Behr is good paint that most people buy one rung too high. Ultra at $44 to $52 is the value pick for most rooms. Marquee at $50 to $60 earns the step up only on a drastic color change, and Dynasty at $60 to $70 only in rooms you wipe down weekly. Premium Plus is the line that earned Behr its bad reputation — buy it for rentals and ceilings, nothing else. The trade-off is thick paint that punishes rushed rolling.
- +Marquee matte runs 46 percent volume solids, matching Benjamin Moore Aura and beating SW Emerald's 41 percent, for $25 to $40 less a gallon
- +Marquee's 600-plus scrub rating holds up on real hallway walls, which is the strongest single argument for the brand
- +Dynasty is the most washable wall paint on a Home Depot shelf, and it lands $20 to $30 under Aura or Emerald
- +Urethane Alkyd Satin Enamel levels close to a sprayed finish for about $45, against $80 to $95 for Benjamin Moore Advance
- +Roughly 2,000 Home Depots open early and close late, so the 7pm quart problem is solved in a way SW and BM dealers do not match
- +Free 30-minute virtual consultation with a Behr color expert, which is the same work a local color consultant charges $50 to $250 an hour for
- +The deck runs about 4,700 colors in our sync, far broader than the roughly 350-color one-coat collection Home Depot markets
- −The paint is thick. Painters on painttalk and contractortalk report runs and sags on satin and brushes that never fully clean out
- −Touch-up burnish shows by year two, and a spot repair on a Marquee wall flashes more than the same fix on Aura
- −Premium Plus scrubs at 300 to 400 cycles and fades, and it is the line most people judge the whole brand from
- −Self-priming marketing only holds on similar-color repaints over sound paint, not on bare substrate or a real color change
- −Home Depot only. No dealer, no Lowe's, and the Amazon listings are third-party resellers at a markup
- −Both one-coat guarantees are fenced to curated color collections, not the full 4,700-color deck
The Line Ladder: Which Behr Paint to Buy
Five interior lines, four exterior tiers, and a wide specialty bench, all on one shelf at Home Depot. Prices are per gallon in 2026. Every row gets one blunt verdict, and the short version is that Ultra is the rung most houses actually need.
There Is No Sale Calendar — Here Is What Actually Saves Money
Behr does not work the way Sherwin-Williams does. There is no 30 to 40 percent event every four to six weeks, no loyalty account that unlocks a lower register price. Home Depot prices Behr close to what it thinks the paint is worth every day, and the sticker is the price. Waiting is not a strategy here. If the shelf says $52 for a gallon of Ultra on a Tuesday in March, it will most likely say $52 in June.
What does exist are rebates. Behr runs manufacturer rebate promotions through the year, usually clustered around Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day, typically $10 back per gallon on one-gallon cans and up to $40 back on five-gallon buckets. The 2026 offer running April 14 through December 31 covers Ultra, Marquee, and Dynasty on one-gallon sizes with a three-gallon minimum. That is real money on a whole-house project and nothing at all on a single can, and you have to file for it — the register does not take it off.
The bigger lever is buying the right rung instead of waiting for a discount. Stepping from Dynasty to Ultra saves $16 to $26 a gallon immediately, which beats any rebate Behr has ever run, and on most rooms you will not see the difference in year three. Five-gallon buckets shave a few dollars per gallon on the exterior lines. A Home Depot Pro Xtra account returns 2 to 4 percent on qualifying spend, which compounds for a contractor and rounds to nothing on one bathroom.
The Behr Color Deck
Behr's deck holds about 4,700 colors in our synced database, well past Sherwin-Williams' roughly 1,700 and close to Benjamin Moore territory. Most shoppers never see it, because Home Depot's signage pushes the roughly 350-color one-coat collection. These eight are the ones that keep showing up in real houses.
The Cons Only Forums Talk About
The Paint Is Thick, and It Punishes Rushed Rolling
This is the single most repeated pro complaint, and it shows up on painttalk and contractortalk year after year. Behr carries more body than most acrylics, so it sags and runs on satin if you load the roller the way you would with a contractor paint. It also tacks up fast: cut in an edge, start rolling before that edge sets, and you lift paint back off instead of blending into it. The fix is boring and it works. Thinner passes, a wetter edge, and never rolling the same spot three times to fix a thin patch. Come back with a second coat instead.
Flashing and Uneven Sheen on Ceilings and Long Walls
Painters have posted photo threads of Behr ceilings drying shiny-flat-shiny-flat across one plane. Behr's own problem solver names the causes, which is telling: a hot substrate makes the film dry before it can level, and a cold one produces the white streaking called surfactant leaching. Either way the fix happens before you open the can. Paint when the surface sits between roughly 60 and 85 degrees, prime any patched or skim-coated area so the porosity matches, and keep a wet edge moving in one direction. Flashing on a ceiling is almost always a condition problem, not a bad gallon.
Premium Plus Is the Line That Earned the Bad Reputation
When a painter tells you Behr is junk, they usually mean Premium Plus. It scrubs at 300 to 400 cycles, burnishes where you wipe it, and fades faster than the tiers above it. The problem is that it sits on the same shelf under the same logo as Marquee and Dynasty, so one bad rental repaint becomes an opinion about the whole brand. Judge the rung, not the label. Premium Plus is correct for a flip, a rental, or a nursery where the zero-VOC formula matters more than washability, and wrong everywhere else.
DeckOver Burned a Lot of Homeowners
Four class actions landed on Behr in 2017 over DeckOver, alleging the resurfacer flaked, cracked, and peeled within months of application. The case settled, and claimants started receiving checks in April 2020, some as large as $3,060, covering purchases between September 2012 and June 2018. Behr reformulated and now sells Premium ADVANCED DeckOver. The lesson generalizes past one product: thick film-forming coatings on horizontal wood fail loudly when moisture gets underneath. If you buy any resurfacer, the prep is not optional and the deck framing has to be sound first.
Touch-Up Burnish Arrives Around Year Two
Behr's mid-tier has no answer to the Color Lock chemistry Benjamin Moore charges a premium for. A spot repair on a Marquee wall reads as a visible patch in raking light by year two, more so than the same fix on Aura. Even Dynasty, the top rung, shows polished spots in eggshell in a shoulder-rub hallway around month thirty, where Aura in matte shows none at thirty-six. Plan for it: keep leftover paint from the same batch, feather repairs with a roller rather than a brush, and accept that a bad scuff may cost you the wall corner to corner.
The Questions Between Two Cans
Premium Plus vs Ultra vs Marquee vs Dynasty
Ultra at $44 to $52 is the right answer for most rooms, and the one people skip. Marquee earns its $50 to $60 on a drastic color change, where 46 percent volume solids do the hiding. Dynasty earns $60 to $70 only in rooms you wipe weekly. Premium Plus belongs on rentals and ceilings.
Full comparison →Ultra vs Marquee
Marquee wins on hide, with 46 percent volume solids in matte against Ultra's 37 to 44, plus the one-coat guarantee inside the curated collection. Ultra wins on the things you touch: scuff resistance and an antimicrobial mildew-resistant finish Marquee does not carry. Pay the extra $10 for a dramatic color change, save it in bathrooms and hallways.
Full comparison →Marquee vs Premium Plus
About $20 a gallon buys real washability, better hide, and the warranty. On a high-traffic wall that gap pays for itself in one repaint cycle. On a guest bedroom you will repaint in five years anyway, Premium Plus is plenty and the upgrade is money you do not need to spend.
Full comparison →Behr vs Sherwin-Williams
At list price Behr wins on value, plainly, and Home Depot's evening hours win on convenience. On an SW sale weekend the price gap closes to near nothing and SW's counter staff plus its specialty bench become the tiebreaker. Buy Behr if the store is closer or the project starts tomorrow. Buy SW if you can time a sale.
Marquee vs Benjamin Moore Aura
Marquee matches Aura on volume solids and beats it on scrub rating for $25 to $40 less a gallon. Aura still wins on depth in saturated navies and oxbloods, and on burnish resistance at year three. For off-whites, greiges, and mid-tone neutrals, the Behr can is the better buy. For one deep feature wall you will keep a decade, pay for Aura.
Cabinet & Trim Enamel vs Urethane Alkyd Satin Enamel
Cabinet & Trim blocks in about two hours, which is what makes a weekend kitchen possible, but the cured film gives up under standing cooking oil. Urethane Alkyd levels closer to a sprayed finish and cures harder, at the cost of a 4 to 8 hour recoat and a 14 to 21 day cure. Kitchens in a hurry take the first. Furniture and trim you want to look perfect take the second.
All Behr Reviews
22 products reviewed in this brand.
Behr Questions, Answered
Is Behr paint good?
Yes, at the right rung. Marquee scrubs at 600-plus cycles for $50 to $60 a gallon, where SW Cashmere manages 350 to 400 at $60 to $70. Ultra is the value pick for most rooms. Where Behr gives ground is color depth on saturated tones, touch-up burnish by year two, and self-priming claims that only hold on similar-color repaints. Premium Plus is the line that earns the brand its bad reviews.
Who makes Behr paint?
Behr Paint Company, headquartered in Santa Ana, California, owned by Masco Corporation since 1999. Otho Behr Jr. started it in 1947 selling linseed-oil wood stains out of his station wagon. Masco's coatings group also makes KILZ primers, so the Behr gallon and the KILZ primer under it come from the same company. Home Depot does not own Behr; it is the exclusive US retail channel.
Why is Behr only sold at Home Depot?
Behr signed with Home Depot in 1978, when the chain was still a startup with a handful of stores, and the exclusive relationship grew with it. The deal protects Home Depot's paint margin and gives Behr a roughly 2,000-store footprint without paying to run its own stores. The trade-off for you is no Lowe's, no Ace, no independent dealers. If your nearest Home Depot is far, you are driving.
Which Behr paint line should I buy?
Ultra, at $44 to $52 a gallon, for most rooms in most houses. It adds scuff resistance and a mildew-resistant finish over Premium Plus, and the lines above it still usually need two coats over a real color change. Step up to Marquee for a drastic color change, and to Dynasty only for kitchens, mudrooms, and hallways you wipe down weekly.
Is it spelled Behr or Bear?
Behr, with an h. It is a surname, not the animal: the company is named for Otho Behr Jr., who founded it in Santa Ana, California in 1947. The misspellings are common enough that Home Depot's search handles them, so bear paint, baer, and bahr all land on the same shelf. The paint counter will know what you mean either way.
What is the Behr Designer Collection?
A curated palette Behr sells alongside the main deck, with color codes starting DC, such as Blank Canvas (DC-003). It is a shortlist of neutrals and quiet colors chosen to work together, aimed at people who freeze in front of 4,700 chips. The paint itself is no different. Designer Collection colors are mixed into whichever line you pick, from Premium Plus up to Dynasty.
Is Behr Marquee as good as Benjamin Moore Aura?
Close enough that price decides it for most rooms. Marquee matte runs 46 percent volume solids, matching Aura, and its scrub rating is higher. Aura still wins on depth in deep navies and oxbloods and on burnish resistance at year three. At $50 to $60 against $85 or more, Marquee is the better buy for off-whites, greiges, and mid-tone neutrals.
What is the difference between Behr Ultra and Marquee?
Marquee has more solids and hides better, with 46 percent in matte against Ultra's 37 to 44, plus a one-coat guarantee limited to Behr's curated color collection. Ultra carries scuff-resistant and antimicrobial mildew-resistant additives Marquee does not. Roughly $10 a gallon separates them. Pay it for a dramatic color change or heavily patched walls; skip it in bathrooms and scuff-prone hallways.
Does Behr paint ever go on sale?
Not the way Sherwin-Williams does. Home Depot prices Behr close to the same number all year, and there is no membership tier that lowers it. What exists are manufacturer rebates, usually around Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day, commonly $10 back per gallon and up to $40 on a five-gallon bucket. You have to file the rebate yourself.
Does Behr Premium Plus really not need primer?
It needs one on bare drywall, bare wood, raw plaster, or any color change of more than two LRV steps. The self-priming claim is honest only over sound, already-painted, similar-color surfaces. Going beige to navy, you want a tinted gray primer regardless of which Behr line you buy. Skip that step and you will burn an extra coat of $50 paint trying to bury the old color.
Will Home Depot match a Sherwin-Williams or Benjamin Moore color into Behr?
Yes, free, scanned at the paint counter with no appointment. The match is close on neutrals and pastels and drifts on saturated colors carrying heavy pigment loads. SW Agreeable Gray matched into Marquee is fine. BM Hale Navy matched into Premium Plus loses depth. Bring a chip, a fan deck page, or a printed reference and buy a quart to test first on deep colors.
What is the Behr Color of the Year for 2026?
Hidden Gem (N430-6A), a smoky jade green that reads between blue and green. It follows 2025's deep ruby Rumors (MQ1-15) and 2024's soft-black Cracked Pepper. Read the pattern for what it is: Behr's COTY picks are accent-wall, cabinet, and front-door colors, not whole-room colors. All three read heavy across four walls in a normally lit room, so sample first.
Ask a Question
Choosing between two Behr lines?
Ask Maya below — every question gets a real reply, usually within a day. Rolled a Behr project recently? Tell us which line, what Home Depot charged, and how it behaved on the wall. Flashing, sagging, and touch-up stories especially welcome.