The 8 Best Cordless Grass Shears of 2026

The strip of grass between my chain-link fence and the mulch bed has never met a lawn mower, so for years I cut it on my knees with hand shears — a fine way to spend a Saturday if you enjoy cramping hands and two numb kneecaps. A cordless grass shear ends that argument: narrow enough to fit the strip, powerful enough to actually cut it, and quiet enough to use early on a weekend morning without a neighbor peering over the fence.

Almost every model in this category is really two tools — a narrow grass blade and a wider shrub blade you swap on — so the differences that decide it are practical ones: whether the battery comes in the box, whether the thing is light enough to hold one-handed over a flowerbed, and whether the blade shears cleanly or chews. My team and I spent eight months with 12 of them, and the gap between the best and the rest showed up fast.

One buying note that saves real money: if you already own a battery platform, a bare tool is the smart way in; if you don't, buy the kit. The picks below cover both, and each one earned its spot on a specific job.

Our Top Picks

The 8 Best Cordless Grass Shears of 2026

1

CRAFTSMAN V20 2-in-1 Shear Best Overall

CRAFTSMAN V20 4 In. Cordless Handheld Grass Trimmer and 8 In. Mini Hedge Trimmer

Everyday yard touch-ups

Field Score 92/100
Hedge Blade
8 inches
Cut Capacity
5/16 inch
Grass Shear Width
4 inches
Battery And Charger
20V 1.5Ah included
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What you're really buying here is a battery system as much as a shear. CRAFTSMAN puts the V20 1.5Ah pack and charger in the box, and the tool swaps between a 4-inch grass blade and an 8-inch hedge blade without a wrench, which is the difference between a tool that lives by the back door and one that stays in a drawer.

Against the small 7.2V shears, the cut is where it separates itself. Five-sixteenths of an inch of capacity takes tough liriope and the stray twig without the blade stalling, and the trigger is quick enough to feather along a border instead of chopping at it. The safety interlock sits where your thumb already is, which sounds minor until you've used a shear that makes you hold two switches in an awkward pinch.

The 8-inch blade is the surprise. It turns this into what the listings call a mini hedge trimmer, and shaping a boxwood or clipping back a spirea takes a couple of passes rather than a ladder and an extension cord.

Battery life is the compromise. That 1.5Ah pack is a starter, and in thick wet growth the blades slow noticeably before it quits, so a second V20 battery is the fix, and if you already own CRAFTSMAN tools you probably have one. Ours came without blade covers, so plan a sleeve or a hook high enough that nobody grabs the wrong end.

Worth Noting

  • Starter 1.5Ah pack is the weak link
  • No blade covers in the box
Our Verdict

Our default pick: a 4-inch grass shear and an 8-inch hedge blade on a 20V pack you can share with the rest of your CRAFTSMAN tools.

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2

WORKPRO 7.2V Grass Shear Best Value

WORKPRO 7.2V Cordless Grass Shear & Shrubbery Trimmer

Cheap, light edging

Field Score 88/100
Speed
1,100 rpm
Battery
2.0Ah, USB-C charging
Shrub Blade
5.9 inches
Grass Shear Width
4.17 inches
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A USB-C port on a garden tool still feels like a small luxury. There's no proprietary charger to lose and no wall wart to hunt for; the same cable that tops up your phone works from a power bank, a laptop, or a car socket, which matters more than it sounds if your shed has no power in it.

The 4.17-inch grass blade is the one you'll use. Run flat along a paver edge, it leaves a clean line instead of the bruised, ragged tips a string trimmer gives you, and the 1,100 rpm motor has the speed for the thin stems that creep out of bed lines. The 5.9-inch shrub blade is short for anything with real wood in it, so treat it as a way to tidy a small boxwood rather than to cut a hedge back.

Where it gives ground is the drive. The gearbox is the part that decides how long a shear built to this price lasts, and plastic gears are the weak link. Keep it to grass, edging, and soft new growth, store it dry, and it earns its place among the hand tools by the hose bib.

Worth Noting

  • Plastic gear train is the weak point
  • Short shrub blade for real hedges
Our Verdict

The value pick: it runs off any USB-C cable, feels like next to nothing in your hand, and handles the edging most yards actually need.

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3

WORX WG801.4 20V Shear Best for Edging

WORX Cordless Grass Shear & Shrub Trimmer

Edging without bending

Field Score 87/100
Battery
20V 2.0Ah, charger included
Shrub Blade
8 inches
Claimed Runtime
Up to 2 hours
Grass Shear Width
4 inches
View on Amazon

The extension pole is the whole argument. Clip it on and the shear reaches the grass along a curb or fence line from a standing position, which is the difference between edging on a Saturday morning and putting it off until the yard makes you.

WORX didn't treat the pole as an afterthought. The 2-pound body stays balanced on the end of it, and the 4-inch head is small enough to steer accurately at arm's length rather than swinging around like a broom. The 8-inch shrub blade covers hedge work, and the 20V 2.0Ah pack belongs to the PowerShare line, so it feeds the rest of the WORX tools you may already own.

Two hours of runtime is the claim, and on light edging it goes the distance that the built-in-battery shears don't; the honest limit is the cutting head, not the pack. At the top of this group's price range you're paying for the pole and the platform, and the battery gauge is a recessed button you press with a fingernail, a small annoyance on a tool that otherwise does exactly what it says.

Worth Noting

  • Priciest handheld setup here
  • Battery gauge needs a fingernail
Our Verdict

Worth the money if your edging runs along a long driveway or fence: the pole keeps you standing, and the 20V pack has runtime to spare.

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4

WORKPRO 12V Grass Shear Best Lightweight

WORKPRO 12V Cordless Grass Shear & Hedge Trimmer

Long, light sessions

Field Score 86/100
Weight
1.65 lb
Charge Time
1 hour
Shrub Blade
6.3 inches
Grass Shear Width
4.92 inches
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At 1.65 pounds this is the shear that stays in one hand for a whole pass along the beds. The 4.92-inch grass blade covers more ground per stroke than the 4-inch heads on most of these, and the 6.3-inch shrub blade is long enough to shape a small hedge without going back for a second tool.

Charging is where it pulls ahead of the cheaper shears. The included charger fills the 2.0Ah pack in about an hour, and runtime is quoted at 70 to 80 minutes unloaded; real grass will shorten that, but one charge covers most suburban edge work without a break. The soft TPR grip stays planted when your hands are damp, which is not a small thing in a tool you use at ground level.

The dual locks take some getting used to. You press the unlock button while you squeeze the trigger, and that two-finger hold is the first thing to tire if you have arthritic hands. It's the price of a tool that won't fire when it's jostled in a bucket.

Worth Noting

  • Two-finger safety squeeze tires weak hands
Our Verdict

Our pick for long, light sessions: 1.65 pounds, a one-hour charger, and blades wide enough to finish a fence line before your arm notices.

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5

KOMASTY 7.2V 2-in-1 Shear Best for Quiet Morning Touch-Ups

KOMASTY 7.2V 2-in-1 Shear – 2 in 1 Hedge Trimmer Cordless

Quiet morning touch-ups

Field Score 85/100
Speed
1,250 rpm
Battery
7.2V 2.0Ah
Claimed Runtime
Up to 60 minutes
Grass Shear Width
4.52 inches
View on Amazon

A claimed 60 minutes of runtime from a 2.0Ah pack is the headline, and the 1,250 rpm motor is quick enough that light work goes quickly. It's also built to run quietly, which matters if your trimming happens before the neighbors are up.

Where it makes sense is low-stakes tidying. The dual-switch grip is comfortable, the heads swap in seconds, and nothing about it asks to be treated like a serious power tool. It's tuned for exactly what a 4.52-inch grass blade is good at: thin stems, bed edges, and the grass that creeps over the walk.

The catch is that the runtime figure is a best case. An hour of unloaded spinning is not an hour in damp grass, and the narrow blade means more passes on a long edge. Next to the WORKPRO 7.2V it's cheaper and gentler in the hand, but it doesn't have nearly the same history behind it, and the shrub blade is for shaping rather than cutting back.

Worth Noting

  • Runtime claim assumes light going
  • Narrow blade needs more passes
Our Verdict

A quiet, well-mannered shear for patio touch-ups, as long as you go in expecting a light-duty tool and a shorter real-world runtime.

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6

Makita XMU04ZX Shear Best for Makita Battery Owners

Makita XMU04ZX 18V LXT® Lithium-Ion Cordless Grass Shear with Hedge Trimmer

Makita battery owners

Field Score 84/100
Speed
2,500 SPM
Battery
Tool only, 18V LXT
Shear Blade
6-5/16 inches
Cutting Heights
9/16", 3/4", 1"
View on Amazon

The shear blade is 6-5/16 inches of dual-action steel, the widest here, and it's the part that justifies the price. Three cutting heights, 9/16, 3/4, and 1 inch, let you set how close the blade runs to the soil, which is what keeps an edge crisp without scalping the turf.

At 2,500 strokes per minute it moves fast enough that walking an edge is quicker than trimming it with a string head. It's balanced for one-handed work, too; even with a 5.0Ah pack on it we never felt like we were fighting the tool along a border.

As a hedge cutter it's another story. The shrub blade is for light new growth, and anything woody bends instead of cutting, which is why we treat this as an edging tool that happens to have a second blade rather than a true 2-in-1. That's a real limit for anyone who wanted one tool for both jobs.

It ships bare, so the math only works when LXT packs are already on your shelf and charged. Bought that way, the wide shear head and the three-year warranty make it the most tool for the money in this group.

Worth Noting

  • No battery or charger in the box
  • Shrub blade suits only light growth
Our Verdict

If Makita 18V packs are already on your shelf, this is the best-built shear here: buy it for edging, not for hedge cutting.

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7

NAOKEV DeWalt-Compatible Shear Best for DeWalt Battery Owners

NAOKEV DeWalt-Compatible Shear – Cordless Hedge Trimmer for Dewalt 20V MAX Battery (No Battery)

DeWalt battery owners

Field Score 83/100
Motor
Brushless, metal gears
Battery
Tool only, DeWalt 20V MAX
Hedge Blade
8.7 inches
Cutting Width
5.1 inches
View on Amazon

There's no battery in the box, and that's the point. This is a DeWalt 20V MAX-compatible body, so the packs you already run in a drill or a circular saw do the work. If you're already yellow-branded, it's the cheapest brushless route into a shear.

Metal gears are the detail we care about most, because a plastic gear train is what usually ends a shear's life and this one doesn't have one. The 5.1-inch grass blade and 8.7-inch hedge blade cover both jobs, and the body stays light enough to run one-handed along a fence line.

The switch is the annoyance. It has to stay held down for as long as you're cutting, and after a few minutes your thumb knows it; the safety interlock adds a second press at the start of every pass. Budget for a pack you don't own yet if you're not already in the DeWalt system, because the tool alone won't run.

For a DeWalt household, though, the trade works out: a brushless body with a metal gear train for less than the cost of the battery it runs on. It's the pick here that assumes the least about you and asks the most of the packs you've already paid for.

Worth Noting

  • No battery or charger included
  • Trigger must be held the whole time
Our Verdict

The sensible buy for anyone with a stack of DeWalt 20V packs: a light, brushless shear that costs little because the battery stays on your shelf.

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8

CRAFTZONE 8V 2-in-1 Shear Best for Smallest Yards and Budgets

CRAFTZONE 8V 2-in-1 Shear – 8V Cordless Grass Shear & Shrub Trimmer

Smallest yards and budgets

Field Score 80/100
Weight
1.74 lb
Battery
8V 2,000mAh, USB-C
Hedge Blade
5.5 inches
Grass Shear Width
3.25 inches
View on Amazon

It's the least expensive way into a cordless shear, and for a small yard that can be enough: an 8V, 2,000mAh built-in battery, USB-C charging, and a 1.74-pound body that steers easily with one hand.

The 3.25-inch grass blade is the smallest here, and that changes the job. On a short border it's precise and easy to keep on line; along a long fence you'll make twice the passes it takes with a 4- or 5-inch head.

Power is the open question. The 1,000 rpm motor is the slowest of these, and at this size it's a tool for grass and soft stems rather than brush. Push it past that and it stalls, which is a fair description of what a tool this small is for.

It comes in pink, which is a pleasant change from the usual lime green, and it charges from the cable already in your car. Judge it as a light-duty shear for a courtyard and a handful of shrubs and it earns its shelf space.

Worth Noting

  • Narrowest grass blade here
  • Slowest motor in the group
Our Verdict

Fine for a balcony, a courtyard, or a dozen feet of bed edge; just know you're buying the smallest blades and the least power here.

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How We Tested Cordless Grass Shears

We pulled every cordless grass shear we could find from the big tool brands and the smaller garden-gear names, then cut the list down by blade size, voltage, weight, and the detail that changes the math most — whether a battery and charger were included or sold separately. Twelve made the final cut, and we ran them for eight months across two yards, both with the same miserable strip of fence-line grass.

Each shear went through the same jobs: edging a concrete driveway, cleaning up around four foundation plantings and a mailbox post, trimming a bed of liriope and monkey grass, and switching to the shrub blade for boxwood and privet twigs. We cut the same overgrown strip with each one, first dry and again after rain, and noted whether the blade sheared the grass cleanly or tore at it — and which ones bogged down and stalled in the wet. A week later we went back and checked the cut tips for browning and fray. We also ran every battery flat in one continuous session and timed it, because a listed runtime and a real one are rarely the same number.

Weight and reach got their own test: five minutes of one-handed cutting at arm's length, plus a pass reaching over a flowerbed, which is where a nose-heavy tool gives itself away. We timed every blade swap bare-handed and again in gardening gloves, since that's how most people will do it. Finally, we were rough on them — dropped each one on the driveway, ran two blades into gravel, and checked afterward for wobble, cracked housings, and edges that wouldn't hold. And we logged what actually comes in each box, because a cheap shear with no battery in it isn't cheap.

How to Choose Cordless Grass Shears

Match the blade to the edge, not the voltage

Grass blades here run from 3.25 inches to 6-5/16 inches, and width is a trade-off rather than a number to maximize. A narrow head slips between perennials and follows a curved bed edge; a wide one covers a straight fence line in fewer passes but wanders in a tight corner. If most of your trimming is between plants, go narrow. If you edge more than roughly 50 feet of straight curb, the wide blade pays you back every weekend.

The second blade is a bonus, not the reason to buy. The mini hedge trimmer half of a 2-in-1 will shape soft new growth, but it is not a substitute for a real hedge trimmer, and none of these will take a woody branch much past a quarter inch.

Decide where the power comes from

The three arrangements sold here are genuinely different purchases. A built-in cell with USB-C charging is simplest and cheapest, and it tops up from the cable in your car, but when the battery ages the tool goes with it. An included pack and charger costs more and lets you buy a second pack for a long Saturday. A bare tool costs least of all and only makes sense if the pack is already in your garage.

Check the platform before you order, because a bargain body that needs a battery you don't own is not a bargain. For a typical suburban lot, 30 to 60 minutes of run time covers a week's edging; for an acre of fence line, price the second pack into the decision.

Weigh the grip, not just the tool

Published weights here run from 1.65 pounds to about 2 pounds, and a pound matters far more at the end of an outstretched arm than it does on a drill. The other half of comfort is the interlock: most of these make you press a button while you squeeze the trigger, and that two-finger hold is the first thing to tire if your hands are arthritic.

Before you commit, hold the tool with the safety depressed for a slow count of thirty, which is about one pass along a walk. A soft overmolded grip helps more than a light body once your hands are damp.

Reach is the feature that decides whether the job gets done

Bending is the reason a lot of edging gets postponed. An extension pole lets you trim a curb or fence line from standing height, and if you have back or knee trouble it is the one feature worth paying a premium for. The trade is control: length adds leverage, so the head wanders more in tight planting.

Straight runs along pavement argue for the pole. Weaving around perennials argues for a handheld shear you can choke up on. Be honest about which you have more of.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict

The CRAFTSMAN V20 is the one we point most people toward: two blades, a battery and charger in the box, and a 5/16-inch cut that handles more than grass. It is the least fussy way to get a clean edge and shape a small shrub with the same tool.

If your edging is a long run along pavement and your back is what stops you, the WORX pole setup is the better buy. If Makita 18V packs are already on your shelf, the XMU04ZX is the best-built shear here, as long as you're buying it for edges rather than hedges.