The Best Tool Gifts Under $100

Gifting tools for the holidays can be a great way to make your favorite DIYer or weekend home improvement warrior smile, but quality tools can be expensive. However, you can still give a nice gift to someone who wants to do their own home maintenance or build their own shelves—you just need to know what to look for. Here are some of the best tools you can get for under $100, from someone who personally loves wielding a power drill.

Cordless tools can be some of the most expensive for a home tool set because they require batteries and chargers in addition to the tool. Having batteries that work with multiple tools can be a big advantage because then you don’t necessarily need to have a different battery for each tool. Here are some great deals on quality cordless tools with battery platforms that work with hundreds of other tools and are durable, too.

• THE Ryobi 18 Volt Driver Set is $55.94 at Home Depot right now. The drill comes with a 1.5 amp-hour battery, a charger, and a 30-piece bit set, so it’s a good gift from someone starting a DIY tool kit, as it has everything you need to start using it right out of the box. The Ryobi 18-volt battery platform includes more than 300 cordless tools, so starting with this battery set allows you to expand your kit in many directions.

• THE Dremel 12-Volt Cordless Multi-Tool Starter Kit is a good gift for a DIYer interested in metalsmithing, wood carving, or even trimming a dog’s nails, and it’s currently $99 at Home Depot. The cordless feature makes a Dremel more portable and easier to control because you don’t have to worry about dragging an extension cord behind you. The starter kit comes with a battery, charger, and a small set of accessories, so it’s a good set as a gift because it’s ready to use right out of the box.

• THE Ryobi 18-Volt Cordless Finish Nailer is a good gift for someone who wants to install woodwork or do woodworking projects like a birdhouse, and you can get it for $99 right now at Home Depot. It has depth control and a built-in LED light that make it more convenient, in my experience, when working in tight spaces. While battery-powered nailers were once a bit underpowered, improvements in battery technology and engineering have made them more functional in recent years. This is a good gift for someone who already owns a set of Ryobi 18 volt batteries or if you are considering purchasing batteries separately as it does not come with a battery or charger.

Quality hand tools like wrenches and pliers are an essential part of a home DIY kit, and you may not even realize how important they are until you’re halfway through disassembling your kitchen sink and realize you don’t have the right wrench. Hand tools are a good gift for a DIYer because, in my experience, you can never have too many. Here are some quality tool sets you can gift to your favorite home improvement expert for under $100.

• A set of Craftsman Slip Joint Pliers is a good gift for anyone who does vehicle maintenance, DIY appliance repair, or any DIY project with mechanical parts, and you can get it on Amazon for $22.48 right now. I have used my sliding jaw pliers to repair sinks and also to attach wheels to rolling chairs. This set comes with a pair of 10-inch sliding jaw pliers and a pair of eight-inch sliding jaw pliers with rubber handles for a more comfortable grip.

• THE Klein 9-Piece Screwdriver Set is a good quality starter driver set and a good gift to give to someone interested in any type of DIY, and it currently costs $66.99 on Amazon. Klein screwdrivers are known for their durability and are a popular choice for construction trades as they are made with good quality steel and durable components. This set comes with eight flathead and Phillips drivers in a range of lengths and a magnetizer/degausser tool to allow you to magnetize the tip of your screw for holding hardware, or demagnetize it for working around sensitive electronic parts.

• THE Craftsman Ratchet Wrench Set, 20 Piece It’s a good gift for anyone who works with mechanical parts, nuts and bolts, auto repairs or home appliances. These wrenches are particularly handy because they can fit into a much tighter place than a socket wrench, so they can be essential for fitting into tight spaces. They currently cost $66.99 on Amazon and the set includes ten SAE wrenches and ten metric wrenches in various sizes.

Best Pieces and Accessories Under $100

Bits, blades, and accessories for a tool set sometimes make the difference between being able to complete a project or not, but they can be more expensive than you expect. If you’re shopping for someone who dreams of DIY, parts and other accessories are almost always a useful choice, as these items tend to be consumable, as they can wear out over time. I’ve never been sad about having extra items in my toolkit. Here are some of the best gifts and accessories under $100.

• THE Bosch Router Bit Set, 15 Piece is a good gift for a carpenter who likes to shape their own trim with a router. These bits are good quality and made by one of the most popular router manufacturers. They can be used for trimming edges as well as cutting a molding profile or adding a decorative edge to shelves or cabinet doors. You can get this set for $94.99 on Amazon, and it comes with a wrench for replacing adapters and a carrying case.

• THE Milwaukee Impact Bit Set, 120 Piece is a good gift for anyone who uses a drill or impact driver for home repair or DIY projects, and it’s currently $29.88 at Home Depot. This set comes with a variety of screwdriver bits as well as drill bits and an extension bit holder. These bits will work with an impact driver or drill, so they are versatile and interchangeable for convenient use. I like to use these types of bits because they tend to be more chip resistant when driving fasteners into tough materials like the 110 year old plaster walls in my house.

• THE Milwaukee Impact Compatible Drill Bit Set, 23 Piece This is a good gift for anyone installing shelves, building home woodworking projects, or wanting to hang storage in their home. It comes with drill or impact driver-compatible bits in a variety of sizes, and you can get it for $29.97 at Home Depot right now. These bits are odder than your average drill bit to accommodate the extra force exerted by an impact driver, and I find they tend to be durable for woodworking projects.