1. Milwaukee M18 — the best platform on merit
Milwaukee is the platform Matt’s shed has quietly filled up with — the heavy gear migrated to M18 tool by tool alongside his Makita, so this case is first-hand rather than a spec sheet. And on merit, it’s the best of the three. It’s the platform in the back of a working van, the one tradies standardise on, and the reasons are real: the FUEL brushless tools and their REDLINK electronics lead the class on power and self-protection, and the range runs past 250 tools — deeper into the serious end (the heavy saws, the framing nailers, the site kit) than the DIY platforms try to match.
The warranty is the easiest of the three to live with: five years on the M18 FUEL cordless tools, with no registration to chase. There’s no 30-day window to miss the way there is with the other two. The one catch is the familiar one — the sharpest online prices are usually “plain packaging” parallel imports, and the cover attaches to stock bought through an authorised Australian seller. Check who you’re buying from before you bank the five years.
Price and access are why it doesn’t run away with it. Milwaukee starts dearer than either of the others — the M18FID3 impact driver skin (the bare tool, no battery or charger) sits above the Makita and the RedLithium packs are premium — and you won’t find any of it on the Bunnings shelf. It’s a trade-counter brand (Total Tools and the like), not a Saturday-morning impulse buy.
Where it falls down: for most home sheds it’s more platform than the work will ever ask for. Best-on-merit and best-for-you aren’t the same line, and for a lot of readers they part ways right here — which is what the rest of this page sorts out.
2. Makita LXT — the best you can buy off a shelf
Makita is what you see on building sites, it’s Matt’s main platform, and it’s the best gear you can walk in and buy off a normal shelf. It gives up a whisker to Milwaukee on raw grunt and range depth, and takes back everything about being easy to own. The 18V LXT range runs past 300 products and it’s deep where the DIY brands go thin — proper rotary hammers, full-size saws, the heavy gear a renovation drags you towards. Authorised dealers compete with each other, so you can shop around and catch a real sale. And it holds a proper second-hand market — used LXT tools keep their money, so some of what you spend today comes back if you ever sell up.
Now the bill. The DHP484 drill — the platform’s default entry point — is a dear skin, undercut here only by Ryobi, and a genuine 5Ah Makita battery (Ah is the battery’s fuel-tank size) is among the priciest going, with a working shed wanting two of them. The warranty is a strong five years, but only if you register at MyMakita within 30 days — three if you don’t — and the sharpest online prices are usually parallel imports that may carry no Australian warranty at all. Check who’s selling before you click.
Where it falls down: if your tools come out one weekend a month, you’re paying for durability you’ll never spend. Matt’s answer is that he’d rather own one drill for fifteen years than two drills for seven. Joel notes that Matt also reuses zip-lock bags.
3. Ryobi One+ — the biggest range for the least money
Ryobi is Joel’s platform, and its number is 200+ tools on one battery — fewer than Makita’s or Milwaukee’s on paper, but unlike theirs the long tail is the whole point: glue guns, inflators, stick vacs, misting fans, a whole caravan-and-camping wing of stuff you didn’t know you wanted. The battery you bought for the drill quietly ends up running half the garage. The warranty is the longest on this page at six years, and the compatibility record is unmatched: every One+ battery made since 1996 fits every One+ tool made since, thirty years of proof the pack you buy this weekend won’t be orphaned.
The catches. That six-year warranty is really four plus two — you get the extra two only by registering within 30 days, so it’s easy to leave two years on the table. Official One+ batteries are effectively Bunnings-only; the marketplace listings that look like Ryobi packs are third-party clones. Pricing is the friendliest on the page: the R18PD3 percussion drill lands at roughly half the Makita’s skin price and well under the Milwaukee, while the dearer end of the range climbs (the brushless blower we reviewed sits near the top of it). The most tool for the least money, with the biggest ecosystem around it. And if even One+ is dearer than the budget stretches to, the cheaper end is a two-horse race — we’ve run it against Ozito’s PXC in Ozito vs Ryobi.
Where it falls down: at the hard end. Drive hundreds of batten screws into hardwood or cut sheet goods all day and the HP brushless line, good as it’s become, still isn’t trade gear. Joel’s answer is that he doesn’t do those things, and neither do you.
Money and fine print, all three
The battery maths is the part nobody prices at the counter, so price it now: Makita and Milwaukee both run premium packs, dear to feed two of, while Ryobi’s official packs are the cheapest of the three (Bunnings-only). The clone batteries flooding online marketplaces are a trap on every platform — they’re the usual culprit when a “platform” tool dies young, and a fault traced back to one will sink your warranty claim.
All three warranties are strong; two of them want something from you first. Ryobi’s six years is really four plus two — you only get the extra two by registering online within 30 days. Makita’s five years works the same way — register at MyMakita within 30 days or you drop to three. Milwaukee’s five years asks for no registration at all, just proof you bought from an authorised Australian seller. Whichever you choose, keep that proof somewhere it won’t fade — it’s the difference between the warranty you were promised and the one you can claim. On top of all that, Australian Consumer Law may cover you on any purchase, regardless of who sold it.
And read the range counts the way Matt does: all three numbers sweep up every variant and kit combination a marketer could find. The question that matters is whether the tools on your next five jobs exist in the range. For most home DIYers all three pass — which is exactly why the decision comes down to the cases above.
The verdict
The highest score here and the best buy for most people aren’t the same tool — so read this by what you’ll actually do with the tools, not by the number.
Most DIYers — projects most months, garden gear, a growing shed on a budget: Ryobi One+. The biggest everyday ecosystem, the longest warranty, thirty years of battery compatibility, and the friendliest prices on the page. The right answer for most people reading this, and Matt has agreed to let that sentence stand.
Serious DIY, building or renovating — the best platform you can buy off a shelf: Makita LXT. Pro-grade gear, the deepest range in the mainstream aisles, resale value, and a sane way to shop for it. For almost everyone doing real work at home, this is the smart spend.
Pro-grade work, or laying down a serious kit for the long haul: Milwaukee M18. The best platform here on merit — deepest trade range, class-leading tools, the easiest warranty — priced and stocked for people who earn with them. If you’ll put it to work, nothing here beats it. If your DIY runs lighter, it’s more platform than the jobs will ask for.
Whichever way you go, go once. All three are defensible. Owning two of them is the only expensive mistake on this page.
