Which Heat Gun Brand Wins?
We compared 18 heat gun options head to head. Craftsman (corded) came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Craftsman (corded)
Price shown in test: $55
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Makita (corded)
Price shown in test: $157
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Seekone (corded)
Price shown in test: $23
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Glue stick melt time | Aluminum heat after 3 minutes | Maximum temperature | Noise level | Power draw | Weight | Average finish (narrator's own multi-category ranking system) | Average finish | Power cord length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Craftsman Corded$55 | 1 minute 2 seconds, moved into the lead over the Seekone | 443.5 degrees F | 1,279 degrees F, by far the hottest yet | 72.4 dB | performed better than advertised at 1590 W (rated 1500 W) | 1.565 lb | 1.5, best of all corded heat guns | not tested | not tested |
| 2Makita Corded$157 | 1 minute 5 seconds, second place behind the Craftsman | 441.3 degrees F, about the same as the Craftsman and Hercules | 1,176 degrees F | 73.9 dB | just over 1,730 W | 1.565 lb | not tested | 2, second place overall among corded heat guns | not tested |
| 3Hercules Corded (Harbor Freight)$60 | 1 minute 10 seconds | 440.4 degrees F, almost as hot as the Craftsman | 1,246 degrees F | 73.1 dB | just over 1,730 W | 1.675 lb | not tested | 2.75, third overall among corded heat guns | 10 ft, the longest of any heat gun tested |
| 4Wagner Corded$28 | 1 minute 10 seconds, 2 seconds faster than the Black and Decker | 380.3 degrees F, moved into the lead at that point in the sequence | 1,120 degrees F, the hottest yet at that point in the sequence | 72.9 dB | only about 1,237 to 1,238 W, notably less energy than other corded units | 0.875 lb | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 5Seekone Corded$23 | 1 minute 6 seconds, moved into the lead at that point in the sequence | 354.4 degrees F, moved into the lead at that point in the sequence | just over 940 degrees F | 78.1 dB | claimed 1800 W but came up short at around 1590 W | very close to 1 lb | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 6Scorch Marker Corded$40 | 1 minute 7 seconds, 1 second slower than the Seekone, moved into second place at that point in the sequence | 403.9 degrees F, moved into the lead at that point in the sequence | just over 1,000 degrees F | 79 dB, almost as loud as the Black and Decker | the most powerful yet at that point, around 1619 W | just over 1 lb | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 7Black & Decker Corded$26 | 1 minute 12 seconds, moved into second place behind the Seekone at that point in the sequence | 355 degrees F, second place at that point in the sequence | 1,016 degrees F, about the same as the Warrior | 80 dB, the loudest yet at that point | just over 1500 W | 0.97 lb, the lightest yet at that point | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 8Porter Cable Corded$40 | 1 minute 17 seconds, about 10 seconds slower than the Scorch Marker | 357.3 degrees F, about average | 1,036 degrees F | 76.5 dB | 1521 W, about 100 W less than the Scorch Marker | 1.59 lb | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 9Warrior Corded (Harbor Freight)$20 | 1 minute 21 seconds, fastest yet at that point in the sequence when first introduced | 314.2 degrees F, moved into the lead at that point when first tested | 1,020 degrees F | 79.4 dB, quite a bit louder than the cordless heat guns | claimed 1500 W or 11 amps, did better than advertised at 1516 W | 1.025 lb | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 10Wen Corded$25 | 1 minute 23 seconds, 2 seconds slower than the Warrior | 363.6 degrees F, moved into the lead at that point in the sequence | just over 886 degrees F | 73.9 dB, a lot less noisy than the Seekone | just over 1500 W claimed, 1510 W actual | 1.2 lb | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 11Milwaukee Corded$145 | 1 minute 30 seconds, same as the DeWalt corded | 364.5 degrees F, performing about the same as the DeWalt corded | 1,044 degrees F | 72.8 dB, about the same as the Hercules | just over 1,500 W, about the same as the DeWalt corded | 1.415 lb | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 12DeWalt Corded$79 | 1 minute 30 seconds, not nearly as fast as some other brands | 360.5 degrees F, really struggling at the 2 minute mark | almost 900 degrees F, continues to struggle | 75.8 dB, a little louder than the Hercules | 1520 W, pretty close to average | 1.83 lb | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 13Makita Cordless (genuine, works with Makita batteries)$160 | 2 minutes 9 seconds (129 seconds), fastest of all six cordless units | 222.4 degrees F, second place behind the genuine DeWalt cordless | 926.1 degrees F, highest of all six cordless units | 69.7 dB | not tested | 1.48 lb | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 14DeWalt Cordless (genuine)$98 | 2 minutes 16 seconds (136 seconds), second fastest of all six cordless units | 224.6 degrees F, moved into the lead among cordless units at that point | 919.2 degrees F | 64.5 dB, quietest corded or cordless unit measured up to that point | not tested | 1.175 lb | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 15Milwaukee Cordless (genuine, M18 battery powered)$138 | 2 minutes 44 seconds (164 seconds), about 45 seconds faster than the knockoff Milwaukee | 201 degrees F | 917.6 degrees F, a lot better than the knockoff Milwaukee | 68.9 dB, a lot less noise than the knockoff Milwaukee | not tested | 1.64 lb, almost half a pound more than the knockoff Milwaukee | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 16Knockoff DeWalt Cordless$36 | 2 minutes 38 seconds (158 seconds), moved into the lead among cordless units at that point in the sequence | 192 degrees F, moved into second place among cordless units at that point | 827.4 degrees F, about 90 degrees cooler than the genuine Milwaukee | 73.1 dB | not tested | 1.165 lb | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 17Knockoff Makita Cordless$55 | 2 minutes 51 seconds (171 seconds) | 176.4 degrees F, really struggled | 779.5 degrees F | 72.6 dB | not tested | just over 1 lb | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 18Knockoff Milwaukee Cordless$36 | 3 minutes 28 seconds (208 seconds), slowest of all six cordless units | 186.4 degrees F | 783.3 degrees F, ran out of steam | 72.9 dB | not tested | 1.22 lb | not tested | not tested | not tested |
How it was tested
- melting a glue stick placed 1 inch from the nozzle (timed, run separately for the six cordless heat guns and the twelve corded heat guns)
- heating a piece of aluminum with a temperature probe, readings taken at 1, 2, and 3 minutes
- maximum temperature each heat gun can reach
- noise level in decibels
- power consumption in watts (corded units) versus manufacturer claims
- bending PVC pipe: cordless Milwaukee versus corded Makita only, a smaller side comparison
“If I had to choose just one heat gun, I would definitely go with the Craftsman. It's a great value at $55, and it performs extremely well.”
Data notes and caveats
This is a dual-lane comparison (title: Corded vs Cordless) rather than one single leaderboard. The corded lane (12 units) has its own narrator-declared average finish ranking: Craftsman 1st (1.5), Makita 2nd (2), Hercules 3rd (2.75); positions 4 through 12 in the products list above are ordered by glue stick melt time (the one metric given as an explicit, fully comparable number for every corded unit), since the video does not state a full average finish ranking beyond the top three. The cordless lane (6 units: genuine and knockoff Milwaukee, DeWalt, and Makita) has its own separate result: genuine Makita cordless fastest, genuine DeWalt cordless second, with all three genuine units explicitly stated to outperform their knockoff counterparts overall on aluminum heat and max temperature even where one knockoff (DeWalt) had a faster single glue-melt time. Top-level winner/runnerUp/budgetPick fields reflect the corded lane, which the narrator frames as the primary buying recommendation ("if I had to choose just one heat gun"); the cordless lane's own winner (genuine Makita cordless) and runner-up (genuine DeWalt cordless) are preserved in those two products' notes for a build that may want to split cordless and corded into separate rankings. A 13th product, the Master brand heat gun ($185, the most expensive unit purchased), is excluded from products[] because it arrived broken out of the box and was explicitly taken out of the competition before any test data was collected; it is not part of the description's Products Tested list either.