Lowe's vs. Home Depot: Whose Prices Are Cheaper?

Lowe’s and Home Depot sell millions of the same or similar home improvement items — but not all prices are equal.

Even though Lowe's price matches Home Depot for identical products (and vice versa), they also sell items you can only buy at one store and not the other. Like, Home Depot sells Behr and Glidden paint while Lowe's sells Vaspar and HGTV Home by Sherwin Williams paint. Since you won’t find these items at both stores, you can’t get a price match on them. This is when comparing prices is most handy.

When comparing Lowe's deals to Home Depot deals, both stores have frequent sales and discounts that can impact price at any time. You'll find regular markdowns on appliances, tools, building supplies, lighting, and more. Ultimately, the choice between Lowe's and Home Depot depends on the item you need and the discounts or coupons available to you.

Still, comparing the deals, policies, and services can lead you in the right direction overall. For example, Lowe's return policy may offer more leniency if you're shopping for major appliances.

This guide shows you how Lowe's and Home Depot compare on deals, coupons, and rewards, plus a price comparison of paint, tools, and rentals at each store. It also includes a breakdown of how the two stores compare on major policies and services.

While you're at it, check out our full lists of Lowe's hacks and Home Depot hacks to help you save more.

Lowe's vs. Home Depot: Overall Deals

Lowe’s and Home Depot have thousands of products on sale at any given time. You’ll always find deals across the major departments like tools, appliances, flooring, and more. Savings can range anywhere from 10% all the way up to 75% off the regular price.

Daily Deals: Both stores save you about 40% on average.

Lowe’s and Home Depot have the same "daily deals" concept: 24-hour discounts that rotate every day. Comparing the two comes down to what you're hoping to buy.

Lowe’s drops several “Deals of the Day” at a time. You’ll see online deals like up to 55% off select houseplants, 25% off select lighting, and up to 10% off select kitchen cabinets in one day.

Home Depot drops one “Special Buy of the Day.” They’ll highlight a single blanket deal for a certain category or department, like up to 45% off select power tool kits.

Coupons: Lowe's coupons are easier to get than Home Depot's.

Subscribing to emails and texts is the easiest way to get coupons at Lowe’s and Home Depot. Both stores give you a free $5 off $50 coupon just for opting in. But in comparison, Lowe's gives you more opportunities to score free coupons.

You get a $5 coupon just for joining their rewards program (MyLowe’s Rewards). Also, Lowe’s emails you a digital coupon book if you attend a free in-store workshop. The coupon book has about a dozen product-specific discounts for up to 50% off.

Once in a while, you’ll score a free coupon for attending certain in-store events, like Lowe’s Mother’s Day Giveaway for example. In 2023, you got to take home a free flower and Lowe’s coupon for $10 off $75 if you registered and showed up for the event.

Rewards: Only Lowe's has free rewards for everyday shoppers.

Lowe's launched the MyLowe’s Rewards program in early 2024. It’s free to join, but the membership has three tiers. The more you spend at Lowe’s per year, the more perks you get. Still, even free members get a lower free shipping minimum  ($35 versus $45) and Lowe’s coupons via email.

Lowe’s and Home Depot both offer store credit cards, but don’t expect heavy rewards from either. With that said, the Home Depot credit card is slightly better because you get a full set of benefits. Lowe’s credit card requires you to pick one of three benefits.

Spring Sales

Lowe's and Home Depot drop competitive deals during their respective spring sales. But when you compare the best Lowe's SpringFest deals to the best Home Depot Spring Black Friday deals, you'll find lower prices at one store versus the other, depending on the item.

Lowe's spring sale is better for:

• Perennials ($2.40 / qt)

• Mulch (Premium Mulch — $1 / cu. ft.)

• Hanging Flower Baskets ($8 each)

• Outdoor Lights (Harbor Breeze Edison String Lights, 48 ft. — $39.98)

Home Depot's spring sale is better for:

• Annuals ($1.60 / qt.)

• Soil (Miracle-Gro Garden Soil — $2.66 / cu. ft.)

• Fertilizer (Scotts Turf Builder Triple Action — $0.90 / lb.)

• Potting Mix (Vigoro All Purpose Potting Mix — $0.22 / qt.)

Paint Prices

Lowe's and Home Depot both carry a huge selection of paints, primers, stains, and finishes for indoor and outdoor projects. But the quality of paint you're looking for will decide where you'll get the best price.

Home Depot has cheaper basic paint.

Home Depot's most affordable paint is cheaper than Lowe's most affordable paint. One gallon of Glidden Essentials paint is $17.98 at Home Depot, beating Lowe's Valspar 4000 paint by $2 per gallon.

Lowe's has cheaper ultra paint.

Lowe's has lower prices for higher-quality (or "Ultra") paint. One gallon of Valspar Ultra paint is $29.98 at Lowe's, beating Home Depot's Behr Ultra paint by $7 per gallon.

Tool Prices

Only a few tool brands overlap at Lowe's and Home Depot, and each store sells tool brands that the other doesn't. While some are exclusive brands, others are simply sold at one store versus the other, so it's largely a matter of brand preference when deciding where to shop.

Lowe's has cheaper entry-level tools.

Lowe's sells good entry-level brands like Skil and Craftsman, which you won't find at Home Depot. While Ryobi and Ridgid are Home Depot's most affordable tools, Skil and Craftsman tools at Lowe's tend to be cheaper.

When comparing the cheapest prices for drills, saws, sanders, rotary tools, and polishers at Lowe's vs. Home Depot, Skil tools are about $10 cheaper on average than Ryobi power tools.

But Home Depot has cheaper exclusive tools.

Just like Lowe's exclusively sells Kobalt tools, Home Depot exclusively sells Ryobi and Ridgid tools. But in comparison, Home Depot's exclusive brands are cheaper than Lowe's.

Most Kobalt power tools have advanced features like keyless blade changes and brushless motors. Ryobi and Ridgid tools have the same features. But they also have less-frilly versions at lower prices, making them more affordable overall.

When comparing prices for the same power tools above, Home Depot's Ryobi tools are an average of $50 cheaper than Lowe's Kobalt tools.

Tool Rental Prices

Both stores have about the same selection of rental tools and equipment for rent, including lawn mowers, chainsaws, pressure washers, and power tools. But there are some differences when you look at the price.

Lowe's has cheaper tool rentals overall.

Some of Home Depot's four-week tool rentals are cheaper than Lowe's. But Lowe's has cheaper prices for the majority of short-term rental options, including hourly and weeklong tool rentals.

Truck Rental Prices

Lowe's gives you more time for a $19 truck rental.

Lowe’s beats Home Depot with their $19 pickup truck rental if you look at the cost per minute. For example, with Lowe's you get 90 minutes for $19 ($0.21 per minute), while Home Depot gives you 75 minutes for $19 ($0.25 per minute).

But Home Depot has cheaper four-hour truck rentals.

Home Depot has cheaper prices for a four-hour pickup truck rental, beating Lowe's by about $8.

Additional Truck Rental Factors

Home Depot's pickup truck carries more weight than Lowe's.

Lowe’s gives you a Chevy pickup truck that carries 2,000 pounds in its flatbed. Home Depot gives you a Ford pickup truck that carries 3,000 pounds in its flatbed. Depending on what you’re hauling, this could be a game-changer.

Home Depot offers more truck rental options.

You can only rent pickup trucks from Lowe’s. But Home Depot has larger box trucks and transit vans available for rent, too. They also partner with Penske to offer moving truck rentals for as low as  $19.99 per day.

Delivery Options

Home Depot has more free delivery options than Lowe's.

Both Lowe’s and Home Depot offer free local delivery in eligible areas. But only Home Depot can promise it’ll arrive in 1-2 days. As you browse items on HomeDepot.com, you can filter your search by “Free 1-2 Day Delivery” to see eligible items.

You can filter by “Fast Delivery” on Lowes.com, but not all items will arrive within two days.

Also, Home Depot removed their $45 free shipping minimum for online orders, but Lowe's still exists. You can now get free standard shipping on all HomeDepot.com orders, but they do have some product exclusions.

Both stores used to offer free appliance delivery on orders of $396 or more, but they both changed their policy at the start of 2024. Now, Lowe's and Home Depot both charge a $29 fee for major appliance deliveries.

Return Policies

Lowe's is more lenient with major appliance returns.

You’re probably not surprised that Lowe’s return policy and Home Depot’s return policy are similar. Both stores offer a standard 90-day return window for most items. They also both have a one-year guarantee on select plants. You have 365 days to return trees, shrubs, and perennials to both stores.

But Lowe's is more flexible with their 48-hour return window for major appliances.

Lowe’s requires you to return major appliances within 48 hours unless it’s unopened, undamaged, and in its original factory-sealed packaging. In this case, you have 30 days to return the appliance.

Home Depot doesn’t have this exception. Their policy states that all major appliances have a 48-hour return window.