List the tools you will buy over five years, then check the platform offers all of them. If even one is missing you will either go without or open a second platform, which doubles what you spend on batteries. It is the one criterion you cannot fix later.
The four profiles, and the platform that fits
You are equipping a house. Drill, driver, sander, jigsaw, plus the mower and the hedge trimmer. Broad needs, light duty. The wide catalogue consumer platforms serve exactly this case, and moving into the garden without buying new batteries is their strongest argument.
You are building or renovating yourself. Rotary hammer in concrete, circular saw, grinder, impact driver. The tools pull hard and pull long. You want a professional platform and high capacity packs, otherwise the machine cuts out under load.
You work a technical trade. Plumbing, electrical, HVAC. A specialist catalogue matters more than a broad one, and brand alliances become decisive because they bring in the tools the founder does not make.
You have one job and a tight budget. The question is not the platform, it is renting. A rotary hammer hired for three days costs a fraction of buying one, and commits you to no batteries at all.
Working out the cost of leaving
Take the price of one battery on the platform and multiply by three: that is roughly what you will have tied up in two years. That number is what changing your mind will cost. Set against it, a thirty dollar gap on the price of a drill weighs nothing.
The prices retrieved on the platform pages of this site exist for exactly this calculation.
What not to look at
The voltage on the box first: 18V and 20V MAX mean the same thing. Then the torque figure, measured differently by every maker and never comparable across brands. Finally the tool count a brand advertises, which mixes different national catalogues and, in the case of alliances, machines built by other manufacturers.
Frequently asked questions
Is a two tool combo kit better value than buying separately?
A kit with two batteries and a charger almost always costs less than the same parts bought separately, because the battery is the expensive item. It is the right way into a platform. After that, buy bare tools.
Can you live with two platforms?
Plenty of workshops do, rarely by choice. It means two sets of batteries, two chargers, and twice the chance of grabbing the wrong pack. It is reasonable when one platform serves the jobsite and the other the garden.
Should I always go for the largest battery?
No. A high capacity pack is heavy, and weight tells on a driver held at arm's length all day. The simple rule: high capacity for hungry tools, low capacity for tools you hold for a long time.