The short answer
If you have older Bosch 18V Professional tools, a new Bosch EXPERT 18V battery should run them, and a new Bosch 18V Professional tool should accept your older Bosch 18V batteries. The broader surprise is AMPShare: Bosch also makes its 18V battery platform available to a specific, named group of trade-focused partner brands, so one battery can cross brand lines within that alliance.
Bosch EXPERT 18V batteries play nice with older tools
Bosch’s own EXPERT Batteries (US) page says the new EXPERT 18V High Power batteries are “forward and backward compatible with Bosch 18V cordless power tools and chargers.” That is not the usual “mostly works” situation. It means you can put a current EXPERT pack on an older Bosch 18V tool, and you can put an older Bosch 18V battery on a current EXPERT-era tool, assuming both are within the Bosch Professional 18V line.
Current EXPERT capacities listed by Bosch include 4Ah, 6Ah, 8Ah, and 15Ah. The useful detail here is that you are not forced to rebuy your whole kit just because Bosch released a new battery generation. For anyone sitting on a stack of older blue-core Bosch 18V packs and wondering whether a new drill will leave them orphaned, that compatibility is genuinely reassuring.
AMPShare is real multi-brand compatibility, but only with named partners
Where it gets more unusual is AMPShare. Bosch’s AMPShare — Powered by Bosch (US) page describes it as “the battery system for trade and industry professionals seeking multi-brand compatibility.” According to Bosch, “AMPShare™ batteries and chargers are compatible with Bosch 18V power tools and with 18V cordless products that are part of the multi-brand AMPShare™ Alliance.”
The Alliance members named on the live US page are: Bosch Tools, Fein, Rothenberger, Wagner, Steinel, Titan, Cox Dispensers, Honsel, LED Lenser, Leister, Mato, Mesto, Orgapack, Bosch Rexroth, Signode, and SUITX. That is a deliberate, industry-heavy list, not a vague promise that any tool with a battery port will fit. These are trade and infrastructure brands, many of them in metalworking, plumbing, fastening, lighting, and dispensing work.
The important caveat is built into Bosch’s wording: compatibility applies to “18V cordless products that are part of the multi-brand AMPShare™ Alliance.” So if you see a Fein or Rothenberger tool, do not assume every model in that brand’s catalog takes a Bosch AMPShare battery. Only the products explicitly designated as part of the Alliance do. Check the product labeling or specs before you buy.
A concrete example: the GSR18V-975CB25
To put the platform in real terms, look at the Bosch Professional GSR18V-975CB25. Bosch lists it with 975 in.-lbs. of max torque, a 1/2 in. chuck, and a tool-only weight of 3.4 lb. It ships with “(2) GBA18V40 18V CORE18V Lithium-Ion 4 Ah Advanced Power Batteries” and “(1) 18V Charger.” That is a typical Bosch 18V Professional tool running on Bosch’s own 18V battery system, the same ecosystem that feeds into AMPShare.
What to actually do with this
Two practical takeaways, depending on your situation.
First, if you already own older Bosch 18V Professional tools, a new EXPERT 18V battery should work with them, and a new Bosch 18V Professional tool should run on your older Bosch 18V batteries. That forward-and-backward compatibility is the main reason you do not need to panic about your existing stash going obsolete.
Second, if you work in a trade where your crew or shop already uses Fein, Rothenberger, Wagner, or another named AMPShare Alliance brand, a Bosch AMPShare battery is a legitimate way to consolidate batteries and chargers across brands. Just keep the scope tight: it works for products explicitly part of the Alliance, not for the whole catalog of those brands.
Model-level compatibility matrix
State labels separate source-backed facts from gaps: CONFIRMED is explicit in a reviewed primary source; UNSUPPORTED is outside the cited scope; UNKNOWN is not established by the reviewed source.
| Pair or boundary | State | Evidence / reason |
|---|---|---|
| Bosch EXPERT 18V ↔ Bosch Professional 18V | CONFIRMED | Bosch states forward/backward compatibility within the Professional 18V line. |
| GSR18V-975CB25 + GBA18V40 | CONFIRMED | Bosch product page lists this tool with GBA18V40 batteries. |
| Unspecified AMPShare partner product | UNKNOWN | The individual product must be designated as AMPShare. |
| Non-18V or non-AMPShare product | UNSUPPORTED | The cited Bosch rule is limited to Professional 18V and designated AMPShare 18V products. |
How this was checked
Facts on this page are drawn from Bosch Professional’s EXPERT Batteries (US) page, the AMPShare — Powered by Bosch (US) page, and the GSR18V-975CB25 product page.
Sources checked: 2026-08-11. A new review date will only be set after the linked pages are re-checked.