Drill or impact driver: which you need, and when a combo kit makes sense

The difference in one paragraph

A drill/driver turns its chuck steadily, and a clutch lets you set how hard it drives before it slips. That makes it the tool for drilling holes, for hole saws and for screws you do not want to sink too deep. An impact driver turns a 1/4 in. hex bit and, when the screw resists, adds rapid rotational blows on top of the turning force. That makes it the tool for long screws and lag bolts that would stall a drill. Each can do some of the other's work, badly: an impact driver drills small holes with hex-shank bits, and a drill drives long screws slowly. This page is research-based, from the current listings and the makers' spec pages; we have not used these tools ourselves.

Which tool for which task

The masonry row is the one most often misread. Neither tool on this page is a hammer drill. For brick or concrete you want a hammer drill, which adds a hammering action along the bit; that is a different tool from an impact driver, whose blows are rotational.

Why the torque figures do not compare

The table's torque column shows the maximum torque a listing or, where marked, the maker gives, converted to ft-lb. Read it within one kind of tool, never across kinds. An impact driver's figure is measured with its rotational blows, and a drill's is a steady turning force, so a higher number on the impact driver does not mean it drills better. Milwaukee, for example, gives its 2953-20 impact driver 2,000 in-lb and its 2903-20 drill/driver 1,400 in-lb; those two figures describe different kinds of work. The speed column has the same limit: an impact driver's RPM is no-load spin, and its impacts-per-minute figure (the IPM column) is what it adds under load.

If the in-lb and ft-lb units are the confusing part, our torque units page explains them: 12 in-lb make 1 ft-lb.

When a combo kit makes sense

A two-tool combo kit (a drill/driver, an impact driver, batteries and a charger, as in the CRAFTSMAN kit here) makes sense when three things are true:

1. You have no batteries yet. The kit is how you get them. If you already own batteries for a platform, the tool-only models on that platform, such as the DEWALT DCF845B or the two Milwaukee tools here, add the second tool without paying for batteries again.
2. Your task list has both kinds of rows. If the table above puts your jobs in both columns (pilot holes and deck screws, say), you will use both tools, and swapping between a drill bit and a driver bit in one chuck all afternoon is what owning only one means.
3. You are happy with that platform for later tools. A kit commits you to its battery system. Our platform comparison shows what each maker says about battery compatibility.

If your list is only furniture, pictures, curtain rods and the odd pilot hole, a drill/driver kit alone, such as the DEWALT DCD771C2 with its two batteries, covers it. If your list is mostly decking or framing screws, the impact driver is the one to buy first.

The examples in the table

The five products are current examples of each kind, not a ranking. Two are drill/drivers (DEWALT DCD771C2, a kit with two batteries and a brushed motor per DEWALT; Milwaukee 2903-20, tool only, brushless per Milwaukee), two are impact drivers (DEWALT DCF845B and Milwaukee 2953-20, both tool only and brushless per their makers), and one is a combo kit with both (CRAFTSMAN CMCK200C2). A brushless motor is a design feature the maker names; we do not measure runtime or output.

What this page does not tell you

We do not measure runtime, weight in the hand, clutch settings or real driving speed, and we do not rank the tools. Hammer drills and right-angle drills are other tools and are not covered here. For the screw or bolt your project calls for, follow the fastener maker's instructions on pilot hole size.