Paint brands
Seven paint brands, compared honestly.
Juan holds a contractor account with 6 of these seven, so the brand gets picked for the job rather than out of loyalty. Below is the whole comparison — 12 attributes, most expensive brand on the left, cheapest on the right.
- 7
- brands compared
- 12
- attributes scored
- 6
- contractor accounts
Price
What a gallon costs, cheapest to most expensive.
Approximate counter prices per gallon, from each brand’s entry line to its flagship. They move constantly and they move with the sale cycle.
- 1Pittsburgh PaintsThe lowest floor on this page$20–$75
- 2BehrCounter price per gallon$23–$70
- 3Vista PaintCounter price per gallonNo published pricing
- 4Dunn-EdwardsCounter price per gallon$40–$102
- 5Sherwin-WilliamsCounter price per gallon$45–$110
- 6Benjamin MooreThe most expensive mainstream brand in the country$40–$120
Cheapest at the top left, most expensive at the bottom right. Valspar is not on this ladder — we hold no account, we do not buy it, and we will not publish price figures we cannot verify.
Before you read any of these numbers
Shelf price is not what a painter pays. A contractor with a trade account commonly pays 25 to 40 percent under list at Sherwin-Williams and Dunn-Edwards, and Dunn-Edwards' own online store runs well above its counter price on the same product. That is why the material line on an estimate rarely matches what you find on a store website, and why the gap between a pro-store brand and a big-box brand is much narrower in practice than the shelf tags suggest.
The comparison
Every attribute, every brand, side by side.
Most expensive on the left, cheapest on the right. The scores come from what we buy, apply and warranty ourselves, plus published data sheets and warranty documents.
| AttributeMost expensive on the left |  Benjamin Moore$40–$120Deep dive |  Sherwin-Williams$45–$110Deep dive | Dunn-Edwards CorporationDunn-Edwards$40–$102Deep dive | Vista Paint CorporationVista PaintNo published pricingDeep dive |  Behr$23–$70Deep dive |  Pittsburgh Paints$20–$75Deep dive | ValsparValsparNo published pricingDeep dive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One-coat coverageWhether one coat actually covers, or whether you are quietly paying for two. | Benjamin Moore — One-coat coverage: 5 out of 5 | Sherwin-Williams — One-coat coverage: 4 out of 5 | Dunn-Edwards — One-coat coverage: 4 out of 5 | Vista Paint — One-coat coverage: 3 out of 5 | Behr — One-coat coverage: 4 out of 5 | Pittsburgh Paints — One-coat coverage: 3 out of 5 | Valspar — One-coat coverage: not scored |
| Color depthHow true and how rich the color reads on the wall, especially deep and saturated ones. | Benjamin Moore — Color depth: 5 out of 5 | Sherwin-Williams — Color depth: 4 out of 5 | Dunn-Edwards — Color depth: 4 out of 5 | Vista Paint — Color depth: 3 out of 5 | Behr — Color depth: 3 out of 5 | Pittsburgh Paints — Color depth: 3 out of 5 | Valspar — Color depth: not scored |
| Durability and scrubbingHow the finish holds up to cleaning, scuffs, dogs and kids. | Benjamin Moore — Durability and scrubbing: 4 out of 5 | Sherwin-Williams — Durability and scrubbing: 5 out of 5 | Dunn-Edwards — Durability and scrubbing: 4 out of 5 | Vista Paint — Durability and scrubbing: 3 out of 5 | Behr — Durability and scrubbing: 4 out of 5 | Pittsburgh Paints — Durability and scrubbing: 3 out of 5 | Valspar — Durability and scrubbing: not scored |
| Easy to DIYHow forgiving the paint is if you roll it yourself instead of hiring it out. | Benjamin Moore — Easy to DIY: 3 out of 5 | Sherwin-Williams — Easy to DIY: 4 out of 5 | Dunn-Edwards — Easy to DIY: 4 out of 5 | Vista Paint — Easy to DIY: 3 out of 5 | Behr — Easy to DIY: 3 out of 5 | Pittsburgh Paints — Easy to DIY: 4 out of 5 | Valspar — Easy to DIY: not scored |
| Low-VOC optionsHow low the fumes are, and whether the low-VOC claim survives being tinted to your color. | Benjamin Moore — Low-VOC options: 5 out of 5 | Sherwin-Williams — Low-VOC options: 4 out of 5 | Dunn-Edwards — Low-VOC options: 5 out of 5 | Vista Paint — Low-VOC options: 4 out of 5 | Behr — Low-VOC options: 4 out of 5 | Pittsburgh Paints — Low-VOC options: 3 out of 5 | Valspar — Low-VOC options: not scored |
| Local availabilityHow easy it is to get one more gallon of your exact color in San Diego or Orange County. | Benjamin Moore — Local availability: 2 out of 5 | Sherwin-Williams — Local availability: 5 out of 5 | Dunn-Edwards — Local availability: 5 out of 5 | Vista Paint — Local availability: 3 out of 5 | Behr — Local availability: 5 out of 5 | Pittsburgh Paints — Local availability: 3 out of 5 | Valspar — Local availability: not scored |
| Contractor supportWhether there is a pro counter, a rep, jobsite delivery and account pricing behind the brand. | Benjamin Moore — Contractor support: 3 out of 5 | Sherwin-Williams — Contractor support: 5 out of 5 | Dunn-Edwards — Contractor support: 5 out of 5 | Vista Paint — Contractor support: 4 out of 5 | Behr — Contractor support: 2 out of 5 | Pittsburgh Paints — Contractor support: 3 out of 5 | Valspar — Contractor support: not scored |
| WarrantyWhat the written warranty actually covers, and whether the company publishes one at all. | Benjamin Moore — Warranty: 4 out of 5 | Sherwin-Williams — Warranty: 4 out of 5 | Dunn-Edwards — Warranty: 5 out of 5 | Vista Paint — Warranty: 1 out of 5 | Behr — Warranty: 4 out of 5 | Pittsburgh Paints — Warranty: 2 out of 5 | Valspar — Warranty: not scored |
| Touch-upWhether a spot repair blends back in a year later, or shows up as a patch. | Benjamin Moore — Touch-up: 3 out of 5 | Sherwin-Williams — Touch-up: 3 out of 5 | Dunn-Edwards — Touch-up: 4 out of 5 | Vista Paint — Touch-up: 3 out of 5 | Behr — Touch-up: 2 out of 5 | Pittsburgh Paints — Touch-up: 3 out of 5 | Valspar — Touch-up: not scored |
| ExteriorsHow the exterior products handle Southern California sun, stucco and coastal salt air. | Benjamin Moore — Exteriors: 3 out of 5 | Sherwin-Williams — Exteriors: 5 out of 5 | Dunn-Edwards — Exteriors: 5 out of 5 | Vista Paint — Exteriors: 3 out of 5 | Behr — Exteriors: 3 out of 5 | Pittsburgh Paints — Exteriors: 3 out of 5 | Valspar — Exteriors: not scored |
| Trim and cabinetsWhether the brand makes a trim and cabinet enamel that levels smooth and cures hard. | Benjamin Moore — Trim and cabinets: 5 out of 5 | Sherwin-Williams — Trim and cabinets: 5 out of 5 | Dunn-Edwards — Trim and cabinets: 5 out of 5 | Vista Paint — Trim and cabinets: 2 out of 5 | Behr — Trim and cabinets: 2 out of 5 | Pittsburgh Paints — Trim and cabinets: 4 out of 5 | Valspar — Trim and cabinets: not scored |
| CeilingsWhether there is a flat ceiling paint that does the job without costing wall-paint money. | Benjamin Moore — Ceilings: 3 out of 5 | Sherwin-Williams — Ceilings: 4 out of 5 | Dunn-Edwards — Ceilings: 4 out of 5 | Vista Paint — Ceilings: 4 out of 5 | Behr — Ceilings: 4 out of 5 | Pittsburgh Paints — Ceilings: 5 out of 5 | Valspar — Ceilings: not scored |
| What Juan says | “The color is the best there is and Advance is the nicest trim I brush, but I check the dealer has my gallons before I promise you a Saturday.” | “I can get any color anywhere in the county by four o’clock, but if we go Emerald flat I am coating wall to wall, not spotting it in.” | “Everything I hang on stucco down here is Evershield, because it was built for this sun and not for somebody else’s weather.” | “Good honest paint from a family twenty minutes up the freeway, and on a school or a city job their MPI numbers are the reason we are even on the bid.” | “Great paint for the money, and I will still steer you off it for cabinets.” | “Break-Through is what I reach for when somebody wants their laminate cabinets painted and they want the doors back on by Friday.” | “I do not buy it, but bring me the chip off your can and I will put that exact color on your walls in something I do buy.” |
Valspar sits in the table with no scores on purpose. It was not part of the six-brand comparison we scored and we do not buy it, so filling that column in would be guessing.
What nobody else tells you
Three things worth knowing before you pick a brand.
- 01
A lifetime warranty is one gallon of paint.
Every lifetime warranty in this industry gives you a replacement gallon of paint. None of them pay for labor, and none of them transfer when you sell the house. We read all of them to check. A lifetime warranty that hands back a $60 gallon is not a meaningful remedy on a $12,000 exterior repaint – the workmanship warranty from your painter is the one that actually matters.
- 02
Every brand has a Swiss Coffee. They are all different colors.
Every brand has a Swiss Coffee, and they are all different colors. Dunn-Edwards DEW341 is the warm creamy one most of Southern California means. Benjamin Moore OC-45 is a shade cleaner. Behr 12 is different again. And Kelly-Moore 23, which was the California standard for decades, went away with the company in 2024. Ask four people here for Swiss Coffee and you will get four colors. Tell us the brand along with the name and we will get it right the first time.
- 03
Kelly-Moore is gone. We still match it.
Kelly-Moore ceased all operations on January 18, 2024, after 78 years – every store closed, about 700 people laid off, an orderly wind-down rather than a Chapter 11, killed in the end by four decades of asbestos litigation. It is not on California's PaintCare registered-brands list, which means it cannot legally be sold here, and any Kelly-Moore warranty died with the company. We still color-match it: bring us a chip or a lid – Swiss Coffee 23 especially – and we will pull that color in Dunn-Edwards, Sherwin-Williams or Benjamin Moore.
The deep dives
Every brand, the good and the bad.
History, ownership, product lines, colors, warranty, VOC, and five honest cons for each brand — set in the same size type as the pros.
Benjamin Moore
$40–$120Juan holds an accountDeep, saturated color and brushed trim you want to look sprayed, on a job where we can plan the material a week out.
“The color is the best there is and Advance is the nicest trim I brush, but I check the dealer has my gallons before I promise you a Saturday.”
Read about Benjamin MooreSherwin-Williams
$45–$110Juan holds an accountBig repaints, stucco exteriors, and any job where running out of a custom color on a Friday afternoon would cost a whole day.
“I can get any color anywhere in the county by four o’clock, but if we go Emerald flat I am coating wall to wall, not spotting it in.”
Read about Sherwin-Williams- Dunn-Edwards Corporation
Dunn-Edwards
$40–$102Juan holds an accountStucco exteriors anywhere in San Diego or Orange County, zero-VOC interiors, and cabinets you need back in service in about a week.
“Everything I hang on stucco down here is Evershield, because it was built for this sun and not for somebody else’s weather.”
Read about Dunn-Edwards - Vista Paint Corporation
Vista Paint
No published pricingJuan holds an accountPublic and institutional work that needs MPI-approved product, HOA and property-management repaints, and homeowners who like their money staying in Orange County.
“Good honest paint from a family twenty minutes up the freeway, and on a school or a city job their MPI numbers are the reason we are even on the bid.”
Read about Vista Paint Behr
$23–$70Juan holds an accountRentals, flips, budget-conscious repaints, and any wall you want to be able to top up yourself on a Sunday afternoon.
“Great paint for the money, and I will still steer you off it for cabinets.”
Read about BehrPittsburgh Paints
$20–$75Juan holds an accountCeilings, production interiors, and Break-Through! on laminate, vinyl and fiberglass that nothing else will stick to.
“Break-Through is what I reach for when somebody wants their laminate cabinets painted and they want the doors back on by Friday.”
Read about Pittsburgh Paints- Valspar
Valspar
No published pricingWe do not buy it — we match itNothing on our jobs – we do not spec it. It is here so you know what it is, and so you know we can match it.
“I do not buy it, but bring me the chip off your can and I will put that exact color on your walls in something I do buy.”
Read about Valspar
Still not sure which brand belongs on your house.
Tell Juan what you are painting and he will tell you which brand he would use, why, and what the price does if you pick a different one.