Best Multi-Tools of 2026

The blade and the saw sit on the outside of the handles, so either one opens with a thumb without unfolding the pliers first. That single detail is why the Wave+ is our top pick: the jobs that actually come up in a day — cutting tape, trimming a zip tie, backing a screw out of a cabinet hinge — rarely need the pliers, and on most butterfly tools you have to open both handles to reach the knife. Eighteen tools ride on an 8.5-ounce stainless frame, the scissors are spring-action, and the blade locks open.

The tool selection has been edited rather than counted. A saw, a file, a ruler stamped into the handle, a set of drivers, can and bottle openers, and wire cutters that are replaceable instead of molded into the plier head — nothing here feels like filler, which is more than we can say for the tool count on some of the others in this group.

The limit worth knowing is leverage. The plier tips and the flathead drivers are for gripping and turning, not prying, and leaning on them is how any folding multi-tool ends up with a chipped jaw. Treat the Wave+ as the tool that saves you a walk back to the toolbox rather than as a replacement for a real pair of pliers.

What settles it for us is the serviceability. The 25-year warranty covers the tool, and the replaceable cutters mean the part that wears out first can be swapped instead of retiring the whole thing. That's a small engineering decision with a long payoff, and it's the difference between a multi-tool you keep and one you replace.

It costs a good deal less than our top pick, and the trade is easy to see: a 3.8-inch frame and 14 tools instead of 18. What survives is most of what matters day to day — a one-hand-opening locking blade, spring-action pliers, wire cutters and a stripper, and the package opener, a hooked blade that saves your knife edge on clamshell plastic.

None of that makes it feel like a cheap tool. At 6.88 ounces it drops into a jacket pocket without dragging, the pocket clip comes off with a screw if you prefer to carry it loose in a bag, and the 25-year warranty is the same one that covers the Wave+. For a first multi-tool, or a second one to leave in the car, we think that's the strongest case in this group.

The scissors are the one place the spec sheet and the tool disagree. They are not spring-loaded, only the pliers are, so they take a thumb on each handle every time you cut a length of cord. It's a small annoyance rather than a dealbreaker, and the pliers — the pair you use most — spring back exactly as they should.

This is the one for the person who wants a full-size multi-tool, doesn't want to spend much, and doesn't want to research it. Fifteen tools on a 4.25-inch frame, 6.4 ounces, a pocket clip on one side and a lanyard point on the other — and lighter than every other plier tool in this group, which is the number that decides whether it goes in a pocket or stays in a drawer.

The tool set covers the same ground as tools that cost far more: needle-nose and standard pliers, wire cutters and a stripper, three flathead and two cross drivers, an awl, a nail file, scissors, can and bottle openers, and a 2.25-inch partially serrated blade that locks open. The machining is the surprise — the handles close square and the tools line up, which is not something we take for granted at this end of the range.

The sheath isn't included. Gerber expects the pocket clip to do that work, and for pocket carry it does; if you want it on a belt, a generic pouch is a small addition, and the lanyard point gives you a third option.

Here's our call: none of the compromises costs you a job you were going to do with a pocket tool. The NXT is the one we point a first-time buyer at, because it does the whole repertoire at a price that makes a second one for the car easy to justify.

Two and a quarter inches closed and 21 grams — in the hand it's smaller than the product photos prepare you for, and that's the whole design brief. This is the tool that lives on a key ring and handles what a full-size multi-tool is too far away to help with: a loose thread, a hangnail, a package, the screw on a pair of glasses.

It earns its place as the key-ring pick and the easiest gift in this guide. The scissors and nail file do more work than the blade, the tweezers and toothpick are the two tools everyone forgets until the moment they need them, and the whole thing is light enough that you stop noticing it. Seven functions, Swiss made, and a lifetime guarantee against defects in materials and workmanship — we find that a lot of capability for something the size of a key.

The color range is part of the appeal, and not a small part: a bright scale gets carried, and a plain one gets left in a drawer. Pair it with a set of keys and it becomes the gift you hand someone who has never carried a tool and might start.

The two things the cheaper Gerber doesn't give you are a sheath and a saw, and both change where the tool lives. With the nylon sheath it rides on a belt or sits in a glovebox instead of competing for pocket space; with 17 tools rather than 15 it adds a saw and a full serrated blade alongside the same needle-nose pliers, cutters, drivers, scissors and openers.

At 8 ounces it's a substantial handful, and the weight is doing something. The handles are steel, every tool locks open, and there's a lanyard point as a third carry option if the sheath stays in the truck.

It makes sense as a glovebox or toolbag tool rather than a daily carry. The saw and the serrated blade are what you want for camping, yard work and cutting rope, and the sheath means you can leave it somewhere and find it again. The pliers are the part we treat with respect: the jaw is the component most likely to crack if you lean on it with hard wire, so use the cutters on copper and keep the tip for pulling and bending.

At 454 grams — a pound — this is the heaviest tool here, and that figure tells you who it's for. This is not a pocket multi-tool; it's the one that lives in a glovebox, a boat bag or a range kit, where the weight doesn't matter and the 21 tools, the bit set and the sheath do. We think it's the right answer for a tool that stays in the vehicle and the wrong one for a tool you carry.

What you get for the money is unusual. Twenty-one functions, self-locking tabs on the tools in the handles, needle-nose and standard pliers, a saw, a file, a ruler, can and bottle openers, and a magnetic hex sleeve that takes standard bits — so a worn or lost driver is a hardware-store trip rather than a dead tool. The nylon pouch has a separate elastic pocket on the front for spare bits, which is the detail that makes the whole thing usable.

The tools come stiff, and the first few openings take a thumbnail and some patience. Work each one open and shut a dozen times and they settle down; it's a break-in period rather than a flaw, and we mention it because the first ten minutes with this tool are not its best.

Spring-loaded needle-nose pliers are the reason we include this one. On a budget tool the pliers are usually the giveaway — plain jaws that you open and close by hand, one squeeze at a time. The WETOLS pair springs back between grips, which is the difference between picking up a dozen small parts and giving up after three.

The rest is the familiar budget package: 21 functions across a blade, a serrated knife, a metal and wood file, a ruler, a hex sleeve, a bottle opener, wire cutters and the usual drivers, with self-locking tabs on the folding tools. The nylon sheath has a belt loop, and the sandblasted handles give your thumb somewhere to sit when you're pushing a driver.

Where we land is that this is a spare rather than a primary. At 334 grams it's about a quarter lighter than the Mossy Oak, and 4.13 inches closed slides into a jacket pocket with the sheath as a belt option. Buy it as the second tool — the car, the shed, the boat — and keep one of the Leatherman or Gerber picks for the job that has to go right.