CRAFTSMAN V20 Battery Compatibility (and the “20V” vs “V20” Trap)

Current Craftsman V20 batteries work across the entire current Craftsman V20 lineup. The catch is that “20V” and “V20” are not the same thing, and in 2018 there were briefly two incompatible Craftsman battery lines on shelves at the same time.

Here is the short version of the naming mess. When Stanley Black & Decker relaunched Craftsman as a modern cordless platform, it called the system Craftsman V20. Around the same period, Sears was still selling its own Craftsman 20V tools and batteries, which carried DieHard branding. Same “Craftsman” name on the front of the package, two different battery designs that do not interchange.

Jeff Doehne, then General Manager of the Craftsman brand at Stanley Black & Decker, addressed this directly in a statement reported by ToolGuyd. According to that report, Doehne said: “The new V20 batteries produced by the CRAFTSMAN brand will not be compatible with the 20V products released by Sears.” That is about as clear as it gets from the manufacturer side, and it explains why an old Craftsman 20V battery from Sears may physically refuse to mount or power a current V20 tool.

For today’s lineup, Craftsman’s own V20 System page states that V20 batteries are “compatible with all the CRAFTSMAN V20 cordless power tool and outdoor tool lineup,” and the system includes “over 100 different products.” So within the V20 ecosystem, battery swapping is straightforward. A V20 battery from a drill will run a V20 trimmer, blower, or impact driver sold under the same branding.

A concrete example is the CMCD700C1 V20 1/2″ Drill/Driver Kit. Craftsman’s product page lists a “1/2-in keyless chuck,” a “2-speed gearbox with speeds of 0-350/0-1,500,” and “280 unit watts out.” The kit ships with “(1) V20 20V MAX* 1.3Ah Li-ion Battery.” Notice the branding on the battery: V20, with the 20V MAX* descriptor underneath. That is the current Stanley Black & Decker battery format.

People sometimes wonder whether Craftsman V20 batteries work with DeWalt or Porter-Cable tools, or vice versa, since all three are Stanley Black & Decker brands. That common parent company does not mean cross-compatibility. No official source states that Craftsman V20 batteries are cross-compatible with DeWalt or Porter-Cable, so do not assume the packs interchange just because the corporate ownership overlaps. We also did not check Bauer or Harbor Freight compatibility for this write-up, so nothing here should be read as applying to those lines.

Practical takeaway: Check the label, not just the voltage number. If the battery says “Craftsman V20,” it works across the current V20 lineup, which Craftsman describes as “compatible with all the CRAFTSMAN V20 cordless power tool and outdoor tool lineup.” If the battery says “Craftsman 20V” and carries DieHard branding, it belongs to the old Sears line, and Stanley Black & Decker’s own brand GM confirmed the two do not work together. DeWalt and Porter-Cable batteries are a separate question entirely, with no official cross-compatibility claim to rely on.

How this was checked

Facts on this page are drawn from Craftsman’s own V20 System page and CMCD700C1 V20 1/2″ Drill/Driver Kit product page, plus a named-executive quote reported by ToolGuyd.

Sources checked: 2026-08-11. A new review date will only be set after the linked pages are re-checked.

Official sources

• CRAFTSMAN — V20 System
• ToolGuyd — Craftsman V20 vs. Sears Craftsman 20V Compatibility (quoting Jeff Doehne, Craftsman GM)
• CRAFTSMAN — CMCD700C1 V20 1/2″ Drill/Driver Kit