell you a Greenworks 80V 22" Snow Thrower for $899 (a comparable price, all things considered), but there are a few problems with it. The first comes from the mediocre user rating of only 3.1 stars. Some reviews are bound to come from unlucky customers, but the average is much lower than other Greenworks tools on Costco. Some users find the snow thrower weak and not very durable, while others think the price should be lower for what you get.
The second issue with Costco's snow blowers is that the $899 Greenworks is the only tool of its kind sold by Costco. The only other snow blower it offers is a whole different beast, priced at $2,300. Costco doesn't even sell standalone Greenworks 80V batteries, so if your driveway is too big to be covered by what's in the bundle, you'll have to look for extra batteries somewhere else.
Westinghouse Cold Water Electric Powered Pressure Washer
Westinghouse
Home Depot sells a lot of power pressure washers. Many of these are Westinghouse branded, ranging from the cheaper, low-to-medium power machines to its 3,400 psi model featuring a 2 gallon per minute (gpm) flow rate for $399. This is both more affordable than Costco's Greenworks 3,000 PSI Electric Pressure Washer Combo Kit (priced at $449.99) as well as are significantly more powerful. Of course, Costco's washer combo kit comes with some accessories, but pressure washer guns and surface cleaners aren't exactly luxury products; they're usually universal, meaning you don't need to buy from a matching brand. You can find compatible accessories for about $40 each on Home Depot's website.
Dollar per dollar, Home Depot has the better products. Both have plenty of reviews (most of which are positive), but you can buy Westinghouse's 3,000 psi washer, add in around $100 worth of extra accessories, and still come in around $70 cheaper than the Greenworks model from Costco with no sacrifice in power. If you're fine spending a little more, the 3,400 max psi Westinghouse packs an even greater punch while still being priced at $50 less than the Costco washer. Add about $80 to compensate for the missing surface cleaner and pressure washer gun, and it becomes only about $30 more expensive.
Husky 9-Drawer Mobile Workbench Cabinet
Husky
The Husky 9-Drawer Mobile Workbench Cabinet is a 46-inch by 18-inch storage solution, complete with a wooden work surface on top and a series of plugs and USB charging ports on its side. The four wheels make movement much easier and can be locked once the workbench is in position, and the top drawer comes with a lock and key to protect expensive or sensitive tools and materials.
Pretty much everything we said about the Husky workbench can be said about the Permasteel 46 by 18 inch 8-Drawer Mobile Workbench on sale at Costco. The two have slightly different drawer styles, and the Permasteel has fewer power plugs, but the two are otherwise identical; the only major difference is in price. At the time of writing, both products come in at about $400. They are, however, on a time-limited discount. Once that's over, the Husky cabinet will be around $450, while Costco's offering usually retails for around $530 when it's not on sale.
As is often the case for DIY and home improvement products, Home Depot offers a wider breadth of options. The Permasteel unit is not currently sold by Costco warehouses but only shipped, while the Husky is available in some Home Depot stores. Costco does sell other mobile workbenches, but the amount of choice is not comparable to Home Depot's. Finally, the Husky workbench cabinet is available in a handful of colors, if at an increased price. The same can't be said for the Permasteel.
Methodology
Ryobi
To select these Home Depot tools that outshine Costco's, we started by comparing the two companies and their products. Once we confirmed that Home Depot does, in fact, has a much deeper roster of power tools and other home improvement supplies on offer to customers, we looked deeper at the areas where the difference was more dramatic. Finally, we either chose to showcase two tools of comparable quality where Home Depot had an economic advantage, or a pair of similarly-priced products in which the Home Depot's version was of higher quality.
To confirm the quality of these products, we looked at their manufacturer description (to confront stats like weight and max torque). We also took into account user reviews from Home Depot and Costco as well as professional reviews from websites like Consumer Reports.