Short answer: the warranty length a brand advertises is the tool warranty. The battery is covered separately, always for less, and the battery is the part that actually wears out. Across the seven brands we checked, no lithium-ion battery warranty exceeds 3 years — including at the brand that advertises a Lifetime tool warranty and covers its batteries for 2.
What We Did
On 2026-08-24 we read the published consumer warranty terms for seven major power tool brands directly from each manufacturer's own warranty page, and recorded three numbers separately: the bare tool, the lithium-ion battery, and the charger. Nothing here is based on physical use of a tool. It is a documentation comparison, and every figure below can be checked against the source we cite for it.
We separated tool from battery from charger because manufacturers publish them as one headline number and three different terms. That gap is the entire finding.
The Comparison Table
| Brand | Cordless tool | Li-ion battery | Charger | Tool minus battery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metabo HPT | Lifetime (non-industrial use) | 2 years | 2 years | Widest gap |
| Milwaukee (M18/M12) | 5 years | 3 years (2 on some models) | Matches battery | 2 years |
| Bosch (18V, since Jun 2023) | 5 years | 3 years | 5 years | 2 years |
| DeWalt (20V MAX/FLEXVOLT) | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years | None |
| Makita (18V LXT) | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years | None |
| Ryobi (18V ONE+) | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years | None |
| Craftsman (V20) | Not published openly | 3 years (per product listing) | Not published openly | Unknown |
Read the "Lifetime" row again. It is the longest tool warranty in the table and the shortest battery warranty in the table, on the same platform.
Four Things This Turned Up
1. The "Lifetime" warranty covers the part that does not wear out
Metabo HPT warrants tools in certain categories for a Lifetime to the original purchaser in non-industrial use, defining Lifetime as the serviceable life of the product — the period during which the supply of all components is available. Its lithium-ion batteries, purchased separately, are warranted for two years.
A cordless drill motor rarely fails. Battery packs degrade with every charge cycle, and a replacement high-capacity pack routinely costs more than a bare tool. The Lifetime badge is attached to the durable half of the purchase.
2. Two brands advertise 5 years and cover the battery for 3
Milwaukee warrants most M18 and M12 cordless tools for five years after the date of purchase. Its REDLITHIUM battery packs are warranted for three years on most models and two on some, with certain older packs on a pro-rata term of five years or 2,000 charges, whichever comes first.
Bosch extends coverage for 18V tools and chargers to five years and 18V batteries to three, effective June 1, 2023. Note that Bosch is the only brand here where the charger follows the tool term rather than the battery term.
3. Makita is the only brand with no gap at all
Makita warrants every lithium-ion tool, battery, charger, MAKTRAK modular storage system and pneumatic nailer for three years from the date of original purchase. Same number for all of it. It is not the longest warranty in the table, but it is the only one where the advertised figure is the figure that applies to your batteries.
One condition worth knowing before you buy a cheap third-party pack: Makita states that improper operation includes the use of a non-genuine or "knock-off" battery on a lithium-ion tool or charger, and the warranty does not apply in that case. A $30 aftermarket battery can cost you the coverage on the tool.
4. DeWalt's real advantage is the first year, not the third
DeWalt's headline is three years, matching Makita and Ryobi. What is bundled underneath it is not matched by anyone else here: DeWalt will maintain the tool and replace worn parts caused by normal use, free, any time during the first year, and offers a full refund on return within 90 days of purchase or delivery, whichever is later. Worn parts from normal use are precisely what a defect warranty excludes everywhere else in this table.
One restriction applies: DeWalt's warranty covers only products purchased from DeWalt or a DeWalt authorized seller. Marketplace listings from unauthorized third-party sellers fall outside it.
Registration and Receipts
The advice to "register your tool or lose your warranty" does not hold up for the two brands that address it directly.
- Milwaukee states plainly that warranty registration is not necessary to obtain the applicable warranty, and that this also holds for battery packs. More usefully: if you have no proof of purchase, Milwaukee will use the product's manufacturing date to determine the warranty period. You are not out of luck without a receipt, you simply start the clock earlier than you would like.
- Ryobi does require proof of purchase documentation showing the date of purchase when requesting warranty service.
- DeWalt states that proof of purchase may be required, and lists tool registration as available rather than mandatory.
- Craftsman is the outlier: its warranty page shows category headings but not the terms, directing readers to register or log into a Craftsman Club account for full warranty information. It was the only brand of the seven whose complete terms we could not read without an account. The 3-year figure in the table above comes from an individual V20 battery product listing, not from the warranty page.
What Actually Matters When You Compare
The battery term is the number to compare, for three reasons. It is the shortest term on every platform except Makita's. It covers the component with a wear-out mechanism rather than a defect mechanism. And it is the component you will buy again — the tool warranty stops mattering once you own the tool, while the battery warranty applies to every pack you add to the platform for as long as you stay on it.
Buying into a battery platform is a longer commitment than buying a tool. Three years is the ceiling anywhere, so treat replacement packs as a running cost of ownership rather than a covered risk.
That commitment is usually made at the combo-kit stage, because the kit is what puts the first two batteries and the charger in your hands and fixes which platform you add to from then on. If you are choosing a platform now rather than replacing a pack, our comparison of 7 cordless combo kits covers what each one includes and how far the platform extends.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which power tool brand has the longest warranty?
Metabo HPT, at Lifetime for tools in certain categories in non-industrial use. But its lithium-ion batteries are covered for only two years, the shortest battery term of the seven brands we checked. For tool-plus-battery coverage together, Milwaukee (5 years / 3 years) and Bosch 18V (5 years / 3 years) are the strongest combinations.
How long are power tool batteries under warranty?
Three years at Milwaukee (most models), Bosch, DeWalt, Makita, Ryobi and Craftsman V20. Two years at Metabo HPT, and two years on some Milwaukee packs. We found no lithium-ion battery warranty longer than three years at any of the seven brands.
Do I have to register my power tool to get warranty coverage?
Not at Milwaukee, which states registration is not necessary for either tools or battery packs. Ryobi requires proof of purchase at the time of a claim. DeWalt lists registration as available rather than required. Craftsman does not publish its full terms without a Craftsman Club account.
What happens if I lose the receipt?
Milwaukee will use the product's manufacturing date to determine the warranty period when no proof of purchase is provided. Ryobi requires proof of purchase documentation including the date of purchase. Other brands in this comparison do not address the missing-receipt case in their published terms.
Does using an off-brand battery void the warranty?
At Makita, yes. Makita states that improper operation includes the use of a non-genuine or knock-off battery on a lithium-ion tool or charger, and its warranty does not apply where the tool has been improperly operated.
Sources and Limits
Every figure on this page was read on 2026-08-24 from the manufacturer's own published warranty terms: Milwaukee's Registration and Warranty page, DeWalt's support warranty page, Makita's warranty page and its lithium-ion warranty announcement, Ryobi's warranties page, Bosch's product warranty and 18V warranty pages, Metabo HPT's tool warranty page, and Craftsman's warranty page and V20 battery product listings.
Limits worth stating. These are US consumer terms only; Canadian and industrial terms differ. Warranty terms change without notice, and Bosch's own 18V terms changed in June 2023, so verify against the manufacturer's current page before you buy on the strength of a number here. Model-specific exceptions exist within every platform, particularly on Milwaukee battery packs, where the term varies by pack. Craftsman's tool and charger terms are marked as not published openly because we could not read them without creating an account, not because they do not exist.
We will re-read all seven pages and update this comparison quarterly. If you find a term that has changed, the published date above tells you how stale this page is.
