I do a lot of different projects in any given week. It can be everything from home lab experiments, features, instrument building, to making comics and doing some woodworking/household projects.

I don’t work for Ace Hardware and am not affiliated with them in any way (other than being a member of their rewards program), but it has certainly become one of my favorite hardware stores. I can usually find what I’m looking for quickly, get exceptional customer service (which is exceedingly rare in my post-COVID experience), and usually get a reasonable price on whatever I need.

For a recent project, I spent some time comparing some of the Depot’s offerings to Ace’s and discovered (x) items that offer a better value from Ace Hardware.

Ace sells Lego

Including their own knockoff version of their own store’s facade

Lego might be expensive, but it’s incredibly popular. In 2025 alone, sales increased 12%, and prices went down due to the company’s efficiency.

If you’ve ever wanted to build a replica of your favorite hardware store, you’ll find Home Depot sorely lacking in that department. But Ace has you covered.

They have an entire line of generic brick building sets featuring everything from airplanes to a tiny brick replica of the store itself. Prices vary, but they trend toward the inexpensive side and are honestly pretty good quality for a Lego knockoff for around $35.

I haven’t come across a Home Depot that carries Lego, and I was pretty surprised by how many branded kits, like Star Wars and Animal Crossing, Ace had available. And if you don’t like Lego, there’s an Ace Hardware in California that sells delicious strawberry rhubarb pies.

Craftsman 2.5 Gallon Shopvac vs Stinger Vac

What you actually get for the money

Credit: David J. Buck / How-To Geek

I love a good shop vac, but I like something simple and compact. For most of my hobby projects (and cleaning HVAC filters), a 2.5-gallon vacuum seemed like a solid choice.

My budget was under $100. The two options I found were the Craftsman Shop Vac from Ace Hardware and the Stinger Shop Vac from Home Depot. On the surface, they seem similar and even have the same 1.75 peak HP power level. Even the price is similar. The Craftsman is $44.99 at Ace Hardware vs $44.98 Stinger vacuum at Home Depot.

They are not the same.

The Stinger works fine for some tasks, but the Craftsman, in my experience, has better suction and performs better. It has a longer hose (5ft compared to only 4ft on the Stinger) and cord (10ft instead of 6ft), and it works great for power-vacuuming in my car, my garage, and in my miniature painting station.

Both vacuums come with a few attachments, but the Craftsman has a bit more of an edge over the Stinger for my purposes, and I find myself using it more often since I go from place to place for cleaning often and don’t use it in any dedicated space.

Now, if you need me, I’ll be downstairs, with the shop vac, cleaning up the pile of wood shavings and other junk I made from my comic book stand build…

WAGO 221 Series 3 Port Lever Cable Connector 50 pk

The electrical connector you’ve never heard of

When you need to splice tiny wires together safely and easily, port lever cable connectors are a godsend. I’ve had to wire up some very touchy power supplies in my time, and I always go straight for these when I do it. The connectors are $19.99 at Ace Hardware vs $21.47 at Home Depot.

I think Ace Hardware has a bit of an edge here because, although they’re the exact same product and quantity, you’re paying less per unit by buying them in bulk from Ace instead of Home Depot.

If you’re doing a lot of wiring and going through these things fast, that can be very helpful long-term. The connectors themselves are small, reusable, and have built-in circuit test points, so they’re like a dream come true for hobbyists like myself.

Benjamin Moore paint

For DIY projects, the results speak for themselves

Credit: Quilia | Unsplash

Painting projects can be a hassle, especially finding the right color and tools. If you’re going the DIY route, a paint that looks good but doesn’t require professional precision is fantastic. Benjamin Moore paint covers that. They have a pretty storied history, including being one of the first companies to introduce computer-assisted color matching.

Now, Home Depot’s Behr line has some amazing paint, especially in its exterior line, but I’ve always found its interior paint a little lacking. I’m not a professional painter, and it usually requires a few good coats and a lot of finesse to get it to look good in my amateur experience.

I tried some Benjamin Moore paint on my office walls, did a single coat, and achieved fantastic results.

Ace Hardware is the official retailer for the line outside their own stores, so you can’t get it anywhere else. The price varies based on finish (but typically I buy less paint, so it saves me money), so my criteria for this being a “hidden deal” are its ease of use, how many coats I have to put on for a small project, and convenience.

When I needed to repaint the letters on my gate, but only needed a very small amount of paint, I grabbed an inexpensive “sampler” from this line. So while I like the paint and definitely consider it a hidden gem/better value, your experience will vary depending on your project, skill level, budget, and needs.

Ace Hardware has some great deals, but you have to work to find them

Credit: Unsplash

For my hobby projects and maintenance needs, Ace Hardware usually makes the most sense budget-wise. However, you should always shop the deals and factor in your own needs and the specifics of a given project to decide if a product is a good value or not.

I’m not going to say Ace Hardware is definitively better than Home Depot, but I think they have some excellent deals and tend to prefer them for smaller scale projects.

Now, to start shopping for some guitar tone wood…