Every serious painting contractor has an opinion on this question. Here is mine, after more than 50 years of using both.
They are both good. That is the honest answer.
Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams both produce professional-grade interior and exterior paints that hold up well in Bay Area conditions. Neither is dramatically better than the other across the board. Both are dramatically better than what you buy at Home Depot or Lowe’s under a store brand.
If someone tells you one is definitively superior to the other, they are usually selling you something.
Where they differ
Color range. Benjamin Moore has, in my opinion, the better color library for interior work. Their color development is precise and their whites in particular are distinctive. Sherwin-Williams has excellent colors too, and their color of the year gets more marketing attention.
Coverage. For most projects, both cover in two coats. Benjamin Moore Aura tends to cover slightly better in dark colors. Sherwin-Williams Duration and Emerald cover comparably.
Sheen consistency. Benjamin Moore’s matte and eggshell finishes have a slightly softer look. Sherwin-Williams tends toward a slightly harder finish at similar sheen levels. Neither is objectively better; it depends on the look you want.
Availability. Sherwin-Williams has more store locations. If you are buying yourself, that convenience matters. As a contractor, we get delivery either way.
Price. They are similarly priced at the professional grade. Sherwin-Williams runs frequent promotions. Benjamin Moore’s pricing is more stable.
What we use and why
Our default for interior wall work is Benjamin Moore Aura in an eggshell or matte finish. For trim and cabinets we use Benjamin Moore Advance because it cures harder than any wall paint (why painting cabinets often beats replacing them). For exteriors we use Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior.
We do use Sherwin-Williams products when a customer specifically requests them or when we have a project that calls for a specific SW product line. No preference dogma. Both brands deliver.
What matters more than the brand
The paint is important. The prep is more important. A poorly-prepped surface painted with Benjamin Moore Aura will fail faster than a properly-prepped surface painted with a mid-tier competitor.
If you are choosing between contractors and one says “we use only Benjamin Moore” and the other says “we use only Sherwin-Williams,” that is not the decision-making factor. Ask about their prep process instead, using the seven questions to ask a painter. Ask what happens if a problem shows up after the job. Ask how many coats. Those answers matter more than the brand of paint that goes over the prep.
The paint you should genuinely avoid
Store-brand paints from big-box home improvement stores. The “contractor grade” bucket paints that cost half as much per gallon. Anything unlabeled or from a discount source.
The math on cheap paint is worse than many homeowners realize. A gallon of professional paint costs $60-75. A gallon of store-brand paint costs $30-40. On a whole-house interior repaint, the paint cost difference might be $500. The labor cost is roughly the same either way. But cheap paint fails faster, requiring another full-cost repaint years earlier than needed.
Save money on the color, not the paint quality. Whether your home is in Walnut Creek, Lafayette or elsewhere in the East Bay, ask every painter to name the product line in writing.
