Sherwin-Williams vs. Benjamin Moore: How People Choose

Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore are two of the most familiar paint brands in North America, and many homeowners and contractors end up choosing between them. This guide does not rank them. Both have loyal fans, both offer many product lines, and the right choice usually comes down to practical things: which colors you love, where you can buy, and who is doing the work.

Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore are trademarks of their respective owners. Paintrz is independent and not affiliated with either brand.

Color systems and naming

Each brand organizes its colors in its own way, and learning the codes makes shopping easier.

• Sherwin-Williams colors carry an SW number, such as Alabaster SW 7008 or Agreeable Gray SW 7029. The number is the easiest way to be sure you are talking about the right color, since names can sound alike.
• Benjamin Moore uses several collections with their own code styles. You will see codes such as OC-17 for White Dove from the Off-White Collection, alongside numeric codes from other collections.

Both brands refresh their fan decks and featured palettes over time, and both publish a color of the year. When you write a color down, always include the brand and the code, not just the name.

Where each is sold

How you buy is often the deciding factor.

• Sherwin-Williams sells largely through its own company-operated stores, and its paint is also available through some other retail channels.
• Benjamin Moore sells mainly through independently owned paint and hardware stores that act as authorized dealers.

In practice, people often pick the brand with a convenient store nearby, or the one their painter already has an account with. Contractors tend to build relationships with a particular store and its staff, which affects ordering, pickup and pricing arrangements. It is worth asking your painter what they prefer and why.

Can one brand mix the other's color?

Often, yes. Many stores can tint their own paint to approximate a color from another brand's deck. This is common and can work well, but it is not identical to the original:

• Each brand uses its own base paints and colorants, so a cross-brand match is an interpretation, not a copy.
• Small differences are more noticeable in some colors than others, especially very light neutrals and subtle grays where undertone is everything.
• If you are touching up an existing wall, a cross-brand match may not blend invisibly with the original paint.

If a specific color is the whole reason you chose it, the safest path is to buy it from the brand that created it, or to paint a sample of the cross-brand match next to the original chip before committing.

Comparing colors across brands

Because both brands offer thousands of colors, it is common to find a near neighbor of a color you like in the other brand's lineup. The Paintrz color book lets you browse colors from both brands, and many others, in one place, and the color match tool shows the nearest colors across brands for any color you sample. Treat those as starting points: two colors that look close on a screen can still differ on a wall.

How to decide

1. Start with the color, not the logo. Find the exact color you want first.
2. Check where you can buy it and whether your painter has a preference.
3. If you plan to use a cross-brand match, sample it beside the original chip.
4. Pick the product line with your store's help, based on the room and the sheen you need.
5. Test a large sample on your own wall before buying the full amount.

The takeaway

There is no single right answer between these brands. Choose the color you love, buy it where it is convenient, listen to your painter, and confirm with a real sample. Record the brand and code for every color so touch-ups years from now are easy.