Benjamin Moore is very good paint with an inconvenient store model. The color deck runs about 3,500 standard colors against Sherwin-Williams' 1,700, and Aura holds a deep navy or oxblood better than anything else you can brush on. What it costs you is money and errands: no Home Depot, no Lowe's, no real Amazon path, sales of only 15 to 20 percent, and prices that swing 10 to 15 percent between dealers in the same town. Buy it when the color is the point.
- +Aura's color-lock resin holds deep navies, reds, and greens on a south wall at year five where commodity acrylic has already gone chalky
- +About 3,500 standard colors against Sherwin-Williams' roughly 1,700, and the warm whites and complex neutrals are where the depth shows
- +Gennex zero-VOC colorant means a saturated tint does not quietly add VOCs back, so ben, Ultra Spec 500, and Eco Spec stay at 0 g/L after tinting
- +Advance is the best brush-and-roll cabinet enamel a homeowner can buy, and brush marks flow out as it dries
- +Scuff-X is the only major-brand wall paint engineered for scuff resistance first, and a rubber shoe mark wipes off dry
- +Prices are stable month to month, so a $300 paint budget stays a $300 paint budget instead of swinging with a sale calendar
- +Dealer counters are staffed by people who tint paint all day, and 52 percent of pros in a Professional Painters Magazine survey picked BM for interiors
- −No Home Depot, no Lowe's, no authentic Amazon gallon: about 4,500 independent dealers and benjaminmoore.com, full stop
- −Sales run 15 to 20 percent on holiday weekends against Sherwin-Williams' 30 to 40 percent every four to six weeks
- −The same gallon can cost 10 to 15 percent more at one dealer than another a few miles away, and neither store will tell you
- −Aura and Regal Select matte set fast, so a slow roller gets lap marks and splotchy sheen that no second coat hides
- −Advance needs 16 hours between coats and 30 days to cure hard, which is a two-weekend cabinet job minimum
- −There is no 5-gallon Aura, so a whole-house repaint means buying gallons one at a time and boxing them yourself
The Line Ladder: Which Benjamin Moore Paint to Buy
This is the block most people came for: which Benjamin Moore line to actually buy. Prices are per gallon at US dealers in 2026, with the realistic street or 15 to 20 percent sale number beside them. Expect a 10 to 15 percent swing between dealers, so call two before you drive.
There Is No Sale Calendar, So Work the Dealer
Benjamin Moore does not run the promotional model Sherwin-Williams does. There is no 30 to 40 percent event every four to six weeks. Dealers run their own sales, usually 15 to 20 percent, usually clustered around Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, and Black Friday, and some never run one at all. Waiting for a deep discount is not a strategy here. The number on the shelf is close to the number you will pay.
The lever that does exist is the dealer itself. Because these are independent stores setting their own retail, the same gallon can differ by 10 to 15 percent between two dealers in one metro. Call two before you drive to the closer one. Then ask about an account: contractor pricing commonly starts near 25 to 30 percent off and climbs with volume, and plenty of stores will open an account for a homeowner with a real multi-gallon repaint in front of them. Contractor Rewards is free to join and stacks points on top. The worst answer is no.
The other honest lever is buying down the ladder instead of waiting for a discount that is not coming. Regal Select does most of Aura's job for $20 to $25 less a gallon on anything that is not a deep color. Ultra Spec 500 does a ceiling for a third of Aura's price. INSL-X Cabinet Coat gets you most of Advance's finish at $55 to $65. Save the flagship money for the one wall or the one kitchen where you will actually see it.
The Benjamin Moore Color Deck
The color system is the reason most people pay BM prices. The standard deck runs about 3,500 colors, roughly double Sherwin-Williams', and our browse pages list 3,919 including the collection fans. The depth on warm whites and complex neutrals is where the tinting work shows.
The Cons Only Forums Talk About
Aura Sets Too Fast to Forgive a Slow Roller
The same fast-setting film that pulls one coat on a mid-tone gives you almost no room to fix a bad overlap. Nearly every repeat complaint about Aura traces back to it: lap marks on a long wall, splotchy sheen in the matte, and touch-ups drying a shade lighter than the field. It is not a defect, it is the trade for the hide. Buy Extender 518 with the paint, cut and roll a whole wall corner to corner without a break, and do not sample this line if you are a first-time painter working slowly.
Regal Select Keeps Getting Reformulated
This is the loudest complaint on the pro forums. BM reformulated the Regal Select matte at the end of 2021 after application complaints and relaunched the whole line in March 2023, and painters on PaintTalk describe the matte as having an insanely fast dry time with no wet edge to hold, plus sagging on walls and an extra coat needed over white base. One thread reports four to five coats of Chantilly Lace matte over medium brown. A 45-year veteran's summary was blunt: they keep changing the product. Buy the eggshell, not the matte, and prime any big color change.
Advance Buys a Great Finish With Your Calendar
Sixteen hours between coats and 30 days to full cure is the real cost of the best brush-and-roll cabinet finish you can buy. Painters on PaintTalk report chipping Advance down to the primer with a fingernail even after what felt like adequate cure time, and note that it goes brittle like an alkyd, so hairline cracks show up where stiles and rails move. The prep decides the outcome. Bond-prime with Stix, do not overwork the wet film, and keep hands off the doors for a month.
The Dealer Is Half the Product
Buying BM means buying whatever your local independent store is like, and they vary. Retail on the same gallon swings 10 to 15 percent between dealers in one region, so the closer store can quietly cost you $12 a gallon. Service varies the same way, from a counter that knows every base to one that is understaffed on a Saturday. And a shortfall on Sunday afternoon is a drive, not a five-minute errand, because there is no big-box backup. Pick one dealer, learn their hours, and buy the whole job at once.
Reordering the Same Color Months Later Can Miss
Complaints on ConsumerAffairs and PissedConsumer keep landing on the same thing: paint bought later does not quite match paint bought earlier, and the store explains that BM periodically adjusts the formula for a given color. Add normal batch variation and you have a visible seam on a wall rolled across two orders. The fix is old and boring. Buy every gallon of a color in one trip from one store, box them in a five-gallon pail and stir before you cut in, and if you must reorder mid-job, start the new batch at a corner or a break line.
The Questions Between Two Cans
Aura vs Regal Select
Regal Select is the right answer on anything that is not a deep color, and it is more forgiving under a roller. Step up to Aura when the wall is a saturated navy, charcoal, or oxblood, where Regal reads flatter at the edges and can want a third coat. On a soft white the two are the same wall, and the Aura premium is money you will not see.
Aura vs Sherwin-Williams Emerald
Aura wins on saturated color retention, Emerald wins on scrub durability and on the store you can reach. The bigger difference is the buying model: SW is corporate stores with one national promo calendar at 30 to 40 percent off, BM is independent dealers at 15 to 20 percent whose prices vary block to block. Buy on the store you can actually get to on a Sunday.
Full comparison →Advance vs Cabinet Coat vs Scuff-X for Cabinets
Advance levels flattest and ends up the hardest film, but it costs 16 hours per coat and 30 days of careful living. Cabinet Coat is most of that finish at $55 to $65 and hard in about two weeks, which wins the schedule. Scuff-X recoats in two to three hours and is great on trim and doors, but it is a wall resin, so stipple and brush marks stay in the film on cabinet doors.
ben vs Ultra Spec 500
Ultra Spec 500 is the better buy of the two cheap BM gallons if your dealer will sell it to you. It costs $30 to $42 against ben's $47, touches up better than anything else in its tier, and holds the same zero-VOC Gennex tint story. ben is easier to find on the retail shelf and rolls a little nicer. Neither one belongs on a wall you will scrub.
Aura Exterior vs Element Guard vs Regal Select Exterior
Pick by climate and color, not by tier. Regal Select Exterior at $55 to $70 is the default for a light or mid-tone siding repaint. Element Guard is the pick where weather ruins coats, since it takes rain about an hour after application and goes on down to 35 degrees. Aura Exterior only earns its $85 to $100 when the color is deep and the wall faces south or west.
All Benjamin Moore Reviews
20 products reviewed in this brand.
Benjamin Moore Questions, Answered
Is Benjamin Moore paint good?
Yes, and it is the brand to buy when color is what you are paying for. Aura holds saturated blues, reds, and greens against UV better than anything else you can brush on, and the deck behind it runs about 3,500 standard colors against Sherwin-Williams' 1,700. The costs are money and errands: sales of only 15 to 20 percent, and no Home Depot, Lowe's, or Amazon path.
How much does a gallon of Benjamin Moore cost?
It spans a wide range. Ultra Spec 500 runs $30 to $42, ben about $47, Regal Select lists at $74.99 and street-prices around $50 to $60, Scuff-X $68 to $80, Advance $80 to $95, Aura $85 to $95, and Aura Bath & Spa $95 to $110. Expect a 10 to 15 percent swing between dealers in the same region, so call two stores before you drive.
Does Benjamin Moore ever go on sale?
Rarely and shallowly. Individual dealers set their own promotions, typically 15 to 20 percent around Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, and Black Friday, and some dealers skip them entirely. There is no national 30 to 40 percent calendar like Sherwin-Williams runs. The better lever is a store account: contractor pricing commonly starts near 25 to 30 percent and rises with volume.
Why is Benjamin Moore only sold at independent dealers?
The dealer relationship is the moat. Independent stores earn a better margin on BM than on brands fighting for big-box shelf space, and BM keeps retail stable so that margin holds. The trade-off is convenience: about 4,500 dealers nationally, no Home Depot, no Lowe's, no legitimate Amazon gallon. In a metro that is a fifteen-minute drive. In a rural county it can be an hour.
Which Benjamin Moore paint should most people buy?
Regal Select, in eggshell. It is the most forgiving line to roll, it hides mid-tones in one coat over a similar base, it wipes fingerprints without polishing up, and it carries the same 3,500-color deck as the flagship. Move up to Aura only where the color is deep and the room matters. Move down to ben or Ultra Spec 500 for rentals and low-touch rooms.
What is the difference between Aura and Regal Select?
Aura uses BM's color-lock resin, which holds saturated colors and resists burnishing on touch-up. Regal Select is the step down at roughly $20 to $25 less a gallon, still 100 percent acrylic, still the same color deck. On deep navy or charcoal, Regal reads flatter at the edges and can want a third coat. On whites and soft neutrals the two look identical on the wall.
Is Benjamin Moore better than Sherwin-Williams?
Not decisively, and the pros split. In a Professional Painters Magazine survey, 52 percent preferred BM for interiors while 55 percent preferred Sherwin-Williams for exteriors. BM wins on color depth and price stability. SW wins on store density and on a 30 to 40 percent sale you can actually plan around. Buy on the store you can reach and the color you actually want.
Will Sherwin-Williams color match Benjamin Moore colors?
Yes, free, in any SW base. The match is close on neutrals and pastels and drifts on saturated colors with heavy pigment load. Hale Navy matched into Emerald is fine. A deep, complex blue matched into a mid-tier base can lose depth. If the exact chip is the point, buy BM. If close enough is fine and the SW store is nearer, take the match.
Why does my Benjamin Moore touch-up show?
Two causes. On Aura, the fast-setting film means a dabbed repair dries a shade lighter and a different sheen than the rolled field. On any line, paint bought months later can differ, because BM periodically adjusts color formulas and batches vary. Keep leftover paint from the same gallon, roll the repair with a small sleeve rather than brushing it, and feather toward a corner.
What is the best Benjamin Moore paint for kitchen cabinets?
Advance, at $80 to $95, if you can give it the time. It levels closest to a sprayed factory finish and survives a working kitchen for years, but it wants 16 hours between coats and 30 days to cure hard. On a budget or a deadline, INSL-X Cabinet Coat at $55 to $65 gets most of the finish and hardens in about two weeks. Bond-prime with Stix either way.
Can I buy Benjamin Moore paint on Amazon?
Not in any way worth doing. The listings are mostly third-party resellers moving marked-up old stock, with no tinting and no guarantee of how long the can has sat. Buy at a dealer or order from benjaminmoore.com for pickup or local delivery. Most colors are mixed and ready in a few hours; unusual bases and designer-collection colors take longer.
Is Regal Select still good after the reformulation?
The eggshell is, and it is still the rung most homeowners should buy. The matte is the sheen that drew the complaints: painters report a very fast dry with no workable wet edge, sagging, and extra coats over white base, which is why BM reworked it in late 2021 and relaunched the line in 2023. Pick eggshell for walls, and prime under any big color change.
Ask a Question
Choosing between two Benjamin Moore lines?
Ask Maya below — every question gets a real reply, usually within a day. Painted with Benjamin Moore recently? Tell us the line, the sheen, and what your dealer actually charged — price gaps between stores and Aura touch-up stories especially welcome.