Best Drywall Cutting Tools of 2026

The blade folds into the handle and stays there until you press the red release, and that single detail is why this saw sits at the top of our list. A jab saw with a bare blade rattles around a tool bag looking for something to cut; this one rides in a pouch or a drawer closed up, so it's the saw that actually comes with you.

Open it and the 5.2-inch bi-metal blade is more aggressive than its size suggests — 8 teeth per inch, triple-ground, cutting on the push and the pull. We paid close attention to how it starts a cut, because that's where most jab saws embarrass themselves, and the tapered point bites into paper-faced board and holds the line you set. The lock keeps the blade rigid through the stroke instead of letting it fold back on your knuckles.

At 0.22 kg it disappears in a pouch, and the soft grip is sized for an ordinary hand rather than a bear paw. The lifetime warranty is unusual on a tool at this end of the range, and it says something about how Goldblatt expects that hinge to hold up. For openings, patches, and the odd piece of PVC trim, no hand tool here does more with less fuss.

Six inches of bi-metal is the reason to reach past the folding saw: fewer, longer strokes through a sheet, and a tip you can still see when you're working overhead. Nothing folds, nothing hinges, and nothing gives — the blade runs rigid from the handle to the point.

The handle is what surprised us. It's oversized, with a guard that keeps your knuckles off the board, and the soft grip holds when your hands are dusty. After a run of openings we noticed less hand fatigue than with the smaller folding saw, which is the sort of thing that quietly decides which tool you keep picking up.

Three cutting surfaces do the work: the teeth cut in both directions, and the sharpened oblique tip starts in plasterboard or plywood without a pilot hole. The build is stout enough to take a light tap when you're marking a box location. It's a simple tool, and the simplicity is the point — there's nothing to wear out but the teeth.

This is the cheapest saw here, and it's still a proper one: a rigid high-speed-steel blade pinned into a hardwood handle, with no hinge and nothing to adjust. For cutting openings for outlets, switches, and supply lines in a wall that's already hung, that's the whole job description.

Seven bi-ground teeth per inch move quickly through half-inch board, and the rigid blade gives you something solid to push against when you're starting a cut in the middle of a sheet. The hardwood handle is the part we didn't expect to care about — it's balanced, it doesn't flex, and it takes a knock without loosening.

Where it gives ground is refinement, not function: a plain handle, a bare blade, and nothing extra in the box. None of that shows up in the cut. For a homeowner opening up a medicine cabinet and a couple of outlet boxes, this is the sensible buy; for daily work, one of the Goldblatt saws above is a nicer thing to hold.

The LED sits right where the bit meets the board, and after one opening in a room with the power off you understand why that matters. DEWALT put the on/off button at the front of the body too, so your hand doesn't shift to start or stop a cut — small things that add up across a dozen boxes.

The 26,000 rpm brushless motor goes through 3/8, 1/2, and 5/8 board without bogging, and the tool-free bit change means you're not hunting for a wrench between openings. At 1.6 pounds it's easy to hold at ceiling height, and the belt clip keeps it on your hip instead of on the floor where you'll trip on it. The depth ring snaps on and off for different board thicknesses.

For anyone already on the 20V MAX platform, this is the cut-out tool we point to: the light and the switch placement are the two things you notice in the first opening, and neither reads as important on a spec sheet. Have someone hold a vac hose near the bit — the LED will show you exactly how much dust a cut-out tool makes.

The box says bare tool, which means no battery and no charger — fine if there are M18 packs on the shelf, less fine if there aren't. Inside is a compact spiral saw with a 4-pole motor, a removable depth guide, a belt clip, and 1.9 pounds of Milwaukee red.

For an M18 owner this is the sensible buy. The pack that runs your drill runs this, the five-year tool warranty is the kind of cover that matters on a motored tool, and 28,000 rpm is more than drywall needs. The slide switch stays where you set it, which we appreciate when both hands are busy holding the tool against a ceiling.

The depth guide is worth the ten minutes of setup: set the bit to the board thickness and every opening in the room comes out the same depth. Where this tool asks more of you is at the edges — a spiral bit follows the pressure you put on it, so even, light passes beat forcing it around a corner.

There's no battery to charge, no platform to buy into, and no sag in power as a pack drains: the DW660 plugs in and runs at 30,000 rpm until you pull the cord. Across a remodel with a long list of openings, that's a real advantage over either cordless tool here.

The 5-amp motor doesn't bog, and it drives a 1/8-inch or 1/4-inch bit through drywall fast enough that a light touch matters more than pressure. Changing a bit is the weak spot: you depress two buttons and turn the collet at the same time, which is a two-handed job that gets old if you swap bits often.

For a homeowner with a room to finish, this is the corded tool we point to. It's heavy at 3.4 pounds and it's tethered to an extension cord, but it costs less than either cordless option here and there's no battery to budget for. The 30,000 rpm is more than drywall needs — it's plywood, cement board, and plastic cutouts where the extra speed earns its keep.

Eight blades, one handle, and a clamp that swaps them without a tool — that's the whole idea, and for a saw that lives in a bag and comes out for odd jobs, it's a good one. There's a drywall blade in the set, plus blades for wood, plastic, and metal, which is more variety than any single-purpose jab saw can offer.

The clamp is the part to understand before you buy. It grips the blade at the handle end only, with nothing supporting the far end, so a long blade has some whip to it when you push — fine for a short cut through board, less fine when you're trying to hold a line through anything harder.

In the hand it's more comfortable than a multi-blade tool has any right to be. The TPR grip is soft, the whole thing weighs 8.48 ounces, and blade changes take seconds once you've done one. It disappears into a tool bag and turns up when you need it, which is more than we can say for the saws left in the garage.

Breadth is the point here, not depth. If you're cutting a dozen openings, a dedicated jab saw or a cut-out tool does it faster and straighter; if you want one small saw for a patch, a length of PVC trim, and the odd piece of dowel, this covers all three and takes up less room than a drawer divider.