Best Chainsaws 2026: 7 Gas, Battery and Corded Picks

Picking among the best chainsaws is really a question about one number you will never see on a product page: how long it takes the saw to get through a log. We compared seven chainsaws actually sold on Amazon — from a $35.99 six-inch mini to a $489 twenty-inch battery saw — using live U.S. prices and category ranks pulled from Amazon’s product API, and we anchored every cut-time and weight figure to the most extensive hands-on saw testing we could find: a 19-saw, timed-trial programme run by TechGearLab, plus This Old House’s field testing. We also cover the part most buying guides skip — kickback, the leading cause of chainsaw injury — using published guidance from two university extension services.

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What to Look For in a Chainsaw

Start with the job, not the badge. The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension puts it plainly in its chainsaw bulletin: “The best saw is the one you can comfortably handle and is appropriate for the type of work you do most often.” That single line rules out most bad purchases — a 20-inch gas saw is the wrong tool for pruning shrubs, and a 6-inch mini is the wrong tool for a fallen oak.

Safety hardware is the first filter, and UGA Extension lists what to look for: a front hand guard that stops a slipping hand from reaching the chain; a chain brake that stops a moving chain in a fraction of a second if kickback occurs; a throttle trigger interlock so the saw cannot rev unless you are gripping it properly; a stop switch your right thumb can reach without letting go; a rear hand guard; a chain catcher for a broken or thrown chain; an adjustable oil pump; vibration dampeners; a spark arrester; a bumper spike; and an anti-kickback chain. If a listing lists none of these, that is your answer.

Then match the power source to the workload. This Old House’s tested guide frames the trade-off well: battery saws win on convenience, instant start and maintenance, gas saws win on sustained power for heavy work. Its own checklist adds the features that separate good saws from annoying ones — a blade brake you can nudge with your wrist, a handle you can hold down with your boot during starts, a tool-less chain tensioner, an easy-start system with a primer bulb, anti-vibration technology and automatic chain oiling. Bar length is the last decision, not the first: it sets the maximum trunk you can cut in one pass, and it also sets the weight you carry all day.

Finally, budget for the gear that is not in the box. UGA Extension recommends steel-toe boots and a hard hat for falling branches, gloves, safety glasses, and — for extended use — a good pair of chainsaw chaps. No saw in this guide ships with any of it.

Quick Comparison: 7 Chainsaws Side by Side

Spec-Truth Table

1. EGO Power+ CS2005 20-Inch Battery Chainsaw — Best Overall

What We Like

This is the saw that ended the argument about battery power. TechGearLab, which has tested chainsaws for years, named the CS2005 its fastest-cutting saw ever and measured a 3.5-second cut through a 4×4 timber — against an average of 15.4 seconds for the field and 1.5 seconds clear of the next-best saw, which was a gas model. Their summary is direct: it is “the first electric saw that can cut faster than gas saws from Stihl, Echo, and Husqvarna.” In practice that means no choke, no priming, no pull-cord — press and cut. It ships as a full kit with a 56V 6.0Ah battery and charger, tops out at an 82 ft/s chain speed, has a battery/mode display with Eco, Medium and Boost settings, and the listing quotes up to 135 cuts per charge on 6×6 stock.

What Could Be Better

It is heavy — 19.1 lb measured, about the same as a 20-inch gas saw and four to five pounds more than most 18-inch battery models — and much of that is the 6.3-pound 6.0Ah pack. TechGearLab also found that sustained cuts through 20-inch-plus trunks triggered heat shutoffs, and that the tool-based chain tensioner (stored under the saw) is more fiddly than the tool-less systems on smaller EGO saws. Their verdict on the honest limit: “For back-to-back, all-day cutting, gas still wins.”

Flaws but not dealbreakers: the CS2005 is heavy at 19.1 lb, it can thermally throttle on sustained 20-inch-plus cuts, and its chain tensioner needs a tool — none of which stops it being the fastest saw in this guide for anything short of a full workday.

Who should skip it: anyone who expects to run a saw for six hours straight, or who owns a large wooded property and processes firewood by the cord. That is a gas job; buy the Echo two picks down.

2. Husqvarna Power Axe 350i 18-Inch Battery Chainsaw — Best Battery for Heavy Work

What We Like

TechGearLab ranks the Power Axe 350i second overall out of 19 saws — one of the best it has ever tested — and calls its cutting performance exceptional, with relatively quiet running and a boost mode for tough cuts. It arrives as an all-in-one kit with the battery and charger in the same package, so there is no second purchase, and Husqvarna markets it as more cutting power than comparable gas saws in a lighter 18-inch body. If you want a battery saw from an established saw maker rather than a battery brand, this is the pick.

What Could Be Better

TechGearLab’s two cons are expensive and slow to charge — this is the second-priciest saw here at $479.99, and a long recharge is the reality of any high-output battery saw. Husqvarna does not publish a weight for the 350i in the listing, so we have not printed one.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: the Power Axe 350i is expensive and takes a long time to recharge — both of which are the cost of battery power at this output level.

Who should skip it: anyone who already owns another battery platform. The 350i only makes sense if you are buying into Husqvarna’s batteries, or you specifically want a saw-maker’s battery saw.

3. Echo CS-590 Timber Wolf 20-Inch Gas Chainsaw — Best Gas Saw

What We Like

When TechGearLab’s team faced a mountain of 20- to 25-inch logs, every electric saw folded — one corded motor burned out and two battery saws drained within 30 minutes — and the CS-590 was “the only saw in our quiver capable of non-stop cutting.” It measured a 4.9-second 4×4 cut, a 65 ft/s chain speed and 18.0 lb, and TechGearLab named it best for all-day cutting with raw-power scores at the top of the table. It runs a 59.8 cc two-cycle engine with a thick bar, an underbelly chain guide and bucking spikes, and starting needs no priming — close the decompression valve, set the choke, pull.

What Could Be Better

TechGearLab flags it as heavy, pricey and old-school in its chain tensioning, and its ease-of-use score (4.0 out of 10) is the lowest in its group precisely because it is a gas saw: fuel mixing, exhaust, noise and maintenance. It is also the least relevant saw here for suburban pruning.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: the CS-590 is heavy at 18.0 lb, its chain tensioning is old-school, and it costs $478.99 with fuel, mixing and maintenance on top — all of which is the price of a saw that simply will not stop.

Who should skip it: anyone cutting branches rather than trees, or anyone who does not want to mix two-cycle fuel. For light suburban work a battery saw is cheaper to own and much quieter.

4. EGO Power+ CS1815 18-Inch Battery Chainsaw — Best 18-Inch Battery

What We Like

The CS1815 is the middle of EGO’s saw line and the sweet spot for most homeowners with a real tree or two: an 18-inch bar with a 2,500W brushless motor delivering what EGO claims is 50cc-equivalent power, and a 50cc gas equivalent in TechGearLab’s testing too. This listing includes the battery. TechGearLab rated it 76 overall — the joint-highest score of any 18-inch battery saw in its field — and highlighted both its cutting power and its very fast tool-free chain tensioning, which is exactly the friction point that annoys owners of the CS2005.

What Could Be Better

TechGearLab notes it is heavier and pricier than the CS1800 below it in EGO’s line, and EGO does not publish a measured weight we can quote. It is also $399 against the 12-inch CS1201 at $249, so if your work is mostly limbs and small trees the smaller saw is the better value.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: the CS1815 is heavier and more expensive than the smaller EGO below it, and its weight is not published — but its fast tool-free tensioning fixes the one annoyance of the flagship.

Who should skip it: if you are pruning shrubs and small branches, drop to the 12-inch CS1201 and save $150; if you have big trunks, this is not enough saw and you want the CS2005 or gas.

5. EGO Power+ CS1201 12-Inch Battery Chainsaw — Best Value

What We Like

TechGearLab calls this the best 12-inch chainsaw it has used in nearly a decade and the clear choice for most homeowners on a budget, and its measured numbers explain why: 8.8 lb, a 66 ft/s chain speed and an 8.1-second 4×4 cut — not far off saws twice its size. Their testers even took down a 20-inch tree with it, something they say no other 12-inch saw had managed. It includes a 56V 2.5Ah battery and charger, and the listing claims up to 130 cuts per charge on 4×4 stock. For pruning, storm cleanup and small firewood, this is the most capability per dollar in the field.

What Could Be Better

It takes a moment to reach full chain speed rather than having instant power, its chain tensioning is a little trickier than the CS1815, and TechGearLab notes it is not quite a true one-handed saw. At 12 inches, anything much beyond 20 inches is out of scope.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: the CS1201 has a slight wind-up before full chain speed and its tensioning has a small learning curve — at $249 as a complete kit it is still the best value saw here.

Who should skip it: anyone with mature trees or a real firewood habit. A 12-inch bar will frustrate you the first time you meet a 16-inch trunk.

6. Oregon CS1500 18-Inch Corded Electric Chainsaw — Best Budget Corded

What We Like

For work near an outlet, the CS1500 is the sensible buy. It is a 15-amp, 2,400W corded saw with an 18-inch bar, and its party trick is on-board: an integrated PowerSharp self-sharpening system that TechGearLab reports sharpens the chain in three to five seconds by holding a lever while the chain runs. TechGearLab rated it 70 overall, measured 10.6 lb and a 7.8-second 4×4 cut, and praised its low price. At $145.86 it is a third of the price of the flagship and it never needs a battery, fuel or a charge.

What Could Be Better

Having no battery or tank makes it lighter, but the cord is a genuine limitation — TechGearLab calls the power cord “not an option for most chainsaw projects,” notes a bar that feels thin and flimsy, and describes the body as unusually wide and awkward to wield. You must also add bar and chain oil.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: the CS1500 is tethered to an extension cord, its bar flexes more than a pro saw’s, and it is awkwardly wide — for $145.86 with self-sharpening built in, those are fair trades for yard work near the house.

Who should skip it: anyone working away from power, or on anything bigger than a modest tree. A cord is the wrong answer past the end of your driveway.

7. Seesii 6-Inch Mini Chainsaw — Best-Selling Small Saw

What We Like

Here is an honest observation about this category: the top of Amazon’s Chainsaws best-seller chart is not occupied by 20-inch gas saws — it is led by sub-$90 six- to twelve-inch mini saws. This 6-inch Seesii is the chart leader in the product-API data we use (reported at rank #1 in Chainsaws on September 26, 2026), and at $35.99 with a battery and charger it is the saw most people actually buy. TechGearLab’s testing of the 6-inch mini class found them genuinely useful for one-handed pruning: their testers said they were “surprised how much more efficient it was than a standard chainsaw when cutting up branches,” because you do not have to keep putting the tool down.

What Could Be Better

Ranked last on purpose: it is the best-*selling* saw here, not the best saw. A 6-inch bar is limited to branches roughly 4 inches and under, the class typically has no automatic bar oiler (you oil the chain by hand), batteries charge slowly, and it cannot fell a tree. If your work is bigger than limbs, it is the wrong purchase — and note that we deliberately do not attribute TechGearLab’s measured mini-saw figures to this exact listing, because the listing title does not confirm the model number.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: the Seesii mini cannot cut much beyond 4-inch limbs, it needs manual chain oiling, and it has no data-backed weight figure — but at $35.99 it is a genuine upgrade over a handsaw for branch work.

Who should skip it: anyone who has a tree to fell, or who wants one saw to do everything. This is a pruning tool, not a replacement for a full-size chainsaw.

Chainsaw Safety: Kickback, PPE and What Actually Prevents Injury

Chainsaws are among the most hazardous tools a homeowner owns, and the injury numbers are not small. Clemson Cooperative Extension’s chainsaw safety programme states that “more than 20,000 preventable injuries occur nationwide” each year from improper technique, missing personal protective equipment, or poor understanding of the saw. Most of those injuries come from one mechanism, and the University of Georgia’s Extension bulletin is blunt about it: “Kickback is the leading cause of chainsaw injury.”

UGA explains the mechanism precisely: kickback happens when the tip of the bar contacts wood or another solid object and the chain, still moving at speed, throws the bar back and up toward the operator. “If your body gets in the way, the saw can cut into you.” That is why every saw in this guide ships with an anti-kickback chain, a bumper spike and a guard — and why the operator-side controls matter as much as the hardware. The practical rules that come out of both extension publications are the same ones a professional logger would give you: avoid cutting with the tip of the bar, keep your left elbow locked straight so a kickback swings the saw away from your body, never hold the saw above your waist, and keep both hands on the controls with the chain brake engaged when you start.

Personal protective equipment is not optional. UGA’s checklist calls for close-fitting clothing, steel-toe boots, a hard hat for falling branches, gloves, safety glasses, and chainsaw chaps for extended use. Note also a detail people assume about modern saws: UGA lists the chain brake as a feature on gasoline saws, so treat the brake as desirable but not universal — check the individual listing. One more honest limit on all of this: no anti-kickback chain, guard or brake replaces training, safe practice and common sense, which is the wording UGA uses and the reason every pick above starts with the safety hardware rather than the price.

And a note on where we stand on testing: we did not run a chainsaw safety trial, and we are not a certification body. The guidance in this section is quoted and paraphrased from Clemson Cooperative Extension and the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, both linked below.

Price Tiers: What Your Money Buys

This category splits cleanly into four bands, and the live Amazon prices fall right into them.

Under $150 — mini and budget corded: the 6-inch Seesii mini at $35.99 and the Oregon CS1500 corded saw at $145.86 sit here. You get a genuine tool, but you also get a hard limit — a 6-inch bar, or a power cord. Nothing in this band will fell a tree.

$150 to $300 — the compact battery and gas saws: the EGO CS1201 at $249 and Husqvarna’s 130 and 120 Mark III gas saws live here. This is the best value in the category for most homeowners: a real 12- to 16-inch saw with instant start and no fuel mixing.

$300 to $500 — the full-size saws: every serious pick sits here — the EGO CS1815 at $399, the Echo CS-590 Timber Wolf at $478.99, the Husqvarna Power Axe 350i at $479.99 and the EGO CS2005 at $489. This is where bar lengths reach 18 to 20 inches and cut times drop under five seconds.

About $490 is the stopping point. That is the number worth remembering. The fastest saw TechGearLab has ever tested costs $489, and the next four saws down sit within $90 of it — there is no thousand-dollar battery saw here that cuts meaningfully faster. Above roughly $500 you are buying a professional gas saw, and the price/performance curve flattens hard: the fastest 4×4 cut in the whole field was 3.45 seconds, and the saw that delivered it is not the most expensive.

Where We Disagree With the Big Test Labs

We read the two hands-on sources closely and we do not rank the field identically.

First, TechGearLab’s own numbers argue against its own headline. Its strongest line is that the battery-powered EGO CS2005 “is the first electric saw that can cut faster than gas saws” — and that is exactly what its timed trials show, a 3.45-second cut against 4.9 seconds for the best gas saw it tested. But the same page concedes that “for back-to-back, all-day cutting, gas still wins,” and describes electric saws folding within 30 minutes on big logs. We hold both conclusions at once and rank accordingly: the EGO is first for nearly everyone, the Echo CS-590 is first for anyone processing firewood by the cord. A single “best saw” number hides that split, and we would rather print the split.

Second, we keep a chart-leader pick that neither lab would choose. This Old House’s tested list features the Stihl MS 250 and the Ryobi RY40510, and TechGearLab’s top ten is dominated by saws that cost five to fifteen times as much as the $35.99 mini at the top of Amazon’s actual best-seller chart. Both labs are right that the cheap mini is a limited tool — we say so in the pick — but a buying guide that ignores what people actually buy is less useful than one that explains why the best-seller is not the best saw.

Where all three sources agree: chain brake and kickback protection first, the right bar length for the job over the biggest bar, and battery convenience against gas stamina. TechGearLab and This Old House reach the same conclusion from different test programmes — one timed, one field-based — which is the strongest independent signal in this guide.

What Actually Goes Wrong: The Recurring Complaints

Here are the specific complaint patterns the testers logged, rather than invented failure rates.

1. Chain tensioning. It is the single most common irritation in the whole category, at every price. TechGearLab marks the flagship EGO CS2005’s tool-based tensioner as more involved than its smaller saws, calls the CS1201’s tensioning trickier than the CS1815’s, and flags the Echo CS-590’s as old-school. Notably, the two EGO saws praised for “very fast tool-free chain tensioning” are the ones testers liked handling most.

2. Battery thermal limits and recharge time. TechGearLab recorded that continuous cuts through 20-inch-plus trunks caused heat shutoffs on the CS2005, and lists slow charging as a con on the Husqvarna 350i and on the mini-saw class. High-output battery saws do not throttle the cut, they throttle the day.

3. Bar thickness and flex on budget saws. TechGearLab describes the Oregon CS1500’s bar as thin and flimsy and warns a burlier model is warranted for a big job. It is the classic way a cheap saw reveals itself under load.

4. Small design annoyances that persist all day. The same review flagged the CS1500’s cord exiting near the top of the rear handle instead of the bottom, and a bar-oil cap tucked next to the chain brake. Neither is dangerous; both are the kind of thing you notice on every tank.

5. The mini-saw gap between marketing and reality. TechGearLab is explicit that one 6-inch competitor, the Anttctig pruning shears, claims 2.36-inch cuts but manages about 2 inches in practice. Mini saws are useful; the headline numbers on them are optimistic.

6. Weight you carry, not weight on the spec sheet. The measured spread runs from 8.8 lb (EGO CS1201) and 10.6 lb (Oregon CS1500) up to 18.0 lb (Echo CS-590) and 19.1 lb (EGO CS2005). TechGearLab describes the CS2005 as the heaviest-feeling saw in its class because of the 6.3-pound battery.

The honest caveat, as always: these are failure and annoyance patterns reported by testers and buyers. No one publishes a measured failure rate for chainsaws, so we are not quoting a defect percentage.

How We Research These Picks

Our method for this guide: we pulled live U.S. pricing, specifications, category best-seller ranks and stock directly from Amazon’s product API and re-verified each listing on September 26, 2026. We matched every model number in its Amazon listing to the exact same model in TechGearLab’s 19-saw test before quoting a measured weight, cut time or chain speed — and where the listing title did not confirm the model number, we published no measured figure at all. We cross-checked safety guidance against two university extension services, Clemson Cooperative Extension and the University of Georgia’s Extension bulletin, and used This Old House’s tested guide for the feature checklist and the gas-versus-battery trade-off. The spec-truth table, the price-tier analysis, the disagreement note and the failure-mode section are our own first-party synthesis, not a restatement of another ranking list.

What is hands-on and what is not: we did not run these saws, and we are not a test lab. Every measured figure in the spec-truth table belongs to TechGearLab’s published testing, and every cut-time number we print is theirs, not ours. Prices, ranks and stock came from the live Amazon listings on the date shown and will move. Where a listing publishes no figure we print “Not stated” rather than fill the gap, and where a manufacturer makes a claim — a “50cc gas equivalent”, say — we label it as the manufacturer’s claim. See our full methodology for how we choose and rank products, including our “what we do not claim” section.

Internal reading: our guide to leaf blowers covers the other autumn yard tool, our riding lawn mower roundup covers the big-machine end of the same category, and our pressure washer guide covers the outdoor cleanup these tools leave behind.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best chainsaw on Amazon?

For most homeowners the EGO Power+ CS2005 at $489 is the best all-round saw we found: TechGearLab measured it cutting a 4×4 in 3.45 seconds, faster than any gas saw it tested. If you process firewood by the cord or have large trees, the Echo CS-590 Timber Wolf at $478.99 is the better tool — it was the only saw in TechGearLab’s test that could keep cutting non-stop through 20- to 25-inch logs. For pruning and small yard work, the 12-inch EGO CS1201 at $249 is the value pick.

Should I buy a battery, gas or corded chainsaw?

Battery if you want instant start, no fuel mixing and low maintenance for occasional to regular yard work — that covers most people. Gas if you need sustained power for all-day cutting and heavy firewood, because battery saws thermally throttle under continuous load. Corded only if every job is within reach of an outlet, since a power cord rules out most real chainsaw work — TechGearLab calls it “not an option for most chainsaw projects.”

What size chainsaw do I need?

Match the bar to the largest wood you routinely cut, not the largest you might one day cut. A 6- to 12-inch saw handles limbs and small trees; an 18-inch bar covers most homeowner felling and firewood; a 20-inch bar handles big trunks but adds weight you carry all day. The University of Georgia’s Extension guidance is that the best saw is simply the one you can comfortably handle and that suits the work you do most often.

How do I avoid kickback?

Kickback happens when the tip of the bar contacts wood and throws the saw back and up toward you — the University of Georgia calls it the leading cause of chainsaw injury. Avoid cutting with the tip of the bar, keep your left elbow locked straight so a kickback swings the saw past your body instead of into it, never hold the saw above your waist, keep the chain brake engaged when starting, and wear the protective equipment both extension services list: steel-toe boots, hard hat, gloves, safety glasses and chainsaw chaps for extended use.