Tech & Gadgets
The Best Grease Guns: 4 Compared (and One to Skip)
We compared four cordless grease guns on maximum pressure, flow rate and hose length, and found the same 10,000 PSI ceiling hiding a two-to-one difference in output.
The short version
Makita's XPG01Z is the pick on output: 10,000 PSI and 10 fl oz per minute, the highest published flow in this group by a clear margin. DeWalt's DCGG581B is the value buy and the better all-rounder, matching the 10,000 PSI ceiling at 9 oz/min with a two-speed transmission, a 47 in. reinforced hose and a stated seven tubes per charge. The older DCGG571B is the depends pick: same 10,000 PSI, but 5 oz/min, roughly half the flow, and a shorter 42 in. hose, so it only makes sense if the price gap is large. Skip the Craftsman CMCGG001B. It publishes neither a maximum pressure nor a flow rate, which are the only two numbers that describe what a grease gun does. Best for: anyone with more than a handful of zerk fittings to hit and no interest in pumping a lever gun.
Our picks at a glance
- Makita XPG01Z 18V LXT Cordless Grease Gun - Buy. The highest published flow rate here at 10 fl oz per minute, at the same 10,000 PSI ceiling as everything else.
- DeWalt DCGG581B 20V MAX 2-Speed Grease Gun - Buy. Nearly the Makita's flow with a two-speed transmission, a longer hose and a published figure for tubes per charge.
- DeWalt DCGG571B 20V MAX Cordless Grease Gun - It depends. Same 10,000 PSI ceiling as its own replacement and roughly half the flow, which is the whole story.
- Craftsman CMCGG001B V20 Cordless Grease Gun - Skip. A two-speed grease gun that declines to publish either of the two numbers that define a grease gun.
The verdict in 30 seconds
What mattered most
- Max pressure
- Max flow rate
- Hose length
- Speed control
- Runtime figure
- Weight
Cordless grease guns are all sold on the same number. Three of these four state a maximum of 10,000 PSI, and the fourth does not state one at all. Pressure is what pushes grease through a clogged fitting, and past a point every gun in this class has enough of it. What actually decides how long you spend under a machine is flow rate, and across these four the published figures run from 5 fluid ounces a minute to 10, with one manufacturer publishing nothing.
The highest published flow rate here at 10 fl oz per minute, at the same 10,000 PSI ceiling as everything else.
Best for: Anyone with a lot of fittings to service in a session, where twice the flow of a slower gun is the difference between an hour and two.
- 10 fl oz per minute maximum flow, the highest published figure in this comparison.
- 10,000 PSI maximum pressure, matching the two DeWalts.
- Lock-on switch, so you are not holding a trigger through a long fill.
- Onboard LED light, and it runs on the widely available 18V LXT platform.
- 11.4 lbs with a battery, the heaviest tool in this group by more than 2 lbs.
- Makita publishes no hose length for it, which is one of the three specs that matter.
- No variable speed or two-speed transmission stated, unlike both alternatives here.
- Bare tool, with battery and charger sold separately.
Nearly the Makita's flow with a two-speed transmission, a longer hose and a published figure for tubes per charge.
Best for: General equipment and vehicle maintenance, where the two speeds and the longer hose matter more than the last ounce per minute.
- 9 oz per minute and 10,000 MAX PSI, both published, within 1 oz/min of the highest flow here.
- Two speeds plus a variable speed trigger, so you can creep grease into a fitting or move it fast.
- 47 in. reinforced hose, the longest in this comparison.
- DeWalt publishes up to 7 tubes dispensed per charge, which is the runtime figure the others omit.
- 9.06 lbs, which is still a two-handed tool at the end of a long reach.
- 20.6 in. long, so it needs room to work alongside a machine.
- Product material is listed only as plastic with no detail on the pump housing.
- Bare tool, battery and charger extra.
Same 10,000 PSI ceiling as its own replacement and roughly half the flow, which is the whole story.
Best for: Occasional greasing where you have a handful of fittings and the price gap against the two-speed model is real money.
- 10,000 MAX PSI, identical to the two guns above it.
- Variable speed trigger and an onboard LED for finding fittings in the dark.
- A pump filter screen to keep dirt out of the pump mechanism, which DeWalt states explicitly.
- 9.0 lbs, the lightest of the three that publish a flow rate.
- 5.0 oz per minute, roughly half the Makita's flow and just over half the DCGG581B's.
- 42 in. hose, 5 in. shorter than its own replacement.
- Single speed, with only the trigger for control.
- No published tubes-per-charge figure, so runtime is unstated.
A two-speed grease gun that declines to publish either of the two numbers that define a grease gun.
Best for: Almost nobody. The hardware sounds right and there is no published number to check it against, which is the wrong trade when the alternative publishes both.
- Two-speed transmission plus a variable speed trigger, matching the feature set of the DeWalt above it.
- 40 in. hose and an LED work light.
- Glass-filled nylon and steel construction, which Craftsman states, and 9.06 lb weight in line with the DeWalts.
- No maximum pressure published anywhere on the product page.
- No flow rate published either, so how fast it moves grease is unknown.
- 20.43 in. long, the longest tool here, without a stated performance figure to justify it.
- No tubes-per-charge or runtime figure.
| Criteria | XPG01Z 18V LXT Cordless Grease Gun | DCGG581B 20V MAX 2-Speed Grease Gun | DCGG571B 20V MAX Cordless Grease Gun | CMCGG001B V20 Cordless Grease Gun |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Buy it | Buy it | It depends | Skip it |
| Best for | Anyone with a lot of fittings to service in a session, where twice the flow of a slower gun is the difference between an hour and two. | General equipment and vehicle maintenance, where the two speeds and the longer hose matter more than the last ounce per minute. | Occasional greasing where you have a handful of fittings and the price gap against the two-speed model is real money. | Almost nobody. The hardware sounds right and there is no published number to check it against, which is the wrong trade when the alternative publishes both. |
| Price tier | $$$ · premium | $$$ · premium | $$ · mid-range | $ · budget |
| Max pressure | 10,000 PSI | 10,000 PSI | 10,000 PSI | Not published |
| Max flow rate | 10 fl oz/min | 9 oz/min | 5.0 oz/min | Not published |
| Hose length | Not published | 47 in. reinforced | 42 in. flexible | 40 in. |
| Speed control | Lock-on switch | 2 speeds plus variable trigger | Variable trigger | 2 speeds plus variable trigger |
| Runtime figure | Not published | Up to 7 tubes per charge | Not published | Not published |
| Weight | 11.4 lbs with battery | 9.06 lbs | 9.0 lbs | 9.06 lbs |
| Length | Not published | 20.6 in. | 18.5 in. | 20.43 in. |
| Battery platform | 18V LXT | 20V MAX | 20V MAX | V20 |
Which one is right for you?
- Anyone with a lot of fittings to service in a session, where twice the flow of a slower gun is the difference between an hour and two. Buy it Makita XPG01Z 18V LXT Cordless Grease Gun
- General equipment and vehicle maintenance, where the two speeds and the longer hose matter more than the last ounce per minute. Buy it DeWalt DCGG581B 20V MAX 2-Speed Grease Gun
- Occasional greasing where you have a handful of fittings and the price gap against the two-speed model is real money. It depends DeWalt DCGG571B 20V MAX Cordless Grease Gun
- Almost nobody. The hardware sounds right and there is no published number to check it against, which is the wrong trade when the alternative publishes both. Skip it Craftsman CMCGG001B V20 Cordless Grease Gun
How we judged the field
Five things decide a cordless grease gun. Maximum pressure comes first only because it is the headline, and it turns out to be the least discriminating spec in the class: three of these four state exactly 10,000 PSI. Flow rate comes second and matters far more, because it is what converts pressure into time saved. Third is hose length and flexibility, since a gun that cannot reach the fitting has no pressure at all where it counts. Fourth is speed control, because filling a small bearing at full rate blows the seal and filling a large one slowly wastes the afternoon. Fifth is runtime, which almost nobody publishes and which DeWalt states here as tubes per charge.
The field is unusually uniform on hardware and very uneven on disclosure. Every gun here is a battery-powered pump feeding a flexible hose and a standard coupler, weighing around 9 lbs, taking a standard 14 oz cartridge. What separates them is what each manufacturer chose to measure and print. We took the two largest professional platforms, added DeWalt’s older single-speed model to show what a generation of the same 10,000 PSI rating actually changed, and included the Craftsman as the budget option most people will see first.
Makita XPG01Z 18V LXT Cordless Grease Gun - buy
The XPG01Z is the gun to buy if the job is volume. Makita publishes 10 fluid ounces per minute at 10,000 PSI, and that flow figure is the highest in this comparison by a full ounce over the nearest DeWalt and double the older one. On a machine with a long list of fittings that is the difference between one session and two. The lock-on switch is the detail that reveals who the tool is for: you set it running and let it fill rather than holding a trigger through every fitting, which is what you want when there are thirty of them. It carries an LED and runs on 18V LXT, which is as widely available a platform as exists. The costs are weight and silence. At 11.4 lbs with a battery it is over 2 lbs heavier than everything else here, which you feel at the end of a stretched-out arm, and Makita publishes no hose length at all, which is one of the three numbers that actually describe a grease gun.
DeWalt DCGG581B 20V MAX 2-Speed Grease Gun - buy
The DCGG581B is the better all-round tool and the one most people should buy. It publishes 9 oz per minute against the Makita’s 10 and matches the 10,000 MAX PSI ceiling, so it is giving up very little on output. In exchange it adds a two-speed transmission on top of the variable speed trigger, which means you can creep grease into a small sealed bearing on the low setting and then run a large fitting at full rate, and no other gun here does both. The 47 in. reinforced hose is the longest in the group, which is 5 in. more reach than DeWalt’s own previous model and worth more than it sounds when the fitting is behind a guard. It is also the only gun in this comparison that publishes anything about runtime, quoting up to 7 tubes per charge, which is the figure you actually plan a day around. At 9.06 lbs it is 2.3 lbs lighter than the Makita.
DeWalt DCGG571B 20V MAX Cordless Grease Gun - it depends
The DCGG571B is a useful lesson in reading a spec sheet, because next to its replacement it looks nearly identical and is not. Same 10,000 MAX PSI. Same battery platform. Same rough weight at 9.0 lbs, and actually 2 in. shorter at 18.5 in. Then the flow rate: 5.0 oz per minute against the DCGG581B’s 9. That is not a small difference, it is nearly half the output, and it is the number that determines how long you stand there. The hose is 42 in. rather than 47 in., and there is one speed rather than two. What it does have that the newer gun’s page does not mention is a pump filter screen, stated as protecting the pump mechanism from dirt and contamination, which is a genuine longevity feature. Buy it only if the price gap against the two-speed model is large and your greasing list is short.
Craftsman CMCGG001B V20 Cordless Grease Gun - skip
The CMCGG001B is the one to skip, and the reason is entirely about what is missing. On features it reads well: a two-speed transmission, a variable speed trigger, a 40 in. hose, an LED, and a glass-filled nylon and steel construction that Craftsman actually states. It weighs 9.06 lbs, the same as the DeWalt two-speed. Then you look for the numbers and there are none. No maximum pressure anywhere on the page. No flow rate. No tubes per charge. Those first two are not optional extras, they are the definition of what a grease gun does, and every other tool in this comparison publishes at least one of them and mostly both. It is also the longest tool here at 20.43 in. without a performance figure to justify the size. The hardware may well be fine. There is no way to check, and that is the problem.
Makita XPG01Z 18V LXT Cordless Grease Gun vs DeWalt DCGG581B 20V MAX 2-Speed Grease Gun: which should you buy?
The Makita XPG01Z and the DeWalt DCGG581B are separated by one ounce per minute and 2.3 lbs, and the weight is the bigger number. Makita’s 10 fl oz/min is the highest published flow here, and the lock-on switch makes it the better tool for a long list of fittings where you want the gun running rather than your finger working. But 11.4 lbs with a battery, held out at arm’s length under a machine, is genuinely tiring, and Makita publishes no hose length so you cannot check reach on paper.
The DeWalt gives up that ounce and buys back a great deal. Two speeds plus a variable trigger is real control, and it is the difference between filling a small sealed bearing without blowing the seal and hoping. The 47 in. hose is the longest here. And it is the only gun in this comparison that tells you how long a charge lasts, at up to 7 tubes. If you grease a fleet, take the Makita for the flow. If you grease a tractor, a trailer and a truck, take the DeWalt, because control and reach will matter more often than one ounce a minute.
What to look for
- Flow rate, not pressure: three of these four quote the same 10,000 PSI, and the published flow across them still varies two to one.
- A published pressure figure at all: one gun here states neither pressure nor flow, and those are the two numbers that define the tool.
- Hose length and whether it is reinforced: the range here is 40 to 47 in., and reach is what decides whether the gun is usable on an awkward fitting.
- More than one speed: a low setting lets you fill a small sealed bearing without forcing grease past the seal.
- A runtime figure such as tubes per charge: only one manufacturer in this group publishes one, and it is the number you plan a day around.
- A pump filter: grit is what kills a high-pressure pump, and a screen between the cartridge and the mechanism is a real longevity feature.
Our final take
Maximum pressure is the number this category is sold on and the number that separates it least, since three of these four state exactly 10,000 PSI. Flow rate is where the real spread is, and it runs from 5 oz per minute to 10 across guns that share a pressure ceiling. The Makita XPG01Z takes the top of that range and pays for it in weight. The DeWalt DCGG581B is the tool we would actually buy: 9 oz per minute, two speeds, the longest hose here, and the only published runtime figure in the group. The older DCGG571B is the same pressure and half the flow, which is worth knowing before you buy the cheaper DeWalt by accident. The Craftsman publishes neither number, and on a tool defined by two numbers, that is disqualifying.
Questions, answered
If they all make 10,000 PSI, what actually separates these guns?
Flow rate. Maximum pressure is what breaks through a clogged fitting, and at 10,000 PSI every gun in this class has more than enough for that; the fitting or the hose usually gives up first. What you feel across a session is how fast grease moves, and the published figures here run from 5.0 oz per minute to 10, a two-to-one spread at an identical pressure ceiling. On a machine with thirty zerks that difference is most of an hour.
Why would a 10,000 PSI tool struggle to grease a fitting?
Because the pressure at the fitting is not the pressure at the pump. A long hose, a cold and stiff grease, a partially blocked zerk or a coupler that is not seated square all drop pressure before it reaches the bearing. The usual failure is a blocked fitting rather than a weak gun, and the fix is to replace the zerk rather than to lean on the trigger. Cold grease is the other common one, and it resolves as the gun works.
How long should the hose be?
Long enough to reach the awkward fitting without moving the gun, which in practice means around 3 feet and up. The published lengths here run 40 to 47 in., which is 3 ft 4 in. to 3 ft 11 in. A longer hose reaches more, holds more grease you have to push before fresh grease arrives, and drops slightly more pressure. Flexible is worth more than long if the fittings you struggle with are behind something rather than far away.
Do cordless grease guns take standard cartridges?
Yes. The standard 14 oz cartridge fits essentially every gun in this class, and all of these can also be filled in bulk from a pail with a filler pump or by suction. Bulk filling is much cheaper if you go through grease, and cartridges are cleaner and simpler if you do not. The thing that varies is how easy each gun makes it to prime after a change, since a gun full of air will not pump.
Does a grease gun need a filter?
It helps more than it sounds. DeWalt states a pump filter screen on the DCGG571B specifically to keep dirt from reaching the pump mechanism, and dirt is the main thing that kills a grease gun: grit gets in through the cartridge change or the coupler, and abrasive particles in a high-pressure pump wear it out. Keeping the coupler capped and wiping fittings before you connect does more for gun life than anything on the spec sheet.
Deciding between the top two? See our head-to-head: Makita XPG01Z 18V LXT Cordless Grease Gun vs DeWalt DCGG581B 20V MAX 2-Speed Grease Gun.
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