The Best Handheld Power Planer for The Money 2024

The Makita KP0810 gets our approval as best power planer due its high-quality build and versatility.

It is easy to handle, and its performance is excellent. Of all the planers we reviewed, this is by far the most appreciated tool. You can find the KP0810 from anywhere between $200 and $250.

The KP0810 can plane up to 3-1/4” wide and 5/32” deep in one pass. The tool is ideal for door and window installation, construction framing and woodworking in fine details. It has double edge carbide blades that are fast to remove the stock and add to the overall performance of the Makita planer.

You can rely on this planer for a long time as it is built to last. It has a die-cast aluminum housing with ball-baring construction. The blades and the workpiece are constantly protected as the base is elevated due to a spring-loaded stand.

For increased convenience, it comes with a lock On/Off button which can be operated from either side of the handle. Also, there is a left or right chip ejection, built for the same purpose of convenience. The front and rear handles are rubberized for better grip.

You can adjust the depth of your work with the adjust knob. It has an easy–to-read scale with 0.1mm increments and 3 chamfering groove options.

Another great feature of the Makita planer and a reason it made it to the top of our list is the fact that it is not a noisy device.

Although there are always those who cannot stand the noise of construction and remodeling work in general, this tool is among the quietest.

The number of positive reviews is overwhelming in the case of this product. Apart from being worth the money spent on it, its precision is the winning feature.

To sum up, the Makita KP0810 is a powerful, yet lightweight tool, perfect for precision work and proper planing for any type of project.

The DeWalt DW680K 7 Amp 3-1/4-Inch handheld planer us another quality device which comes with a price tag of about $170 – $190. The original package of the product comes with the edge guide, a metal kit box which fits the planer and much more, and two reversible carbide blades.

The tool also works with large resharpenable high-speed steel blades as well as with reversible carbide blades. All for you to be able to do more accurate work and to get straight edging. For a flat surface finish and square rabbet joints, there is a precision-machined shoe bottom and side.

The depth can also be adjusted with the help of the calibrated depth adjustment knob. There is no need to re-zero your depth every time.

At 6.2 lbs, the DW680K was built for high maneuverability. It is ergonomically designed with two finger triggers for increased comfort and rubber coated front-height knob for better comfort and control of the work.

One thing to be aware of when going for this product is that it does not come with a dust collector, which makes the entire project rather messy. Also, as one reviewer pointed out, the chip collector only exhausts the chips in one direction.

The depth adjustment is also the front knob, and some users may knock that off its setting from the way they hold it during use. In other cases, the power of the tool was put to question by the person using it.

In brief, the DeWALT DW680 is a reliable tool that does its job at a good price-quality ratio. Despite the few complaints, this would be my go to choice for a mid-ranged model.

Powerful, portable and reliable, the WEN Electric Hand Planer is definitely an option you should be considering. This planer offers the best value on the list and can be found for under $40 – $50. The original package includes a power planer, a dust bag, a kickstand and a parallel fence bracket.

What we love about the WEN is the fact that it gives you great accuracy and control at hand. It weighs 11.5 lbs, making for very swift maneuvering.

But do not let the size of it fool you. The 8 Amps motor provides up to 34,000 cuts per minute. You can adjust the depth of the cut anywhere from 0 to 1/8 inches. Rabbets can be made up to 1 inch in size, with the 5/16 inch rabbeting guide. For accurate and straight cuts, there is a parallel fence to make sure the strokes are directly parallel to the edge of the wood. Also, if you wish to flatten sharp board corners, there is a v-shaped groove for chamfering at the base plate shoe.

This tool is highly purchased and highly reviewed. It may be the accessible price that makes people want to try it out and its performance that gets it so well reviewed. Among the few things you should be aware of concerning this wood planer, is the fact that the dust bag is not well fastened and that it can come out or that the dust still gets out.

Overall, the WEN 6535 is a good and dependable product. It has a very accessible price, especially for those only starting out in woodworking and not yet willing to spend too much. The 6535 works well and does what is says.

As you expected, we could not draft a list of the best hand planers without including at least one Bosch item. The Bosch PL2632K wood planer with carrying case, is another top handheld planer, although it is slightly cheaper than the DeWalt and Makita models. The PL2632K can be found for around $160 – $180.

The original package of this product includes 2 woodrazor mini micrograin blades, one dual-mount guide fence, a straight no-mar plastic overshoe for fence, a shavings bag, a blade wrench and a carrying case.

The depth of the planning is 3/32 inches. The width of the planning is 3-1 /4 inches. The depth of the rabbet is 5/16 inches while the width of the rabbet is 3-1 /4 inches. You can always increase the depth by using the ratchet knob.

The 6.5 Amps motor performs 16,500 rotations per minute and does a fast stock removal. The end result is a very smooth finish. Also, you are guaranteed consistent planning through the entire project with the help of the dual-mount guide fence.

The blades are reversible Bosch woodrazor micrograin carbide, designed to last 3% more than regular blades. There are two of them, and they work in a versatile system which can be converted for use with large high-steel blades.

For safe tool handling, the Bosch planer is foreseen with a lock-off release button which prevents it from starting accidentally. The blade and the tool resting spot are also protected with the help of the spring-loaded stand. Further protective gear includes the shield and the no-mar plastic shoe for either side of the tool.

What is more, there is also a lock-on button for extended operation of the device. Using the tool is easy and convenient. Wood shavings can be directed either left or right.

The tool works great and has received excellent reviews by users. It does its job very well, and it fits comfortably your hand. It can easily be maneuvered as it weighs only 14.5 pounds. It is designed to last, and people are confident they will be able to complete a lot of projects with it.

The Bosch model is one of the best planers on the market. The quality and the name of the brand are never a disappointment and neither were they in the case of this product. It made it on our list because of all the great reviews, the durability, and the performance.

The Porter-Cable PC60THP handheld planer is another affordable option at the price range of $80 -$99. If you are looking for a good value, first and foremost, pay attention to the features of this tool. The original package includes the PC60THP hand planer, 2 carbide cutting blades, 1 wrench, 1 dust bag, 1 edge guide and 1 kit bag.

You can control the depth of the cut with 10 positive steps on the old depth knob. There are 3 chamfering grooves for edge chamfering as well. More control is also added by the 11.5-inch cast aluminium shoe.

The great thing about this handheld planer is that it allows dual extraction on either side of the device, which can help you keep the workplace clean.

The warranty offered by the manufacturer is 3 years. This is one of the longest warranties offered on the handheld planers.

A few of the things to be on the lookout for which include the dust bag, though very useful, is still very small and needs to be emptied often. Another user mentioned that the planer would not make flat cuts the way it was originally assembled and made some adjustments so as not to have angle cuts. The product works fine now, but he warns against such issues.

The PC60THP is a tool we recommend to people who need to have great accuracy and control over their planning project. It is easily handled, and the price makes it good value.

Since the list is not yet closed, we had room to put in yet another DeWalt planer. This time, it’s the D26676 3-1 /4-Inch portable hand planer. This is the second handheld planer from DeWalt in our list, but the lightest product as it only weighs 6 pounds.

The price of the DeWalt D26676 is in the affordable range of $130 – $150. This covers two resharpenable high-speed steel blades which are already installed, a rabbeting fence, a blade depth setting gage, a blade resharpening tool, a socket wrench, and a lengthy 3-year warranty.

The 5.5 Amp motor provides a smooth finish with its 34,000 rotations per minute. This means a very fast stock removal rate. The blades used can be reversible carbide ones. The high steel blades are large and resharpenable, and they are great for straight cutting. For parallelism of cut, you have front and back aluminum shoes.

For high precision, it has a depth adjustment knob which can be calibrated to 1 /16 inches. The handle is ergonomically designed, and the machine comes with a built-in kickstand that allows the user to rest the planer of a surface without risk of gouging the material.

Although users say that this is a well-built tool, there are those who think that it lacks any form of debris control and that there could be better options for configuration as the blades do not go deep enough. Others claim that they did not find the tool as comfortable to use as other tools are, but this is a very subjective issue.

Compared to the other planers from DeWalt we have included in our extended review, this is the cheapest and the lightest. If there is anyone out there who is just getting started and but still wants a DeWalt tool, this is the right one. It is affordable and very easy to use.