Benjamin Moore vs Sherwin-Williams: Which Is Better?

Neither brand is clearly better. On the published numbers, Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams are far closer than the internet suggests, and the price on the day plus the colour you choose matter more than the name on the can. We checked both brands' own product pages and Sherwin-Williams' technical data sheet on 8 September 2026, and read Benjamin Moore prices at Aboff's Paints, an authorized dealer, the same day. We didn't paint anything; we read what the makers publish.

Here's the finding that changed how we'd shop. Sherwin-Williams' flagship Emerald and Benjamin Moore's flagship Aura publish the same coverage, 350 to 400 sq ft per gallon, and Benjamin Moore's cheaper Regal Select publishes more than either of them, at 400 to 450. The dearest can in either shop isn't the one that goes furthest, whatever the comparison articles imply.

What does a gallon actually cost at each brand right now?

On 8 September 2026, a gallon of interior paint cost anywhere from $54.27 (Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint on sale) to $105.99 (Benjamin Moore Aura at list), with Sherwin-Williams Emerald at $65.97 on sale, Benjamin Moore Regal Select at $71.99 and Benjamin Moore ben at $60.99. The Sherwin-Williams figures are from sherwin-williams.com for a 1 gallon flat in the Extra White base. The Benjamin Moore figures are from Aboff's Paints, an authorized dealer, and every can there also carries a $0.95 New York State Paint Care Fee.

Two things skew the table. Sherwin-Williams was running 35% off both paints, stated as valid through 09/08/2026, so the list prices are what you'd pay on a quiet week. And Aboff's had a store-wide code, SAVE20, for 20% off every Benjamin Moore paint, which the list column doesn't show. Prices change weekly. If the shelf disagrees with us, trust the shelf.

Does Benjamin Moore really cover better than Sherwin-Williams?

Not at the flagship level: Benjamin Moore Aura and Sherwin-Williams Emerald both publish 350 to 400 sq ft per gallon, and it's Benjamin Moore's mid-tier Regal Select that publishes more, at 400 to 450 sq ft per gallon. The Emerald figure comes from Sherwin-Williams' own technical data sheet, document 101.08FLB dated 11/2023, at 4 mils wet and 1.6 mils dry. The Aura figure is from the Benjamin Moore application guide as published by Pittsburgh Spray Equipment. The Regal Select figure is published identically by two authorized dealers, Pontiac Paint Supply and Southern Paint & Supply, both reproducing Benjamin Moore's data.

So the can that costs the most isn't the can that goes the furthest.

Because these are the makers' own numbers, they assume a smooth, sealed wall and the stated film thickness. A thirsty patch of fresh plaster or a textured ceiling will drink more, and Benjamin Moore recommends two coats regardless. We haven't rolled a single gallon of either, so treat the ranges as a starting estimate and keep the receipt.

Why is Sherwin-Williams paint always on sale?

Sherwin-Williams paint looks permanently on sale because its list prices sit well above what the store charges during its percentage-off promotions, and on 8 September 2026 both Emerald and SuperPaint were 35% off, with the sale stated as valid through that day. Emerald was listed at $101.49 and selling at $65.97, a saving of $35.52, and SuperPaint was listed at $83.49 and selling at $54.27, saving $29.22. So the sticker is a ceiling, and the sale price is the number to compare.

Benjamin Moore works the other way round. Its list prices are lower to begin with, $71.99 for Regal Select and $105.99 for Aura at Aboff's, and any discount comes from the dealer rather than the brand, like that store's 20% SAVE20 code. It's a bit like the sofa shop that's been closing down for eleven years: the sign is true, and it's also permanent. Compare the two brands on the day you're buying, at the sale price, and ignore the list.

Which brand has more colours to choose from?

Benjamin Moore states its paint is available in 3,500+ colors on the Regal Select listing; we didn't find an equivalent single published count on the Sherwin-Williams product pages we checked, so we can't give you a verified head-to-head number for colours. Honestly, 3,500 is already more than any human can sample. What you can compare is sheens, and there the lineups differ in small, useful ways.

• ·Emerald interior comes in Flat, Matte, Satin and Semi-Gloss, four sheens, in 1 quart, 1 gallon and 5 gallon sizes (product number K35W00451).
• ·SuperPaint interior comes in Flat, Satin, Velvet and Semi-Gloss, also four, with Velvet in place of Matte.
• ·Aura interior comes in Matte, Eggshell, Satin and Semi-Gloss (codes K522 to K528), so there's no true Flat in the flagship.
• ·Regal Select interior has five: Flat, Matte, Eggshell, Pearl and Semi-Gloss (codes N547 to N551).

So if you want a dead-flat wall from Benjamin Moore, the mid-tier can is the one that offers it. And 3,500 colours is a marketing count. On a wall, in your light, a good many of them are indistinguishable from their neighbours.

Why won't a Benjamin Moore colour match exactly in Sherwin-Williams paint?

A Benjamin Moore colour won't match exactly in Sherwin-Williams paint because the two brands tint with different colorant systems: Benjamin Moore uses its proprietary Gennex Color Technology, and Sherwin-Williams' data sheet says Emerald can only be tinted with CCE Colorants. A colour formula is a recipe of specific colorants in specific amounts, and you can't cook the same recipe from a different set of ingredients. What you get is a near neighbour.

Either shop will attempt a match if you bring the name or a chip, and we haven't verified either store's matching policy, so we won't pretend to. But a match is an approximation by definition, and any gap is easier to see in evening light than at noon. If the colour is the whole point of the job, buy the paint from the brand that made the colour. If the price is the point, get the match, paint a sample, and look at it at 7am and 10pm before committing a room to it.

What do volume solids and VOC on the can actually mean?

Volume solids is the share of the wet paint that's still on the wall once the water has gone, and VOC is the weight of volatile organic compounds in each litre of paint, the part that evaporates as it dries; both come straight off the technical data sheet. For Emerald flat, Sherwin-Williams publishes volume solids of 40 plus or minus 2 percent, weight solids of 58 plus or minus 2 percent, and a can weight of 11.68 lbs per gallon. Applied at 4 mils wet, it dries to 1.6 mils, which is what the coverage figure assumes. Its VOC, less exempt solvents, is under 50 grams per litre, or 0.42 lbs per gallon, measured per 40 CFR 59.406.

Benjamin Moore's ben is also under 50 g/L, and Aura is described as a zero VOC formulation. The application guide gives Aura approximately 42 percent solids, but it doesn't say whether that's by volume or by weight, so it can't be lined up against Emerald's 40 percent volume figure. It's one of those numbers that looks like a win until you read the label on the axis.

How much paint do I need for one room, and what will it cost?

A 12 by 12 ft room with 8 ft ceilings has a 48 ft perimeter, so 48 x 8 gives 384 sq ft of wall; two coats is 768 sq ft, which needs about 2 gallons at 350 to 400 sq ft per gallon. That's our own arithmetic from the published coverage figures; no manufacturer says it, and we haven't subtracted the door or the window. Most people don't, because the leftover ends up in the garage with the colour name written on the lid in marker, waiting for the scuff behind the bin. What two gallons cost at the prices we saw on 8 September 2026:

• ·SuperPaint: $108.54 at the sale price.
• ·Emerald: $131.94 at the sale price, or $202.98 at list.
• ·ben: $121.98.
• ·Regal Select: $143.98 at list, or $115.18 with Aboff's SAVE20 code.
• ·Aura: $211.98.

Add $0.95 per can for the New York Paint Care Fee at that retailer. And because Regal Select publishes 400 to 450 sq ft per gallon, two cans of it go further than two of either flagship, a quiet argument for the cheaper paint.

Which brand is better for a bedroom, and which for a kitchen or bathroom?

For a bedroom, either brand's mid-tier paint in Flat or Matte does the job; for a kitchen or bathroom, the deciding factors we can verify are sheen choice and recoat time, because we have no mildew or scrub test results for either brand and won't invent any. That's the one limitation you'd rather know than not: this comparison rests on published prices and data sheets, nothing more.

On sheens, Regal Select offers five, Flat, Matte, Eggshell, Pearl and Semi-Gloss, where Emerald offers four. Pearl sits between Eggshell and Semi-Gloss, which gives you one more step to choose from for a wall that gets wiped. On timing, Emerald's data sheet says touch dry in 1 hour and recoat in 4 hours at 77F and 50% relative humidity. Aura can be recoated after about an hour, and ben is touch dry in 30 minutes and recoatable in 1 hour. In a bathroom you want back by bedtime, that four-hour gap is the difference between one Saturday and two. And Benjamin Moore recommends two coats, so plan the second one in.

Where does each brand genuinely beat the other?

Sherwin-Williams beats Benjamin Moore on shelf price during a sale, and Benjamin Moore beats Sherwin-Williams on published coverage in its mid tier and on recoat speed at the flagship level; everything else we could verify is close enough to call a draw. Here's the scorecard from the numbers above.

• ·Price on sale. Sherwin-Williams wins: SuperPaint at $54.27 and Emerald at $65.97 on 8 September 2026 undercut every Benjamin Moore gallon at list.
• ·Price at list. Benjamin Moore wins: ben at $60.99 and Regal Select at $71.99 sit well under Emerald's $101.49, so on a week with no sale the order flips.
• ·Published coverage. Benjamin Moore wins on Regal Select's 400 to 450 sq ft per gallon; the two flagships tie at 350 to 400.
• ·Recoat time. Benjamin Moore wins: Aura at about an hour and ben at 1 hour against Emerald's 4 hours.
• ·Sheen choice. Regal Select's five beat Emerald's four, but Aura's four have no Flat, so it depends which can you're holding.

We didn't test durability or washability, and neither did most of the articles that rank one brand above the other.

Does the paint brand matter more than the colour you pick?

No, the paint brand matters less than the colour you pick, because the two brands' published coverage overlaps and their prices swap places depending on who's running a sale, while a wrong colour is wrong at $54.27 and at $105.99 alike. The brand decision takes one read of this page. The colour decision is the one people get wrong, and it's the one that costs a weekend to undo.

Sample pots are the honest way to choose, and they add up fast if you're weighing more than a couple of candidates. RoomCalm's paint colour visualizer repaints the walls in your own photo, free and unlimited in the browser with no sign-up, so you can cut a long shortlist down before you buy a single tester. It never gets the final say. A screen can't reproduce your bulbs or your north-facing window, and it's never stood in your room at four in the afternoon. Use it to throw out the obvious losers, then buy the tester pot for the survivors, whichever brand's shelf is cheaper that week.