The Best Impact Drivers

An impact driver is what turns a long afternoon of deck screws into a short one. It drives fasteners in quick rotational bursts, so the bit stays seated and your wrist doesn't absorb the twist. You'll grab one for fence pickets, cabinet screws, ledger boards, lag bolts and every flat-pack dresser you'll ever curse at. The good ones are short enough to work inside a stud bay. The great ones sink a screw without shredding the head off soft pine.

None of them replace a drill, though. That 1/4-inch hex chuck won't take a round-shank bit, and the hammering action makes clean, precise holes hard to control. They're loud, too — loud enough that you'll want ear protection for a full day of driving. And each one locks you into a battery platform, so the driver you buy quietly chooses your next five tools. Switching brands later is how garages end up with four chargers and no free outlets.

So start with the batteries you already own, then think about torque. Most homeowners never touch the ceiling of what these tools can do; any decent brushless model will drive 3-inch deck screws all day. Pros are the ones who feel the difference, usually in the last hour of a shift. We think that the Milwaukee M18 FUEL impact driver is the best impact driver for most people, and that the DeWalt DCF887B is the one to buy if you already own 20V MAX batteries.

Buy an impact driver if you're building a deck, hanging a fence, assembling furniture or installing cabinets — anything with fasteners longer than about 2 inches. This Old House recommends reaching for an impact driver over a standard drill at exactly that threshold, because the torque-to-weight ratio is so much better. If you own a drill and you've been fighting cam-out and sore wrists, this is the tool that fixes it. If your projects stop at picture hooks and battery swaps in smoke detectors, a basic drill/driver is still the more useful single purchase.

This guide covers compact 1/4-inch hex cordless impact drivers, the kind that take hex-shank bits and live in a tool bag. We're not covering 1/2-inch impact wrenches for lug nuts, corded drivers, or drill/drivers — though one pick here handles both bits and sockets. We also aren't ranking batteries or chargers. And if you're already committed to a platform, read the picks in that order: the right driver is usually the good one that takes the packs you own.

We started with the specs that shape everyday use and checked them against what reviewers and owners report. Torque: enough to sink long deck screws without stalling, with anything around 1,500 in-lbs and up treated as sufficient for home and light pro work. Size and weight: short nose-to-tail length for stud bays and cabinet interiors, and a body light enough to hold overhead. Drive modes: three or more speeds plus a low-torque or assist setting, since finer control means fewer stripped heads. Battery platform: how deep the brand's tool lineup runs and how easily you can find packs. Support: stated warranty and service terms, and how simple the brand is to deal with when something fails.

If you want one tool for both screws and lag bolts: The Bosch GDX18V-1800B12 18V Two-In-One 1/4 In. and ($132) — The Bosch GDX18V-1800B12 has a 1/4-inch hex shank and a 1/2-inch square drive on the same nose, so you can drive bits and then run sockets without an adapter. It's rated at a max 1,800 in-lbs and up to 4,200 impacts per minute, and the square drive sends that torque straight into the socket instead of through a wobbly adapter. For remodelers pulling lag bolts and ledger fasteners, it replaces a second tool in the bag. It comes as a kit with a 2 Ah battery, so you can start from zero. What you give up is compactness — it's bulkier than our picks — and Bosch's 18V lineup, while good, isn't as broad as DeWalt's or Milwaukee's.

If you want a kit in the box on Craftsman's V20 platform: The CRAFTSMAN V20 BRUSHLESS RP Compact Impact Driver ($79) — The Craftsman CMCF811D1 arrives as a kit with a battery, so there's nothing else to buy before your first screw. Craftsman lists the tool head at just 5.02 inches and claims it's up to 27% shorter, 19% faster driving than Ryobi and good for up to 294 3-inch deck screws per charge. Those are the company's own numbers, but the short head is a real advantage in cabinets, and VERSATRACK compatibility is handy if your garage wall is already Craftsman. It's the pick if your yard tools are V20 or you shop at big-box stores. It gives up the deeper accessory ecosystems and the refined drive control of the Makita.

These are the impact drivers our research surfaced, not everything sold. Plenty of good tools sit outside this list, especially in kit configurations that come and go. The models below are worth understanding, because each one is right for somebody — just not for most people.

The RIDGID 18V Brushless Cordless 4 Mode Impact ($110) — The Ridgid 18V brushless 4-mode driver has the most interesting pitch in the category: Ridgid's lifetime service agreement covers parts and service for the life of the tool when you register it within 30 days, which can outweigh a higher upfront cost over a decade of ownership. The tool itself is a capable four-mode brushless driver, and this listing bundles a 2.0 Ah battery, charger, belt hook and bit holder. Two things kept it out of the picks. It's a renewed unit, so confirm whether service coverage applies before you count on it, and owner feedback on this particular listing is both thin and mixed. Buy it if you're a Ridgid loyalist who reads the registration fine print.

The Bundle of Metabo HPT 18V MultiVolt™ Cordless ($140.92) — This Metabo HPT listing bundles the 18V MultiVolt brushless drill and impact driver combo kit with a 31-piece drill and drive bit set — two batteries, a charger, a bag and everything you need to start swinging. MultiVolt is the genuinely clever part: the platform runs the same tools on 18V and 36V slide packs, so your batteries stay useful as you expand. It didn't make the picks because you're buying a drill and a bit set alongside the driver, which is the wrong shape if you only want an impact driver, and because third-party feedback on this bundle is close to nonexistent. If you're building a cordless kit from scratch and like the MultiVolt idea, it's a lot of tool in one box.

Use impact-rated bits. Regular hardened bits snap under the hammering action, usually right when you're on the last screw of the day. Keep the bit fully seated in the chuck and push straight into the fastener — most cam-out happens because the tool is at an angle, not because it's underpowered. Start small screws in the lowest mode, then step up; it's far easier to add power than to back out a buried head. Pre-drill hardwood and anything near an edge that might split. If you're running sockets, use black impact sockets, not chrome ones, which can crack. Store batteries indoors rather than in a freezing or baking garage, and blow dust out of the motor vents now and then. Wear ear protection for long sessions. These tools are loud.

For this guide:

• We read published reviews and buying advice from Pro Tool Reviews, Tool Box Buzz, Family Handyman, Popular Mechanics, This Old House and Consumer Reports, along with each manufacturer's own specifications.
• We compared listed torque, length, weight, drive modes and battery platform depth across every model in this guide.
• We also read through owner feedback for recurring themes about power, noise, size in tight spaces and long-term durability.
• We read owner reviews on every listing, weighted toward the critical ones, because that is where the recurring failures show up.
• We have a systematic way of automatically fetching the latest prices, so the numbers on this page stay current.
• This is a research-focused guide, so the team may not own every product listed — though we often do own the top winners, which gives us extra context for the recommendations.
• We don't accept free products, and the retailer commission never changes which product we recommend.