12 Milwaukee Tools Under $50 Worth Adding To Your Collection

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Few tool brands have managed to build up the same reputation as Milwaukee. Offering a selection of tools for every role on the jobsite, Milwaukee stands out from the pack for a few key reasons, with reliability and overall usability often being strong points. At the moment, power tools are what gets Milwaukee most of the attention, and rightly so. Just about every element is refined in these tools, but there’s one downside: they’re pretty expensive.

Luckily, Milwaukee’s current line of tools spans from end to end, allowing users to enjoy high-quality gear on a budget. Selling primarily at Home Depot, Milwaukee offers a lot of deals, and some of its tools even come in at well below $50. Still, despite being much cheaper than the brand’s power tools, these simple handheld items come with some unique features, making them a better option than some alternatives by rival brands. Here’s a closer look at 12 Milwaukee products under $50 that are worth adding to your tool collection, all of which are targeted at tackling different jobs.

It’s often the case that the most useful tools are the smallest ones in the box, even more so when you can use them in just about every job, which is what makes this first Milwaukee product so valuable. For overall practicality, the FastBack Six-in-One Folding Knife offers incredible value for how little it costs.

From official retailers such as Home Depot, the knife is priced at about $22 at the time of writing. Amazon also sells the product for $22.99, but as the retailer isn’t an official seller of Milwaukee’s products, you’ll struggle to make use of the manufacturer lifetime warranty if you buy it from here. This goes for all Milwaukee products, which is crucial to know before choosing where to buy from.

Alongside the three-inch blade, this tool also includes a screwdriver with Phillips #2 and slotted 1/4-inch bits, a bottle opener, a wire stripper, and a blade holder, to make scoring more accurate. A few more helpful additions include a wire belt clip and a lanyard hole for a little extra portability.

Many of Milwaukee’s hand tools feature a multi-use design, but one of the brand’s products brings it to the next level. The Milwaukee’s 27-in-1 Precision Multi-bit Screwdriver is, ultimately, just a screwdriver, but that doesn’t make that “27” any less practical overall. Whether you’re a full-time tradesperson or take on DIY and repair projects on the side, a high-quality screwdriver is a must-have for a home-focused toolkit.

As is the case with the majority of Milwaukee’s tools, the 27-in-1 security precision screwdriver can be purchased at Home Depot, one of the brand’s official retailers. The bits include a variety of Phillips, slotted, hex, and torx bits, as well as a 3.5mm nut driver to cover larger hex screws. Reviews are generally great for this screwdriver, sitting at an average of 4.3 out of five stars from 162 reviews. Owners frequently praise the versatility offered, specifically for tackling tiny screws in smaller tech gadgets.

This next product can go hand-in-hand with the precision tools on a variety of projects. If you often find yourself needing a tool for electrical work to grab wires and cables that are impossible to reach by hand, purchasing Milwaukee’s Long Needle Nose Pliers can streamline so many different types of builds and fixes for not much money at all. Out of the needle-nose pliers Milwaukee sells, the eight-inch pair offers great value-for-money, as it’s currently priced at around $23 from Home Depot.

These are, essentially, standard needle-nose pliers, but they also come with a wire cutter and a fish tape puller above the grip. This specific model has a textured grip, which allows for a better grasp. It also has reaming heads on the edge of the cutters for extra versatility, which removes the need for a dedicated conduit reamer. This is one of the simplest handheld tools featured on the list, but it can prove to be one of the most important, if electronics are your focus.

Ensuring things are level can be one of the most irksome aspects of any task. Eyeballing it can’t give you a guarantee, even if you’re confident you’ve nailed it on the first try. A magnetic level isn’t a tool that’ll help you directly with fixing, fitting, and everything in between, but knowing the components are exactly where they’re supposed to be will give you much-needed peace of mind for any project.

Different projects require levels varying in size, and in particular, full-length levels can be too big for smaller jobs. Luckily, Milwaukee has a wide range of magnetic I-Beam levels available, many of which are priced under the $50 mark. Some of the largest ones, like the 78-inch, cross the line, as does the higher-quality RedStick line of levels. However, Home Depot has 24-inch and 48-inch I-Beams for $33 and $43, respectively. Milwaukee says that these levels can provide an accuracy of 0.0005 inches and are built specifically for site work, thanks to their aluminum frame. It’s safe to say it’ll get the job done at home as well.

The hammer is another tool that goes into the must-have category for any household, but not all hammers can be used for the same tasks. With dozens of types available, it’s crucial to use the correct hammer, both to remove the risk of damage to certain materials and to ensure you’re actually getting the job done. Milwaukee’s Smooth Face Hammer is one of the most well-reviewed on Home Depot, with over 1,000 reviews averaging out at 4.7 out of five stars for the different sizes.

One of the main uses of smooth-faced hammer is in woodworking, since other types of hammer can ruin delicate woods. Unsurprisingly, many of the reviews for the smooth-faced version of the hammer praise its delicacy when driving nails, preventing damage. Weights for this hammer range from 16 ounces to 22 ounces, then a jump to 28 ounces as the heaviest option. All of them come with neat features like the magnetic nail holder for even more accuracy, as well as the anti-ring claw on the back of the head. Pricing comes in at $28 for the lightest hammer.

Another tool that can streamline the woodworking process is Milwaukee’s metal square trim. While it can be used to gather simple measurements throughout the home, its main strengths are in making precise markings for woodworking projects, making it yet another Milwaukee tool to fast-track your work without sacrificing quality.

We especially like the smaller 4.5-inch trim square. Milwaukee markets this tool as an everyday carry item, since it’s an ideal size to have on a tool belt for on-the-go measurements. If you don’t often require a belt, though, Milwaukee says it should fit in your pocket pretty easily. Despite being smaller than other squares in Milwaukee, you still get laser-etched markings, precision scribe notches, and a dual reference heel to make sure you can still use it on projects of varying dimensions. Home Depot sells the tool for approximately $15, and 92 percent of the 1,400 reviewers would recommend it, often citing versatility as their favorite feature.

A common theme you may have noticed with these Milwaukee products is that many are smaller versions of already-popular tools that can be used throughout the home. The next of these on this list is the compact hack saw. Despite the tool being so simple, it comes with a few key features that separate it from others in the segment. It’s also another budget product from Milwaukee that’s as useful for home improvement as it is affordable.

Retailer Home Depot has this tool available for around $18 for the smaller 10-inch saw. The blade itself is constructed with bi-metal, making it effective at cutting different plastics and woods, both of which you’ll find just about everywhere in home interiors. The highlight feature for this specific saw, however, is Milwaukee’s claim that you can change blades ten times faster than a standard hacksaw, being able to use any standard 10-inch blade. If you need a slightly bigger one, Home Depot also sells a 12-inch blade that follows a more traditional design style, but loses out on the fast-changing blade ability.

This next tool was already massively popular before getting some much-welcomed features courtesy of Milwaukee, to make it even more effective in its role. This time, we turn to the brand’s very well-reviewed 11-inch Torque Lock Locking C-Clamp, which comes with Milwaukee’s torque lock thumb screw design, allowing for a much stronger overall grip from the alloy steel jaws. To ensure it’s secure, you can use a secondary tool, such as a screwdriver, to rotate the thumb screw with more strength.

Priced at $27 when buying through Home Depot, this locking C-clamp is more than enough useful to earn its price tag if you spend a lot of time working with wood or metal. Milwaukee made sure to allow the jaws to grip over surfaces 4 inches wide. The regular jaws will be the best option for flat pieces of material, but if you’ll be working with angles, Milwaukee also offers its locking C-clamp with swivel jaws, which also have a slightly wider width of four inches. They’re a little more expensive, at about $30, but well worth it for a solid hold on tapered materials.

Back to Milwaukee’s measuring tools, it’s no surprise to see the brand offer one of the most well-equipped, sturdy tape measures on the market. The Compact 25-feet Tape Measure version should allow you to get most measurements with pinpoint accuracy without spending much money at all. Home Depot sells two versions of this tape, a 16-foot one and a larger 25-foot model. When it’s in stock, the smaller tape measure usually sits at around $10, whereas the larger version is priced at around $17.

As is often the case with its tools, Milwaukee reinforced this tape measure to make it a good choice for jobsites, all without taking up too much space in the bag. The steel belt clip also helps a ton with that. Both models have a reach (not to be confused with full size) of 12 feet, which is ideal for gathering accurate measurements for hard-to-reach places. The blade uses fractional SAE measurements and is finished with a lacquer coating to protect it from the elements. For as little as $10, Milwaukee does its best to ensure you get your money’s worth here.

Diving further into a specific trade for this next product, Milwaukee’s folding hex key set is a must-have tool for electricians. So many different gadgets and appliances require a hex key to unscrew and re-tighten the socket head caps and perform similar jobs, making hex keys essential. Milwaukee solves the problem of misplacing or losing the single hex key sizes in your kit by offering sets with 8, 9, 11, 16, 17, and 25 different keys available.

The Electrician’s SAE Folding Hex Key Set is designed for quick access, and the keys are extra long, for added ease of use. You’ll also be able to rotate them by up to 270 degrees. The handle of the tool is not overlooked, being designed to be as comfortable as possible when using force, while keeping the keys secure. More subtle features that are equally helpful include the chamfered key ends for smoother insertion, helping the tool to earn its exceptional rating of 4.8 stars. Going for the larger options means getting your keys in more than one holder, but even the 25-piece, three-kit set comes in at around $45 at Home Depot.

While there’s a strong chance that you already have and adjustable wrench lying around, Milwaukee yet again adds a few key features to separate its version from the rest of the market. Home Depot has five different sizes available for this tool, with the smallest coming in at six inches and the largest at 15 inches. The latter may be found for at or just below $50, depending on your location.

The main selling point for Milwaukee’s adjustable wrench is no doubt the proprietary adjustment screw, meant to ensure that the jaws remain firmly gripped. You can also use the laser-etched ruler to find the best position for the jaws. The handle is specifically designed for comfort, meaning extended use of the wrench shouldn’t cause lots of strain. Customer reviews answer whether it’s worth it, with 97% being the lowest recommendation average for the five options.

To finish off this list, we’ve chosen another widely used tool that can make a huge difference when adding to your collection. Screwdrivers and nut drivers can often get the job done with easy-to-reach fasteners, but a fair few jobs require you to get into incredibly tight spaces that standard tools simply can’t reach. This is where a tool like Milwaukee’s Drive Ratchet comes in. For a mechanic’s tool kit, having a solid connection to hidden bolts and retaining a strong grasp at all times is paramount. Milwaukee doesn’t break the mold with this tool as much as others, but that doesn’t make it any less effective.

Milwaukee’s drive ratchet has a few different variations available, with 1/4-inch, 3/8-inch, and 1/2-inch drive sizes available. There’s also a selection of handle lengths to pair them with, but combining larger sizes can push the price well above $50. To stay under that limit, the 3/8-inch drive with the 8.5-inch handle will be the largest you can go. No matter which one you go for, you’ll get the 90-tooth design with a four-degree arc swing, with a slim build for maximum usability.

To select the tools on this list, we looked at various outlets such as Home Depot to ensure you can actually buy these tools for under $50. Then, we made sure that the chosen tools had plenty of great user reviews, with each reaching at least a four stars average. Each tool featured here had at least 100 reviews overall on Home Depot.