Brushless vs Brushed: Is a Brushless Drill Worth It?
Updated 2026-09-29
Short answer
Yes, when the price gap is small, and on most platforms it now is. A brushless motor runs cooler, gets more work from each charge and has no brushes to wear out. A brushed drill is still fine for hanging shelves a few times a year. Every one of the 74 tools this site ranks is brushless, so the choice that's left is between a brand's brushless tiers.
What the brushes do, and why losing them helps
A brushed motor feeds current to its spinning armature through carbon blocks that rub on a segmented copper commutator. That contact makes friction, sparks and heat, and the brushes wear down until they need replacing.
A brushless motor flips the design. The magnets spin, the windings stay still, and a small circuit board does the switching. Nothing rubs, so more of the battery reaches the bit and less turns into heat. The same board is what makes drive modes, soft start and kickback sensing possible.
When it's worth paying for
Anything that runs hard for long: circular saws, grinders, recip saws, and drills pushing hole saws or augers. That's where the runtime and heat difference shows. For a drill that drives a dozen screws a month, a brushed tool on sale is a reasonable buy, and the savings can go into a second battery.
The split that matters now
Every tool in this catalog is brushless, from the ~$99 end up, so the label no longer separates anything here. What does is the tier inside a brand. The Milwaukee 3602 M18 Compact Brushless Hammer Drill and the Milwaukee M18 Fuel 2904 Hammer Drill are both brushless M18 hammer drills; the Fuel one publishes 1,400 in-lbs against 550 in-lbs.
The brushless guide ranks them, and the spec guide covers the motor side.