Glidden vs. Behr (Which Paint Is Better?) - Prudent Reviews (2024)

Are you searching for the best paint for your project? As you compare options, you’ve likely come across Glidden and Behr.

Both brands offer a wide variety of paints, primers, and stains. But which is better? How do they compare? Is Behr worth the higher price?

In this comparison of Glidden vs. Behr, I’ll break down the differences between these two popular paint brands.

You’ll learn how they compare in terms of:

• Product offerings
• Colors
• Price
• Performance
• Durability
• And much more

Plus, I reveal what paint experts have to say about Glidden and Behr.

By the end, you’ll have the facts you need to choose the best paint for your home project.

Use the links below to navigate this comparison:

• Glidden vs. Behr: Key Takeaways
• Paint Offerings
• Where It Is Sold
• Colors
• Price
• What Home Depot Says About the Difference Between Behr and Glidden
• What Others Are Saying About Behr and Glidden
• Bottom Line: Should You Use Glidden or Behr?

Paint Offerings

Glidden and Behr both carry multiple lines of paint for interior and exterior jobs.

While you can find both brands at Home Depot, Glidden has additional options in other retail spaces.

In this section, I highlight Glidden and Behr’s most popular paints.

Glidden Paints

Glidden offers a range of interior, exterior, and special project paints such as ceilings, porches, floors, trim, doors, furniture, barns, fences, stucco, and wood. You can learn more about each of the options below on HomeDepot.com, Walmart.com, and Amazon.

Glidden Diamond Interior Paint: This is the brand’s most expensive and best-performing paint. It covers in one coat (select colors) and has zero VOCs.

Glidden High Endurance Interior Paint: It’s washable, provides excellent coverage, and low odor, so it’s indoor friendly.

Glidden High Endurance Grab-N-Go Interior Paint: It’s pre-tinted in popular colors, washable, and provides excellent coverage with a low odor profile.

Glidden High Endurance Plus Grab-N-Go Interior Paint + Primer: This pre-tinted paint also contains primer to save you time.

Glidden High Endurance Plus Interior Paint + Primer: A super-durable paint that can be washed or scrubbed. It does a great job covering existing paint.

Glidden Total Interior Paint + Primer: Great, inexpensive choice, good coverage, and remarkable durability to hold up to washing and scrubbing.

Glidden Premium Interior Paint + Primer: It goes on thick, easy to apply, and hides previous colors or stains.

Glidden One-Coat Interior Paint + Primer: An acrylic-based paint that is exceptional at hiding colors and stains. It is stain-resistant and can be scrubbed without the risk of peeling or fading.

Glidden Fundamentals Interior Paint: A basic paint that is pre-tinted or ready to tint with low odor and good coverage.

Glidden Essentials Interior Paint: A quality, low odor paint that provides exceptional results when used on primed walls or painted walls of a similar color.

Glidden Spred Interior Paint: Low odor, smooth coverage, and great at hiding minor imperfections.

Glidden Spred Interior Paint + Primer: Can be tinted or purchased in pre-tinted mixes. It is designed to withstand scrubbing and best for areas that need regular cleaning, such as kitchens.

Glidden Quick Cover Interior Paint: A ready-mixed paint that is great for maintenance and refreshment.

Glidden Color Place ULTRA Interior Paint + Primer: An excellent choice for an all-in-one paint. It’s mildew resistant and provides excellent coverage.

Glidden High Endurance Plus Exterior Paint + Primer: An exterior paint with exceptional adhesion, high durability, and resistance to dirt, cracking, peeling, and fading. This is a good choice for covering existing paint.

Glidden High Endurance Plus Grab-N-Go Exterior Paint + Primer: Pre-tinted paint keeps its color and resists dirt, cracking, and peeling. It provides exceptional coverage and adhesion.

Glidden Total Exterior Paint + Primer: Can be applied in temperatures down to 35°F. It boasts excellent adhesion and excellent dirt resistance.

Glidden Premium Exterior Paint + Primer: Can be applied in cold weather (down to 35°F), retains color over time. This low odor paint is resistant to cracking and peeling.

Glidden One-Coat Interior Paint + Primer: Offers one-coat coverage and high fade resistance. It provides excellent protection from cracking and peeling.

Glidden Essentials Exterior Paint: A 100% acrylic paint with good coverage and versatility to handle various outdoor surfaces.

Glidden Premium Interior/Exterior: Designed to resist fading and extreme weather conditions. It keeps its high-gloss finish and is resistant to cracking and peeling.

Behr Paints

Behr has a smaller inventory of paints, but they are all high quality. It also offers specialized paints for cabinets, trim, basem*nt masonry, fences, barns, and brick.

Behr Premium Plus Interior: It blocks stains and is tough enough to handle vigorous scrubbing. This paint provides excellent coverage, even over a previous color.

Behr Ultra Scuff Defense Interior: This formula is designed to stand up to scuff and stains, perfect for high-traffic areas. It is also resistant to mildew.

Behr Marquee Interior: This paint provides one-coat coverage with exceptional stain resistance, durability, and washability.

Behr Dynasty: This is Behr’s newest, most premium, and expensive paint. It’s a one-coat paint with additives that make it scuff and mar resistant.

Behr Premium Plus Exterior: Resists fading and mildew and offers long-lasting coverage.

Behr Ultra Exterior: A high-quality, stain-blocking, mildew-resistant formula featuring NANOGUARD — a protective shell that guards against degradation from sunlight and moisture. It performs well in multiple climates down to 35°F.

Behr Marquee Exterior: The most advanced formula for stain and dirt resistance. It creates a non-stick surface that holds up to the elements and can handle rain after 60 minutes of application.

Related: Check out my in-depth comparison of Behr Ultra vs. Marquee.

As you can see, both brands offer plenty of flexibility for your indoor, outdoor, and specialty projects. Glidden offers more products, while Behr is streamlined in its offerings. The takeaway is that both have comparable products.

The main difference is that all Behr paints include primer, while Glidden gives you a choice of primer/paint combinations or primer-free paint.

The right paint for you largely depends on the job you are planning.

For example, if you have a high-traffic area indoors susceptible to scuff marks, you might opt for Behr Ultra Scuff Defense. If you are painting in an area known for mildew, you’d likely want Glidden Color Place ULTRA Interior Paint + Primer.

You can learn more about each of these options on HomeDepot.com.

Where It Is Sold

A major difference between Glidden and Behr is where they are sold.

Behr paint is exclusively sold at The Home Depot. Glidden is available at The Home Depot as well, but also through Walmart, Amazon, and some independent Glidden authorized retailers.

If you’re leaning towards Behr paint but don’t live close to a Home Depot, you can buy it on HomeDepot.com and have it shipped to your home. In most cases, delivery is free if you spend a certain amount.

Before buying, you can use these paint calculators to help you get the right amount:

• Behr Paint Calculator
• Glidden Paint Calculator

As a rule, it’s always good to purchase slightly more paint than you need to avoid running out in the middle of your project.

Colors

Glidden and Behr both offer a wide range of colors and feature multiple tools and resources to help you find the perfect one.

Yet, Glidden and Behr’s colors have subtle variations, so I advise picking your color only after you’ve decided on which brand to buy.

Both brands offer 8-ounce paint samples, which are a great way to test out a color before committing to an entire gallon. And both brands offer innovative online tools to help you narrow the options.

Glidden Color Tools

Glidden offers over 1,000 paint colors. Check out all the colors at once, or sort them by color family. The company also provides plenty of resources online to help you choose your paint color. The Glidden Room Visualizer tool enables you to see what the color will look like in any room of your house.

Simply upload a clear, well-lit photo of the room you wish to paint, choose the intended color(s) and click “paint” to get an idea of how it will look. If you don’t have a photo, you can use a pre-loaded sample room similar to yours.

This technology is the closest thing to seeing the finished product without picking up a brush. Plus, you can try as many colors as you desire for free.

One standout feature is the option to choose a color palette based on a picture. So, if you have a photo of something that inspires the look of your room, such as a beaded pillow or a work of art, you can upload it, and Glidden will show you each color that matches your inspiration piece.

Try the Glidden Room Visualizer

Behr Color Tools

Behr doesn’t list the number of colors it has in its palette, but it breaks down each color family extensively in the Explore Color tool.

Like Glidden, Behr has a visualization feature to help you get a sense of what your painted room will look like.

However, unlike Glidden’s tools, with Behr, you can see a side-by-side before and after view and can share your project by email or on social media.

In short, it offers a bit more customization.

Just like Glidden, you’ll get the complete offering of colors from Behr’s collection, but as an added benefit, you’ll have access to a live color expert you can chat with while you build your project.

Try Behr Paint Your Place

Price

One of the most significant differences between Glidden and Behr paint is the price.

If you compare similar formulations (i.e., flat paint to flat paint), Behr is more expensive.

But keep in mind that prices are going to vary depending on the type of paint and finish.

For example, paint and primer combos are more expensive than paint only, and high gloss paint will run you more than flat.

Even within each brand, prices will vary. For example, Behr Dynasty is the brand’s most expensive option, while Behr Premium Plus is more affordable.

To compare the prices of Glidden vs. Behr most popular paints, check out the following chart:

What Home Depot Says About the Difference Between Behr and Glidden

To get an expert opinion on Glidden vs. Behr, I called the paint department at four local Massachusetts Home Depot stores and asked them a simple question: What’s the difference between Glidden and Behr?

The answers I got back showed a clear consensus: Behr is a much higher quality paint than Glidden.

The paint department at the Norwood, Massachusetts Home Depot told me that Behr is much more popular because it goes on smooth and dries much faster.

The representative at the Avon, Massachusetts Home Depot said that Behr has superior durability and quality and that it’s much better at resisting stains. She also mentioned that if you want the best of the best, go with Behr Marquee.

The experts at The Home Depot in Quincy, Massachusetts, echoed the same sentiment, saying that Behr has better quality and consistency than Glidden. The representative added that most Behr paints require two coats, Behr Marquee only requires one, but customers often complain that they need to apply three coats of Glidden.

Finally, the paint department at the Natick, Massachusetts Home Depot was very candid, saying: Behr is the better paint. They said that it goes on smoothly, lasts longer, and is an overall better product.

Clearly, Behr is the favored paint in the eyes of the folks that sell both brands.

What Others Are Saying About Glidden and Behr

You just learned what paint experts at Home Depot have to say, but what about DIY enthusiasts, professionals, and independent product reviewers?

Below is a breakdown of what others are saying about these two brands.

Glidden

The Hartford Courant Consumer Reports recognize Glidden Premium flat and satin paints as superior exterior paints in a test that compared 76 paints and stains. The one-year test exposed the paint to harsh outdoor conditions equivalent to three years of wear.

Good Housekeeping reported that after testing Glidden Premium interior paint, it found that it dried well and was resistant to mold, mildew, fading, and stains. On the downside, it does not stand up to abrasions, and you may need more paint to cover an area adequately.

Good Housekeeping also tested High Endurance interior paint and gave it high marks for wear resistance. It has zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can cause health issues when inhaled. Yet, the paint had poor coverage and finish, making it a substandard choice in that regard.

Good Housekeeping reviewed a Glidden paint and primer combination (Glidden DUO) for interior projects. The test results showed that the affordable paint combo had low VOCs and decent coverage and stain removal. It failed in wear resistance and finish quality.

Continuing with Good Housekeeping, the reviewers chose Glidden Premium interior paint and primer combination as the best choice for kitchens and bathrooms since it is mold, mildew, and stain-resistant. The paint dried fast and can be scrubbed or washed without losing its integrity.

The Spruce named Glidden Essential interior paint as the best budget buy. Reviewers called out its affordability, excellent coverage, and “easy-to-clean finish.” It also praised the paint line for low VOCs with minimal odor. The 15-year warranty is a nice bonus.

Business Insider chose Glidden Premium Semi-Gloss Latex exterior paint as the best choice for brick, stucco, and other porous outdoor surfaces. It dries fast (one hour in temps above 35°F) and holds up against chipping and fading.

Overall, Glidden is seen as an affordable paint brand, boasting lots of color options. But the value diminishes due to its limitations in coverage.

I’ve analyzed thousands of reviews and forum posts about Glidden, and most complaints focus on drying time, coverage, consistency, and how true to color it is once you paint your walls or trim. The main thing people love? How affordable it is.

Behr

In the land of DIY, Bob Vila names Behr Premium Low Luster Interior/Exterior Porch Paint as the best for high-traffic porch or patio floors. According to the site, it’s durable and resists wear, cracking, and peeling. It also boasts excellent coverage (one gallon per 400 square feet).

Bob Vila named Behr Premium Plus and Behr Alkyd Satin Enamel (specialty paint) as two of the top five interior paint choices. Both received high marks for zero or low VOCs, making them indoor friendly due to a low odor threshold.

Premium Plus was noted for drying fast (an hour), excellent coverage, and built-in primer so you can go directly from sanding to painting.

The Alkyd Satin Enamel was praised for its stain and wear resistance. It also dries and cures faster than other oil-based paints.

The Spruce called Behr Premium Plus interior paint the best white paint, noting its easy application, full coverage (even on dark, pre-painted walls), and resistance to mildew.

The Wirecutter reviewed interior paints, and although they did not name Behr in its top three, it was mentioned several times by painters, albeit with mixed reviews. Some claimed it offered excellent coverage, while others called it “terrible.” Glidden was not mentioned in the review.

Good Housekeeping reviewed Behr Premium Plus interior paint and reported that while it was stain and fade-resistant, it left more to be desired in terms of coverage quality (needing more than one coat). The testers also noticed spatter during application.

Good Housekeeping called Behr Marquee the best choice for covering old paint and Behr Premium Plus as the best choice for laundry rooms due to its stain and moisture resistance. Both lines boast low VOCs.

The Spruce chose Behr Premium Plus exterior paint as the best overall and Behr Masonry & Brick paint as the best for stucco in its list of nine top exterior paints. Of note was Behr Premium Plus’s durability, as well as its resistance to stains, moisture, mildew, and fading from UV exposure. Behr Masonry & Brick had similar accolades and was also praised for its 20-year warranty.

Business Insider gave Behr Premium Plus Ultra the designation of best exterior paint overall. The reviewers loved its 10-year durability guarantee and versatility. Tests proved its resistance to fading, cracking, and mildew.

Real Simple chose Behr as one of the top seven interior paints for its value, durability, and finish.

Consumer Reports ranked Behr Marquee and Behr Ultra as two of the six top-performing interior paints based on lab tests evaluating how well the paint hides dark colors and stains.

Consumer Reports gave Behr Marquee interior paint high marks for oil and water stain resistance. It also gave it a perfect score for covering dark colors with just one coat.

Consumer Reports tested Behr Premium Plus Ultra exterior paint a good score for resisting color change, cracking, dirt, and mildew. After being exposed to accelerated weathering, its appearance held up after three years and only slightly degraded after six and nine years.

Overall, Behr ranks near the top of most “best of” lists. Though it costs more than Glidden, it has the accolades to support its quality. Plus, all Behr interior and exterior paint comes with built-in primer, which adds to its cost.

Professional painters tend to have mixed reviews about Behr, but DIYers are pretty steady with praise for the brand.

The one sticking point? The price. Even so, many express being willing to pay extra for a paint that delivers on its promises.

Bottom Line: Should You Use Glidden or Behr Paint?

Bottom line — Behr is regarded as higher quality paint, but you can only buy it at Home Depot. Glidden offers a few premium paint options that can get the job done for less.

With paint, you typically get what you pay for. The higher price usually equates to better coverage and durability.

Both brands offer multiple lines at different price points and quality thresholds. Overall, Behr is more expensive and better quality. Its most premium paints are Marquee and Dynasty.

To read more reviews and learn more about Glidden and Behr, check them out at the links below.

• Behr on HomeDepot.com.
• Glidden on HomeDepot.com, Walmart.com, and Amazon