Twenty-two years of general contracting in Cleveland taught me that jobsite power and drill kits are the same purchase wearing two hats. The tool in your hand is half of it. The other half is whatever keeps a battery charged, and that second half is where people either overspend by $500 or strand themselves with a kit that quits on a Friday afternoon. I have burned out more drills than most people will ever own, and 30-some of them are nailed to the graveyard wall in my shop. So when I line up two cordless combo kits next to a gas inverter generator and a battery power station, I am not comparing four of the same thing. I am comparing the two purchases a working person makes in the same month: the tools, and the power behind them.
Related: Brushless Vs Brushed Drills: What Actually Changes On A Jobsite
Short answer: the CRAFTSMAN V20 brushless combo is the stronger of the two drill purchases here, and the EGO POWER+ power station is the smarter quiet power source if you already own EGO batteries. The Generac gas inverter earns its price the day you need real wattage where there is no outlet for a hundred yards.
The table mixes two categories on purpose, because that is how the decision actually shows up. You buy a drill kit, and then you figure out how you are going to charge it on a site with no power.
CRAFTSMAN V20 Brushless RP Drill Driver and Impact Driver Compact 2 Tool Combo Kit
Brushless motors, two 2Ah batteries and a charger, a listed 1,900 RPM drill and a 2,100 torque compact impact in one case
2Ah packs are small for deck work, and this badge has burned me before
20V Cordless Drill & Impact Driver Combo Kit, 2-Tool Power Tool Set, Fast Charger, 69-Pcs Bit Accessory Set & Tool Bag
Cheapest full kit here: two tools, a fast charger, 69 pieces of bits and drivers, and a bag on one 20V platform
No published torque figure, and the whole value rides on whether that platform still sells batteries in five years
EGO POWER+ Portable Power Station, 1400W, Inverter Generator for Home and Outdoor, Compatible with all EGO Batteries, Batteries Not Included - PST1400
1,400W of silent inverter power that runs off any EGO battery you already own, with no fumes and no pull cord
Batteries are not included, so the real cost depends on what is already in your garage
Generac 3,300 Watt Gas Powered Portable Inverter Generator, USB Charging
3,300 watts of gas inverter power with USB charging, and the only unit here that will run real tools off-grid
Gas means fuel, noise, and maintenance, and at this price it is a second purchase, not a first tool
Prices and availability were captured from Amazon Creators API and may change.
How I judge a kit before I recommend it
Every tool that earns a spot on my truck goes through the same gauntlet: a 200-screw deck rundown with torque readings every 50 screws, a charger-to-dead battery trial on a real job, 200 bit changes with a slip check under load, and a drop off a ladder, because jobsites are not labs. Spec sheets do not survive contact with a Cleveland winter, and neither do most tools.
I will be straight with you about this list. I have not put all four of these through the full rundown yet. What I can tell you is what the listings publish, what these two categories do in the field, and where the money actually goes. Where a number is the manufacturer's claim, I say so. Where it is a pattern I have watched repeat across 22 years of crews, I say that too.
The first question I ask about any cordless kit is not how much torque it makes. It is whether I can still buy a battery for it in five years. The battery platform is the real purchase. The drill is just the first tool you hang on it.
The two cordless kits
CRAFTSMAN V20 brushless RP drill and impact combo. This is the kit with published numbers: a brushless drill rated at 1,900 RPM, a compact impact driver the listing rates at 2,100 torque, two 2Ah batteries, and a charger. Brushless is not a marketing word in my book. It is the difference between a tool that lasts a season and a tool that lasts a decade, because there are no carbon brushes to cook. Two batteries in the box is also the right call, since one battery is a hobby and two is a workday.
Where it gives me pause is the badge. I have said out loud, more than once, that Craftsman looks like DeWalt's little brother and dies like one nobody warned you about. I stand by that as a general rule, and this being the brushless RP line softens it but does not erase it. The bigger practical issue is the 2Ah packs. Two amp-hours will drive a lot of cabinet screws and a fair number of deck screws, then tap out. For a deck, you want 4Ah or bigger, and that is a separate purchase.
The 20V drill and impact combo kit with the 69-piece set. This is the budget play, and it is not pretending otherwise. Two tools, a fast charger, 69 pieces of bits and drivers, and a bag. If you are a homeowner hanging pictures and assembling furniture, the accessory set is honestly the best part of the deal, because 69 pieces means you stop hunting for the one Phillips bit you own.
The problem with a kit like this is year three. There is no published torque figure, which usually tells you the number was not worth printing. Budget 20V platforms live and die on whether the batteries stay on the shelf. I keep a cheap drill in my truck for jobs I know will wreck a good tool, and this is that drill. It is not the drill I would hand my apprentice on a Monday morning and expect to see again in October.
The two power sources
Generac 3,300 watt gas powered portable inverter generator. This is the only thing on the list that will run a jobsite vacuum, a small compressor, or a circular saw off-grid. Inverter output with USB charging built in means you can top up tool batteries, phones, and a laptop from one machine, and inverter power is cleaner than what a contractor-grade open-frame unit puts out, which matters if electronics are on the other end of the cord.
The cost is everything around the fuel. Gas means a can, a stabilizer, an oil change, and a carburetor that will eventually make you angry in April. It also means noise. I have run generators on residential jobs where the neighbors came outside to stare. If you are framing a basement in February with no service yet, you will not care. If you are charging batteries in a garage that already has outlets, you are buying a machine to solve a problem you do not have.
EGO POWER+ portable power station, 1,400W. This is the one that made me stop and think. 1,400 watts of inverter power with no gas, no fumes, no pull cord, and no oil change, and it runs on any EGO battery you already own. If you are already in the EGO platform for a mower or a trimmer, you are not buying a power station. You are buying a new use for batteries you own, which is the same platform argument I make about drills.
The catch is right in the name: batteries are not included. The real price depends on what is already hanging in your garage. If the answer is nothing, add batteries and a charger to that number and the math changes fast. And 1,400 watts is a long way from 3,300. It will run chargers, lights, a laptop, and a small tool. It will not run a table saw.
The trade-offs nobody puts on the box
Three things decide these purchases, and none of them are in the headline spec.
Platform over product. A drill kit is a ten-year marriage to a battery system. The budget 20V kit and the CRAFTSMAN V20 kit are both asking you to commit, and the EGO station is asking you to commit if you have not already. Only the Generac asks for nothing, which is exactly why it costs the most.
Runtime beats peak torque. Spec torque is measured on a fresh battery with a warm motor. Real torque is what is left after 50 screws, a tired arm, and a 40-degree Cleveland morning. Two 2Ah packs on the CRAFTSMAN and whatever comes in the budget kit will both tell you the truth around screw 60, and the truth is usually that you need bigger batteries.
The chuck and the collet. A chuck that slips is a tool that lies, and no inch-pound claim survives a slipping chuck on a 3-inch deck screw. When any of these kits lands in your hands, tighten the chuck on a bit and try to twist it out by hand. If it moves, send it back. On the impact side, make sure you are working with a quick-release collet and not a chuck, or you will hate every bit change for the next five years.
Who should buy which
If you are a homeowner who wants one box that covers most of the work, the 20V kit with the 69-piece accessory set is the lowest-risk entry. It costs less than a decent dinner out for four, and the bits alone will save you a dozen trips to the hardware store.
If you are doing real work and you want a kit that will still be running in three years, the CRAFTSMAN V20 brushless combo is the pick, with the caveat that you should budget for bigger batteries if deck work is on the menu.
If you already own EGO batteries and you want clean, quiet power for charging, lights, and small tools, the EGO POWER+ station is the smart buy, provided you price it against the batteries you already have rather than the ones you would have to add.
If you need to run actual tools where there is no power at all, the Generac is the only one of the four that will do it, and you will pay for that in fuel, noise, and maintenance every single season.
What I am testing next
Two of these four are headed for the bench, and the 200-screw rundown will settle a few arguments the listings cannot. I want a torque reading at screw 200 on the CRAFTSMAN kit with the 2Ah packs, because that is where small batteries stop being a spec and start being a problem. I want to know how the budget kit's chuck holds up after 200 bit changes, since that is the failure point on every cheap drill I have ever owned.
The power side gets its own trial: a full rundown of what each unit will actually charge and run before it quits. Charger to dead, timed, on the same job, the way I have tested every battery claim I have ever repeated. The links in the table above go straight to the current listings if you want to check the numbers yourself before I get back to you with mine.