Which Hot Glue Guns Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 16 hot glue guns options head to head. Surebonder came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Surebonder
Price shown in test: $121
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Kemaisi
Price shown in test: $26
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Black+Decker
Price shown in test: $11, stated as the least expensive corded glue gun tested
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The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“the Surebonder outperformed the Kamasa for speed at heating up, volume of glue dispensed in one trigger pull, and maximum glue laid down in 30 seconds”
Best in 2 of 12 measurements, including Max glue output in 30 seconds after 6 min warm up and Overall average finish.
Best in 2 of 11 measurements, including Measured power draw and Overall average finish.
Placed top three in 3 of 11 measurements.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Claimed specs
- 1Surebonder
professional glue gun delivering up to 220 W, adjustable temperature control, specialty nozzles available, extra nozzle included, blow molded case
- 2Kemaisi100 W
working power claimed, high end PTC thermal element claimed, heats up in 1 minute claimed, 212F on low heat and 428F on high heat claimed
- 3Black+Decker
heats up quickly and bonds within 6 minutes claimed, two heat settings, fold down stand
- 4DeWalt
ready for use in 60 seconds claimed, 30 minute auto safety shutoff, over 80 percent faster glue output claimed, dual temperature range 275F to 445F claimed
- 5AdTech
dripless hot glue gun claimed, marketed for carpentry, home repairs, DIY, and remodeling, 3.5 lb of glue per hour claimed, 200 W claimed
- 6Ryobi
tested with a 4 amp hour 18V battery, large two finger trigger, claims to run 3.5 hours with a 4 amp hour battery
- 7Chandler60 W
of power claimed, no drip technology claimed, removable stand up base
- 8AVID Power
warm up in 3 to 5 minutes claimed, delivers 0.63 oz in 1 minute claimed, comes with a 20V 1.5 amp hour battery that charges in 3 hours claimed
- 9ROMECH
fast preheating claimed, heats up to 410F claimed, glue flow rate 0.53 oz per minute claimed, dual temperature settings of 60 W and 100 W claimed
- 10Gorilla
built in stand with a pretty wide base, dual temperature claimed at up to 14 W (measured power draw was far higher, see note)
- 11Arrow
gun body made of fireproof material claimed, stand design with a front glue tray to catch drips, high and low temperature settings
- 12WORX
max temperature of 382F claimed, preheats in 3 minutes claimed, self standing base, includes 10 glue sticks, auto shutoff after 20 minutes for safety
- 13Knockoff Makita
compatible with Makita 18V batteries, copper and insulated nozzle designed to prevent leakage, warms up in 3 to 5 minutes claimed
- 14Knockoff DeWalt
designed to work with DeWalt batteries, working temperature up to 392F claimed, uses 11 mm or 7/16 inch glue sticks like all guns tested, claims to warm up in 3 to 5 minutes, rated 100 W
- 15Knockoff Milwaukee
compatible with Milwaukee M18 batteries, claims to deliver 0.63 oz a minute, designed to warm up in 2 to 5 minutes, includes 20 glue sticks
- 16Greenworks
drip free nozzle claimed, 24V battery, claims to heat up in 90 seconds, 20 percent more power and 35 percent more run time claimed, automatically shuts down after 3 minutes of standby
Weight
- 1Surebonder644 g
heaviest glue gun in the lineup
- 2Kemaisi294 g
- 3Black+Decker228 g
- 4DeWalt470 g
- 5AdTech590 g
- 6Ryobijust under400 g
heaviest cordless unit at that point
- 7Chandler242 g
- 8AVID Power366 g
- 9ROMECH203 g
- 10Gorilla264 g
- 11Arrow332 g
- 12WORX378 g
- 13Knockoff Makita364 g
- 14Knockoff DeWalt356 g
- 15Knockoff Milwaukee354 g
- 16Greenworks378 g
Country of origin
- 1Surebonder
Taiwan
- 2Kemaisi
China
- 3Black+Decker
China
- 4DeWalt
China
- 5AdTech
China
- 6Ryobi
China
- 7Chandler
Taiwan
- 8AVID Power
China
- 9ROMECH
China
- 10Gorilla
not stated in the transcript
- 11Arrow
China
- 12WORX
China
- 13Knockoff Makita
China
- 14Knockoff DeWalt
China
- 15Knockoff Milwaukee
China
- 16Greenworks
China
Warm up: 1 minute
- 1Surebonder128.8F
- 2Kemaisi149F
- 3Black+Decker163.8F
very strong start
- 4DeWalt187.7F
fastest yet at that point
- 5AdTech94.3F
really slow start
- 6Ryobi138F
- 7Chandler123.8F
very slow to warm up
- 8AVID Power114.6F
- 9ROMECH143.2F
quite a bit faster than average
- 10Gorilla143.8F
not nearly as fast to warm up as Black+Decker
- 11Arrow113.7F
really slow to warm up
- 12WORX122F
about the same as knockoff DeWalt
- 13Knockoff Makita111F
slower start than knockoff DeWalt
- 14Knockoff DeWaltjust over122F
- 15Knockoff Milwaukee95.7F
trailing knockoff DeWalt and knockoff Makita
- 16Greenworks166.8F
fastest start of the cordless group at that point
Time to begin laying down glue
- 1Surebonder38 seconds
fastest of all 16 glue guns tested
- 2Kemaisi1 minute 3 seconds2nd
second place at that point in the test
- 3Black+Decker67 seconds2nd
second place behind cordless Ryobi
- 4DeWalt58 seconds2nd
took the lead from Ryobi at that point, second place in the final recap behind Surebonder
- 5AdTech2 minutes 9 seconds
quite a bit slower than DeWalt
- 6Ryobi61 seconds
heats up and lays down glue a lot faster than the other battery powered glue guns tested at that point, third in the final recap behind Surebonder and DeWalt
- 7Chandler1 minute 50 seconds
- 8AVID Power1 minute 10 seconds
moved into the lead at that point, barely ahead of WORX
- 9ROMECH1 minute 4 seconds2nd
moved into second place behind cordless Ryobi at that point
- 10Gorilla1 minute 19 seconds
trailed Black+Decker again
- 11Arrow2 minutes 44 seconds
stayed cooler than most of the competition
- 12WORX1 minute 12 seconds
fastest at that point in the test
- 13Knockoff Makita1 minute 50 seconds
- 14Knockoff DeWalt1 minute 18 seconds
- 15Knockoff Milwaukee
needed right at 3 minutes to reach 180F and begin producing melted glue
- 16Greenworks1 minute 22 seconds
Glue output, one squeeze of trigger after 5 min warm up
- 1Surebonder1 g2nd
second place behind Chandler
- 2Kemaisi0.88 g2nd
second place behind Chandler
- 3Black+Decker0.85 g2nd
second place behind knockoff DeWalt at that point
- 4DeWalt0.71 g
not enough to take the lead from Chandler
- 5AdTech0.79 g
- 6Ryobi0.7 g3rd
moved into third place behind Avid Power
- 7Chandler1.08 g1st
most glue laid down with one squeeze of the trigger of all 16 glue guns
- 8AVID Power
moved into second place behind knockoff DeWalt at that point, exact gram figure not stated in the transcript
- 9ROMECH0.85 g
described as continuing a trend of outperforming the Arrow in every test so far
- 10Gorilla0.64 g
- 11Arrow0.82 g
- 12WORX0.52 g2nd
moved into second place behind knockoff DeWalt at that point
- 13Knockoff Makita0.46 g
about half of the knockoff DeWalt
- 14Knockoff DeWalt0.87 g
- 15Knockoff Milwaukee0.38 g
described as really struggling
- 16Greenworks0.47 g
Max glue output in 30 seconds after 6 min warm up
- 1Surebonder24.26 g1st
almost twice the second place finisher
- 2Kemaisi13.19 g
took the lead at that point before being overtaken by DeWalt, AdTech, and Surebonder
- 3Black+Decker10.54 g
- 4DeWalt13.34 g3rd
third place in the final recap behind Surebonder and AdTech
- 5AdTech13.68 g2nd
second place behind Surebonder
- 6Ryobi12.32 g
took the lead at that point
- 7Chandler7.16 g3rd
third place among corded glue guns
- 8AVID Power11.88 g
moved into the lead at that point
- 9ROMECH10 g3rd
moved into third place among corded glue guns at that point
- 10Gorilla10.08 g
about half a gram less than Black+Decker
- 11Arrow6.71 g
struggled, began slowing after only about 5 seconds
- 12WORX10.42 g3rd
third place behind knockoff Makita at that point
- 13Knockoff Makita10.88 g
close second to knockoff DeWalt at that point
- 14Knockoff DeWalt10.93 g
- 15Knockoff Milwaukee4.21 g
less than half of knockoff DeWalt and knockoff Makita
- 16Greenworks3.7 g
ran out of steam very quickly at around 8 seconds, worst of the cordless group tested to that point
Warm up: 5 minutes
- 1Surebonder347F
- 3Black+Decker370.8F
hottest yet at that point
- 4DeWalt350.8F
- 5AdTech249.3F
did not reach the 300F target within the recorded warm up window
- 6Ryobiapproximately336F
- 7Chandler
barely made it to the 300F target within the 5 minute test
- 8AVID Powerjust over308F3rd
third place behind knockoff DeWalt at that point
- 9ROMECH334F
- 10Gorilla309.7F
- 11Arrow
missed the 300F target at 245.7F
- 12WORX336.7F
hottest yet at that point
- 13Knockoff Makitajust under300F
trailed the knockoff DeWalt throughout the 5 minute test
- 14Knockoff DeWalt321.3F
- 15Knockoff Milwaukee
only 234.9F, described as really struggling
- 16Greenworks
very close to 300F but did not quite reach it
- 2Kemaisinot tested
All measurements (11 more)+
Warm up: time to reach 300F target
- 1Surebonder2 minutes 8 seconds2nd
second place behind DeWalt in the final ranking
- 2Kemaisi
stated as 2 minutes 26 seconds in narration and as 144 seconds (2 minutes 24 seconds) in the final recap leaderboard, third place
- 3Black+Decker2 minutes 37 seconds
fastest corded glue gun at that point in the test
- 4DeWalt1 minute 49 seconds
(109 seconds), fastest of all 16 glue guns tested
- 6Ryobi3 minutes 19 seconds
fastest at that point, took the lead from WORX
- 8AVID Powerapproximately4.5 minutes
- 9ROMECH3 minutes 25 seconds
- 10Gorilla4 minutes 16 seconds
- 12WORX3 minutes 35 seconds
fastest at that point in the test
- 14Knockoff DeWaltjust under4 minutes
- 5AdTechnot tested
- 7Chandlernot tested
- 11Arrownot tested
- 13Knockoff Makitanot tested
- 15Knockoff Milwaukeenot tested
- 16Greenworksnot tested
Measured power draw
- 1Surebonder
rated 220 W, measured around 272 W, better than advertised
- 2Kemaisijust over100 W
described as by far the best match to its claim of any glue gun tested
- 3Black+Decker
low heat around 17 W, high heat momentarily exceeded 100 W then dropped to 51 W
- 4DeWalt
rated 85 W, measured around 115 W low heat and 126 W high heat, better than advertised
- 5AdTech
started strong then quickly dropped to 155 W
- 7Chandler
started at 100 W, quickly dropped to just over 50 W
- 9ROMECH
low heat around 24 W, high heat close to 54 W
- 10Gorilla
low heat close to 24 W, high heat around 55 W
- 11Arrow27 W
on low heat, only 35 W on high heat
- 6Ryobinot tested
- 8AVID Powernot tested
- 12WORXnot tested
- 13Knockoff Makitanot tested
- 14Knockoff DeWaltnot tested
- 15Knockoff Milwaukeenot tested
- 16Greenworksnot tested
Drip after 10 min heat up (corded group)
- 1Surebonder0.45 g
- 2Kemaisi0.23 g
- 3Black+Decker0.57 g
dripped the most among corded glue guns, tied with DeWalt
- 4DeWalt0.57 g
tied with Black+Decker for most among corded glue guns
- 5AdTech0 g
one of only two corded glue guns (with Chandler) that did not leak
- 7Chandler0 g
one of only two corded glue guns (with AdTech) that did not leak
- 9ROMECH
droplet too small for the scale to measure, effectively no measurable leak
- 10Gorilla0.18 g
- 11Arrow
right at half a gram of glue
- 6Ryobinot tested
- 8AVID Powernot tested
- 12WORXnot tested
- 13Knockoff Makitanot tested
- 14Knockoff DeWaltnot tested
- 15Knockoff Milwaukeenot tested
- 16Greenworksnot tested
Glue temperature after 10 min warm up (corded group)
- 1Surebonderjust over375F
almost as hot as the AdTech
- 2Kemaisi418.9F
hottest of all 16 glue guns tested, corded or cordless
- 3Black+Decker393.1F2nd
hottest at that point in the corded group, later stated as second place overall in that test behind Kemaisi's 418.9F
- 4DeWalt352.6F
- 5AdTechapproximately388F
described as laying a pretty hot puddle
- 7Chandler343.4F
- 9ROMECH380.8F
performed well
- 10Gorilla340.9F
50 degrees cooler than Black+Decker
- 11Arrow301.5F
lowest of the corded group in that reading
- 6Ryobinot tested
- 8AVID Powernot tested
- 12WORXnot tested
- 13Knockoff Makitanot tested
- 14Knockoff DeWaltnot tested
- 15Knockoff Milwaukeenot tested
- 16Greenworksnot tested
Drip after 10 min heat up (cordless group)
- 6Ryobi0.46 g
messiest cordless glue gun tested, worse than Greenworks
- 8AVID Power0.07 g
- 12WORX0.06 g
- 13Knockoff Makita0.19 g
- 14Knockoff DeWalt
no drip on this test, though it was noted as dripping earlier in the showdown
- 15Knockoff Milwaukee
drop of glue too small for the scale to measure
- 16Greenworks0.23 g
one of the two messiest cordless glue guns along with Ryobi
- 1Surebondernot tested
- 2Kemaisinot tested
- 3Black+Deckernot tested
- 4DeWaltnot tested
- 5AdTechnot tested
- 7Chandlernot tested
- 9ROMECHnot tested
- 10Gorillanot tested
- 11Arrownot tested
Glue temperature after 10 min warm up (cordless group)
- 6Ryobi378.5F
performed well, almost as hot as WORX
- 8AVID Power374.8F
- 12WORX388.3F
hottest of the cordless group at that reading
- 13Knockoff Makita340.2F
about the same as knockoff DeWalt
- 14Knockoff DeWaltapproximately340F
- 15Knockoff Milwaukee319.5F
- 16Greenworks298.3F
described as really struggling, lowest of the cordless group
- 1Surebondernot tested
- 2Kemaisinot tested
- 3Black+Deckernot tested
- 4DeWaltnot tested
- 5AdTechnot tested
- 7Chandlernot tested
- 9ROMECHnot tested
- 10Gorillanot tested
- 11Arrownot tested
Overall average finish (1st to 16th place ranking averaged across tests)
- 1Surebonder3.8
tied for best average finish with Kemaisi
- 2Kemaisi3.8
tied for best average finish with Surebonder
- 3Black+Deckernot tested
- 4DeWaltnot tested
- 5AdTechnot tested
- 6Ryobinot tested
- 7Chandlernot tested
- 8AVID Powernot tested
- 9ROMECHnot tested
- 10Gorillanot tested
- 11Arrownot tested
- 12WORXnot tested
- 13Knockoff Makitanot tested
- 14Knockoff DeWaltnot tested
- 15Knockoff Milwaukeenot tested
- 16Greenworksnot tested
Warm up: 10 minutes
- 11Arrow
still not up to the 300F target
- 15Knockoff Milwaukee
only 292.5F
- 1Surebondernot tested
- 2Kemaisinot tested
- 3Black+Deckernot tested
- 4DeWaltnot tested
- 5AdTechnot tested
- 6Ryobinot tested
- 7Chandlernot tested
- 8AVID Powernot tested
- 9ROMECHnot tested
- 10Gorillanot tested
- 12WORXnot tested
- 13Knockoff Makitanot tested
- 14Knockoff DeWaltnot tested
- 16Greenworksnot tested
Warm up: 3 minutes
- 14Knockoff DeWalt268.9F
- 16Greenworksaround273F
described as really slowing down
- 1Surebondernot tested
- 2Kemaisinot tested
- 3Black+Deckernot tested
- 4DeWaltnot tested
- 5AdTechnot tested
- 6Ryobinot tested
- 7Chandlernot tested
- 8AVID Powernot tested
- 9ROMECHnot tested
- 10Gorillanot tested
- 11Arrownot tested
- 12WORXnot tested
- 13Knockoff Makitanot tested
- 15Knockoff Milwaukeenot tested
Fireproof material claim test
- 11Arrow
failed: the stand melted and the glue gun fell; the body avoided catching fire on the first attempt but was definitely on fire after a second attempt
- 1Surebondernot tested
- 2Kemaisinot tested
- 3Black+Deckernot tested
- 4DeWaltnot tested
- 5AdTechnot tested
- 6Ryobinot tested
- 7Chandlernot tested
- 8AVID Powernot tested
- 9ROMECHnot tested
- 10Gorillanot tested
- 12WORXnot tested
- 13Knockoff Makitanot tested
- 14Knockoff DeWaltnot tested
- 15Knockoff Milwaukeenot tested
- 16Greenworksnot tested
Warm up: 2 minutes
- 14Knockoff DeWalt214F
- 1Surebondernot tested
- 2Kemaisinot tested
- 3Black+Deckernot tested
- 4DeWaltnot tested
- 5AdTechnot tested
- 6Ryobinot tested
- 7Chandlernot tested
- 8AVID Powernot tested
- 9ROMECHnot tested
- 10Gorillanot tested
- 11Arrownot tested
- 12WORXnot tested
- 13Knockoff Makitanot tested
- 15Knockoff Milwaukeenot tested
- 16Greenworksnot tested
How it was tested
- warm up test: thermal probe temperature at 1, 2, 3, and 5 minutes (some brands also checked at 10 minutes), and time taken to reach a 300F target temperature
- time to begin laying down glue under constant trigger pressure
- glue output with one full squeeze of the trigger after 5 minutes of warm up, measured in grams
- maximum glue flow rate over 30 seconds after 6 minutes of warm up, measured in grams
- drip resistance after 10 minutes of heat up, measured in grams of glue leaked, tested separately for the cordless group and the corded group
- glue temperature measured with a thermal probe or thermal camera after 10 minutes of warm up, tested separately for the cordless group and the corded group
- one off bond strength demo comparing a repair made with warm glue (knockoff DeWalt, heated 4 minutes) against really hot glue (Kemaisi, heated over 9 minutes), broken with a downward force scale
- fireproof material claim test on the Arrow, attempting to ignite the gun body
- overall ranking: raw scores from all tests converted into a 1st to 16th place ranking and averaged per brand
“the Surebonder outperformed the Kamasa for speed at heating up, volume of glue dispensed in one trigger pull, and maximum glue laid down in 30 seconds”
Brand head-to-head scoreboards featuring this test
Data notes and caveats
Surebonder and Kemaisi tied on the video's stated overall average finish of 3.8; the narrator explicitly favors Surebonder as the better choice for large jobs, which is the basis for the winner/runnerUp assignment here rather than a strict numeric tiebreak. The video also gives two additional per-use-case picks that are not represented in the single winner/budgetPick fields: Ryobi as the preferred cordless tool (without battery/charger) and Avid Power as the recommended full cordless kit alternative for buyers not already invested in a battery platform. Two brands (Knockoff DeWalt and Knockoff Makita/Knockoff Milwaukee) are generic products designed to work with major power tool battery platforms rather than genuine branded tools; kept separate from the real DeWalt product tested later at $34. Kemaisi (captioned Kamasa/Kamasi) and ROMECH (captioned Romeo/Romex) both show mid video phonetic caption drift, resolved against the description's product list and price points.
