Kreg has finally released pricing for their new line of 20V Ionic Drive cordless power tools, and it’s not good.
For example, the new Kreg cordless drill, with “impressive 650 in-lbs torque for demanding applications” is $99 for just the tool.
Lowe’s has their Kobalt 24V cordless drill kit for just $79 right now.
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So that’s newcomer Kreg with a $100 bare tool vs Kobalt with a drill, battery, charger, and tool bag for $79. The Kobalt is more powerful at 850 in-lbs max torque.
For much of the year, you can get a Milwaukee M18 compact brushless drill kit for $99. Other brands often have $99 drill kit pricing as well.
All of the Kreg cordless tool pricing that I’m seeing right now are at best average for their product categories.
So why buy Kreg over Dewalt, Milwaukee, Kobalt, Ryobi, Metabo HPT, Bosch, or other brands?
Kreg needs to prove their competency in this category, and also long-term dedication to expansion.
I remain open-minded and maybe even optimistic but thus far unconvinced that there’s value for woodworkers here.
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It does not look like any woodworking retailers, such as Rockler and Woodcraft, signed on so far to carry the new cordless line. That would be a benefit – broad availability at stores where construction and DIY brands don’t have a strong presence.
Kreg has also released more marketing claims, such as:
Unusually Focused
We want to remove the guesswork of choosing the right tools. That’s why we purposely simplified our lineup, so you know that whenever you pick up an Ionic Drive tool, it does exactly what you need it to do.
Is there typically confusion over what a drill or cordless sander can be used for?
They aren’t even featuring their own tools with Kreg cordless power tools yet. This recent social media post about Kreg’s pocket hole jig still features a Bosch 18V cordless drill.
The pricing deflated a lot of my optimism. Not that I would have seen Kreg 20V cordless powers as competitive, but more choices always seems like a good thing.
At least the new cordless pocket hole machine still looks interesting. See New Kreg Rebel Pocket Hole Machine is the First of its Kind.
Maybe I’m wrong – do you feel that the Kreg cordless tools are a good value or bad? Here are the official prices so far:
- Kreg 20V drill: $100 (tool-only)
- Kreg 20V impact driver: $120 (tool-only)
- Kreg 20V track saw: $350 (tool-only)
- Kreg 20V Rebel pocket hole joiner: $300 (tool-only)
From an unfamiliar online retailer (possibly unofficial and subject to change):
- Kreg 20V sander: $119 (tool-only)
- Kreh 20V 2.0Ah battery: $91
- Kreg 20V charger: $54.60
- Kreg 20V router: $149 (tool-only)
Home Depot has the Milwaukee M18 Fuel brushless router with a 5Ah battery for $179 right now (deal of the day). $149 for just a tool with no battery or charger seems like a bad value.
Kreg has an uphill battle.
Aside from the pricing, Kreg’s marketing has really been bugging me. Just about everything they say is generic and can be repeated by any cordless power tool brand today.
The battery packs are designed for use with all Kreg 20V power tools. Isn’t the same universally true?
Smart charging? You’ll find this in all but the cheapest chargers.
Optimized electronics where tools, batteries, and chargers “work together for a perfect mix of performance and runtime.” What does this even mean to end users? Kreg’s 20V battery packs seem comparable to the ones others brands launched a full decade ago.
Other features include a torque clutch, 2 speed gearbox, and variable speed switch, which are standard on modern drills except for the very cheapest models.
I remain unimpressed.
$100 for a bare drill vs $79 for a full kit…
I am disappointed. Why outside of brand loyalty should woodworkers spend more to buy into Kreg’s 20V [Max] cordless system?
Kreg can still win here. There’s a chance, if they lower the pricing to where the tools are competitive, spruce up the marketing, maybe create some money-saving pocket hole starter kit bundles, and put these in woodworking stores where customers won’t find many other cordless solutions.
And let’s see some more innovative solutions along the lines of the new (but pricey) pocket hole machine.
Maybe also tease about what other tools might be coming soon aside from what’s been revealed so far, because this isn’t much.
I still think the cordless line is a good idea, and definitely better than some of Kreg’s recent products that I see as rip-off copycats, such as the cabinet hardware jig that looks like a cheap True Position clone.
They do make some innovative products. Maybe it’s not so bad that their cordless line won’t disrupt the industry. While the tools and pricing – outside of the pocket hole jig – strike me as average, that’s not bad, is it?
I think right now the Kreg 20V cordless tools are too expensive compared to competing brands, and that’s going to be a major hurdle.
Florian
You might want to check the battery ah. Despite all the other prices a 20ah battery for 91$ would be quite the deal 😀
Stuart
Thanks! *fixed* That sneaky decimal point!
al
Lunacy. The existence of this line in the first place seemed foolish, but at these prices it makes even less sense. Who is buying these? Uninformed shoppers who don’t know better, and impulse buy at a woodworking shop? Do people impulse buy drills anyways? Let alone into new battery platforms? Again, I would truly be shocked if they sell 100 of these tools. No value proposition at all
Robert
Kind of confirms my initial skepticism. Don’t know how deep Kreg’s pockets are, but seems they needed to come in at a compelling price, even at an initial loss.
fred
“And let’s see some more innovative solutions along the lines of the new (but pricey) pocket hole machine.”
That machine is perhaps a step closer to improving productivity for folks who do lots of pocket holes at the jobsite – where taking the work to the machine (e.g. Kreg Foreman or Castle machine) is not practical. How about a machine with a band (or even 2 side by side) of pocket hole screws to speed up the final step in making the connections? I would have to be smart enough to accommodate different screw lengths and possible spacing – but it might be possible. Such a tool might command a premium price. The all-in-on Castle machine has an MSRP of $60k – so there probably lots of room on pricing.
Doresoom
They couldn’t release the new cordless pocket hole jig with its own proprietary battery and no other tools on the platform, so here we are: one niche tool and a bunch of white label tools.
They should have just partnered with a major tool brand to use their battery platform instead and only released their niche pocket hole tool that doesn’t compete with anyone else. DeWalt and Graco come to mind as an example of a similar relationship with cordless paint sprayers.
PW
AmpShare is RIGHT THERE…
Bonnie
Unfortunately it feels like ampshare is stillborn (at least in the states). The only tool I recall even seeing with that logo was a fein OMT, and even Bosch seems to downplay it and avoids any mention of the cross compatibility on their product listings at Lowe’s.
I assume Chervon or whoever is making this for Kreg didn’t want to license it or deal with sourcing batteries from Bosch instead of their own network.
Luis
ACME tools has been selling FEIN multihead drills and impact drivers on the AMPshare platform as well.
MM
Exactly.
It’s one novel but niche tool, but the rest is just a handful of low/mid tier me-too tools on yet another redundant battery platform.
I appreciate competition in the market but I think this will fail. I don’t see many people buying into this platform just to use the pocket hole tool; but if they used an existing battery platform that would have been a different story. Dewalt, Ampshare, CAS….any of those would have been good. Or they could have copied what Surebonder did with their cordless hot glue guns and use adapters to fit all the major platforms. IIRC Surebonder accepts Ryobi batteries natively and the Dewalt, Makita, Milwaukee, etc, versions come with an adapter. There’s no reason Kreg couldn’t have sold the pocket hole tool boxed with a handful of adapters to fit the most popular batteries. I think they’d sell a lot more of them that way.
Stuart
Readers reported compatibility issues with Surebonder, and they never got back me with answers to press/media questions. Adapters are a risky business model.
Jody
Someone should remind Kreg who they are.
Should have just done the pocket hole tool and other non standard ones while using ampshare or what Graco did with their sprayers and just use Dewalt platform.
Dave
Well I hope for Kreg’s sake this is just some sort of licensing deal and they didn’t invest a bunch of money in this, because it’s a bad idea. I would have legitimately bought the pocket hole tool if they just used AmpShare or something.
Stuart
I agree that Bosch 18V and AmpShare compatibility would have been an appealing approach.
Matt_T
I’m not sure where on the quality spectrum this stuff falls so hard to say on pricing. If it’s DIY they’re too expensive but in the ballpark for pro.
Their track saws look to be a good price if the quality is there.
Stuart
I haven’t tried the track saws, but spoke to a couple of retailers. From what I was told, they’re DIY-grade and lower quality than other brands. I wouldn’t expect it to compare to Festool, Bosch, or Milwaukee. Might be on par with Ryobi or random Amazon brands.
Bonnie
I’ve never seen a Kreg tool that I’d classify as high-end. Yes pros use their jigs, but as a brand they feel decidedly amateur/diy/hobbyist focused.
Kevin
If the pocket hole tool took DeWalt batteries I would buy one. I do enough pocket holes on the job to justify trying it but I’m already in both DeWalt and Milwaukee battery systems. I don’t need to get into a third platform.
Jake
Come back to this comment in a year to tell me I’m right about my prediction: these fools will be an absolutely unmitigated disaster.
ColeTrain
Will be??????? I don’t need a weight of your circle back to your comment. They already are a disaster. Did you not see the first paragraph? There’s already a blue drill with a K in its name That has more power, is almost half price, comes with a charger, a battery and a case and on top of that is manufactured by a company that knowingly makes good tools. Kreg just ended before they started. New and DIY buyers certainly won’t be buying in. Tool people like Us don’t really have a reason to outside of curiosity and why would we do that when Stuart will eventually tell us if they’re any good. RIP Kreg… Thanks for all the clever jigs
Stuart
I don’t have a Kreg contact, and so test samples are unlikely. I have a sample budget, but these tools don’t appeal to me.
CMF
Maybe this is a marketing strategy? High regular prices but will be on sale often and a good prices when on sale.
Blythe
This was my thought as well. “MSRP” pricing, but will be perpetually on sale
Mark S
I just had the realization that maybe (just maybe!!) Lowe’s and Depot will just stick a few of these tools into their respective Plan-o-grams at each store. No real need for a dedicated section for these tools. In theory they can just fit in a few more new item facings into the jig, screw and clamp sections they already have. Im picturing Lowe’s, as they seem to have the much larger selection of Kreg stuff in my local stores. But Depot does have a good spread of stuff too….just a thought, would kinda work out without having to buy spots like TTI or SBD do in the big stores.
Stuart
Anything is possible, but I very much doubt that.
MattT
The more we learn about these tools, the less sense they make. I think Kreg will take a big financial hit on this.
Luis
In general I don’t like comparing regular retail price to deals like you did here, but I can’t help to think this lineup seems DOA with such a limited variety of tools and too much brand loyalty in an already saturated market. Offering everything a-la-carte doesn’t seem a good idea, either. Who do they think they are, HILTI?
It would be interesting to know if KREG can come up with any deals early on and then compare with the established players. But that’s a big IF.
The MSRP for the bare tools in general seems to be on par with established players, though.
Stuart
If we only saw such “deal” prices for a couple of weeks every year, rather than “special buy” prices most of the time and “regular” pricing very rarely for limited times in between long promo seasons, I’d agree with you.
A la carte for “core” tools is not the best idea. Harbor Freight was stubborn but learned this for their Hercules line.
S
I think the big miss here is that they’re releasing the “core” tools first, without a battery or charger.
Had their initial release been the not-reproduced pocket hole joiner as a kit, I think a lot of people would have a lot different impression.
Really a poor marketing strategy all around though.
SamR
With the new pricing on tools, I believe Milwaukee will offer the best value. However, at the recent Popeline event, Milwaukee tools were priced higher than I expected.
ABC
One thing I think everyone is missing is the relationship between beginner woodworkers and Krieg. People start out with zero experience and tools, and Kreg jig saves the day so they can make a shelf. They know nothing, and they have lots of money. Woodworking tools are expensive, so I’m contrast to the rest of the kit, it’s small fries. And they get the impression that Kreg tools are for woodworking specifically–a reassurance. I’ve seen, you’ve seen it, the question is if rich suburban types with soft hands are a big enough market. Most of the people I know have tools, and only about 10% actually use them, know anything about them, etc. But they spent more than me on name brand tools. These are Stanley cups for men.