Is Sherwin-Williams or Benjamin Moore better?

Both make excellent paint. Benjamin Moore Aura has a slight edge in color depth and one-coat coverage; Sherwin-Williams Emerald excels in self-leveling and workability. At full retail BM is more expensive, but SW runs 30-40% off sales 4-6 times per year that flip the value math. For cabinets, pros generally prefer BM Advance. For walls, it's a near toss-up at the premium tier.

Can I get a Benjamin Moore color in Sherwin-Williams paint (or vice versa)?

Yes - both stores can spectrophotometer-match any physical chip and mix the color in their own paint base. But a custom mix isn't the same as a formulated catalog color: in-store spectrophotometers can drift by Delta E 2.0-5.0 between calibrations, and batch-to-batch consistency for custom mixes is weaker. For best results, find the brand's closest catalog equivalent first - see the SW to BM and BM to SW conversion charts.

Which brand is better for kitchen cabinets?

Benjamin Moore Advance is widely preferred by cabinet painters - it's a waterborne alkyd that levels like oil-based paint but cleans up with water and dries to a hard, factory-like finish. Sherwin-Williams ProClassic Waterbased and Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel are strong alternatives. For best durability, all three need an oil-based or shellac-based primer (Zinsser BIN) on previously-painted cabinets.

Which brand is better for exterior paint?

Both have excellent exterior lines. Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior carries a 'Lifetime Limited Warranty' on most substrates. Sherwin-Williams Emerald Rain Refresh is engineered for early washability (rain within 60 minutes of application). For UV stability on dark or saturated colors, BM Aura Exterior has a slight edge. For tough climates with frequent rain, SW Emerald Rain Refresh is the safer choice for contractor schedules.

Sherwin-Williams vs Benjamin Moore: The Complete Comparison

Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore are the two most specified paint brands among designers and contractors. Both make excellent paint, but they differ in meaningful ways that affect your wallet, your schedule, and your final result. This guide breaks down every factor so you can choose with confidence.

Price: Advantage SW (With Sales)

Benjamin Moore Regal Select: $65–$75/gallon. Aura: $80–$90/gallon.

Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint: $60–$70/gallon. Emerald: $75–$85/gallon. But SW runs 30–40% off sales 4–6 times per year, dropping Emerald to $50–$60. BM rarely discounts.

Verdict: At full price, they're comparable. With SW sales, you can get premium paint for mid-tier prices.

Popular Colors Head-to-Head

The best way to compare these two brands is through their flagship colors. Here are the most popular shades and their closest cross-brand match:

Agreeable Gray(Sherwin-Williams) ↔ Revere Pewter(Benjamin Moore) — America's two most popular grays. Delta E: 2.4 (close but noticeably different in person). Browse the gray color family.

Pure White(Sherwin-Williams) ↔ White Dove(Benjamin Moore) — Both warm whites, but White Dove is slightly creamier. See the white color family.

Alabaster(Sherwin-Williams) ↔ Simply White(Benjamin Moore) — Warm whites for whole-house color. Nearly identical in person.

Naval(Sherwin-Williams) ↔ Hale Navy(Benjamin Moore) — The two most-specified navies. Naval is slightly cooler and more saturated; Hale Navy has a hint of green that makes it pair more easily with warm woods. Delta E 2.1.

Accessible Beige(Sherwin-Williams) ↔ Edgecomb Gray(Benjamin Moore) — Both warm greiges that have replaced cool gray for whole-home neutral applications. Edgecomb has slightly more green; Accessible Beige reads slightly warmer.

Repose Gray(Sherwin-Williams) ↔ Classic Gray(Benjamin Moore) — The most-specified true mid-grays. Repose has more brown; Classic Gray reads slightly cooler. Both are reliable in any direction of natural light.

Tricorn Black(Sherwin-Williams) ↔ Black Beauty(Benjamin Moore) — The reliable blacks for trim, doors, and accent walls. Tricorn is a true neutral black; Black Beauty has the faintest blue cast that designers prize for sophistication.

Extra White(Sherwin-Williams) ↔ Chantilly Lace(Benjamin Moore) — The brightest true whites in each brand's deck. Both read clean and bright with no obvious undertone. Excellent for trim against any wall color.

Use our color compare tool to check the exact Delta E between any SW and BM colors. Read our undertones guide to understand why similar-looking colors can feel different on your walls. For a systematic view, browse the full SW to BM conversion chart or the BM to SW chart for the 50 closest pairs.

Quality: Advantage BM (Slightly)

Both brands make outstanding paint. BM Aura has a slight edge in color depth, richness, and true one-coat coverage. SW Emerald excels in self-leveling and workability — painters love how it flows off the brush.

For cabinets and trim (where finish quality matters most), many pros prefer BM Advance (a waterborne alkyd). For wall paint, it's nearly a toss-up at the premium tier.

Color Selection

Benjamin Moore: ~3,500 colors. The largest palette, with an especially deep range of whites, neutrals, and historically-inspired shades.

Sherwin-Williams: ~1,700 colors. A more curated selection that covers every need. SW also offers custom matching of any BM color code.

On Paint Color HQ, every color page shows the closest matches from both brands automatically. Our SW alternatives to BM's top sellers covers the most popular crossovers.

Availability

SW wins here. Over 4,000 company-owned stores plus Lowe's locations. Open weekends and evenings. BM sells exclusively through independent dealers — selection is great, but hours are often limited and locations fewer.

The Color Matching Question

Can you take a BM color to an SW store (or vice versa)? Yes — both stores can spectrophotometer-match any physical chip. But a custom-matched color isn't the same as a formulated color. For the best result, find the brand's closest existing color using our cross-brand search, then sample both the original and the match. For a curated view, browse the full SW to BM conversion chart or the reverse BM to SW chart — both show the 50 closest cross-brand matches ranked by Delta E.

Who Should Choose SW

You value convenience (more stores, better hours), you want to wait for sales, your contractor already has an SW account, or you prefer their curated palette. Explore all Sherwin-Williams colors.

Who Should Choose BM

You want the absolute richest color depth, you're painting cabinets (BM Advance is hard to beat), your designer specced BM colors, or you prefer working with an independent paint store for expert advice. Browse all Benjamin Moore colors.

Cabinets and Trim Deep Dive

Cabinet and trim paint is the one category where the brand choice meaningfully affects the result. Wall paint can be touched up; cabinets cannot. The wrong product on a kitchen cabinet means stripping and starting over.

Benjamin Moore Advance ($75–$85/gallon) is the cabinet paint most pros reach for. It's a waterborne alkyd — flows and levels like oil-based paint, dries to a hard factory-like finish, and cleans up with water. Critical detail: Advance needs an extended cure time (30 days to full hardness) before you stack heavy items on shelves or close drawers fully. The finish is worth the wait.

Sherwin-Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel ($75–$85/gallon) is SW's closest equivalent. Similar leveling characteristics, comparable hardness, slightly less open time (means you have less working window before the brush starts dragging). Pros split on which is better — both are excellent. ProClassic Waterbased ($55–$65/gallon) is the budget alternative if you're doing trim only, not cabinets.

For both brands, the prep work matters more than the paint. On previously-painted cabinets, sand to scuff the finish, clean with TSP or denatured alcohol, and prime with an oil-based or shellac-based primer (Zinsser BIN is the standard) before applying topcoat. Skipping this step is the #1 reason cabinet paint fails. Read our paint sheen guide — for cabinets, satin or semi-gloss is standard.

Exterior Paint: Different Trade-Offs

Exterior paint inverts some of the interior trade-offs. Weatherability, UV stability, and washability matter more than leveling. Both brands have premium exterior lines, but their strengths differ.

Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior ($90–$100/gallon) carries a Lifetime Limited Warranty on most substrates. Color retention on darker shades is the strongest in the residential category — important for the navy and charcoal exteriors trending in 2026. The mildewcide is robust enough for humid climates without yellowing white trim.

Sherwin-Williams Emerald Rain Refresh ($80–$90/gallon) is engineered for a specific contractor problem: early washability. Paint dried for 60 minutes can survive a rain event without streaking, which saves repaint jobs on unpredictable weather days. For exteriors in regions with frequent spring rain (Pacific Northwest, Northeast, Southeast), this feature is genuinely valuable.

For front doors specifically, both brands offer specialty products: BM Aura Grand Entrance (a high-gloss exterior alkyd) and SW Resilience (waterborne with strong color depth on doors). Read our best exterior paint colors guide for color picks specifically for siding, trim, and shutters.

Cost Analysis: What a Real Project Actually Costs

List prices tell half the story. Here's what a typical 12×14 bedroom (paint walls and one accent wall, 2 coats) actually costs in each brand:

Bedroom walls — 384 sq ft of wall area, minus 1 door (21 sq ft) and 2 windows (30 sq ft) = 333 sq ft per coat × 2 coats = 666 sq ft. At 350 sq ft per gallon, that's 2 gallons of wall paint. Run the numbers in our paint calculator with your actual dimensions for exact gallons.

Benjamin Moore Regal Select: 2 gallons × $70 = $140. No sale typically available.

Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint: 2 gallons × $65 = $130 at full price. During an SW Big Sale (typically Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Black Friday): 2 × $39 = $78. Effective savings: $52, or 37%.

For a whole-house repaint (assume 2,400 sq ft of wall area, 14 gallons total), the gap widens: $980 at BM list price vs $546 at SW sale pricing. That's real budget that can fund cabinet paint, sample pots for testing, or designer hours.

The asterisk: SW sales are unpredictable in timing and exact discount percentage. If you have a project deadline that doesn't flex, factor in the possibility of buying at full price. BM dealers occasionally offer their own promotions (especially around inventory turnover), but they're less frequent and smaller in scale.

The Best of Both Worlds

Many homeowners use both brands. A common approach: BM Advance for cabinets and trim (superior finish), SW Emerald for walls (more accessible, great with sales). Use our compare tool to make sure your BM trim white matches your SW wall color. Our palette generator can help you build a cohesive scheme mixing colors from either brand. To preview any combination in a real room before buying samples, try the room visualizer.