Power tool battery platforms: which batteries fit which tools

01What is a battery platform?

A battery platform is a family of cordless tools and packs from one maker, or one alliance of makers, that share the same battery interface, so any pack in the family fits any tool in it. The interface is the physical rail, latch and terminal layout, plus the electronics that let tool, pack and charger talk to each other. Two platforms with the same nominal voltage are still separate systems if their interfaces differ.

That is why a battery's voltage label is not a fit guide. The major platforms on this page print different headline numbers, yet DeWalt 20V MAX, Milwaukee M18, Makita LXT and Ryobi ONE+ packs share the same nominal voltage. What decides fit is the platform name on the pack and on the tool, and the maker's own list of compatible tools and chargers.

02Which batteries fit which tools?

Each platform's owner states which tools its packs fit, and the cross-reference below summarises those statements for the platforms with confirmed sources. Read across a row to see the label printed on the pack, the nominal voltage behind it and what the owner says the pack works with.

03Is a 20V MAX tool more powerful than an 18 V tool?

Not on voltage alone: DeWalt's own footnote says 20V MAX is the maximum initial voltage measured with no load, and the nominal voltage is 18 V. That nominal figure is the one Milwaukee, Makita, Bosch and Ryobi print on their packs. The belief that a bigger number on the label means a stronger tool comes from comparing a no-load peak with a working figure.

DeWalt applies the same labelling across its range. The table below gives DeWalt's own pairs of MAX and nominal figures, including the FLEXVOLT packs and the doubled figure for tools that take two FLEXVOLT packs at once. Comparing tools across brands should therefore start from nominal voltage, then move to the tool's own published output figures where the maker gives them.

In Europe and the UK, DeWalt sells its packs under an 18V XR label. A UK retailer describes these as the same platform as US 20V MAX under a different label, but no DeWalt statement confirming it was available to the AccessoryFit fact base, so check DeWalt's regional documentation before mixing packs bought in different markets.

04Can you use one brand's battery on another brand's tool?

No, not within the maker's guidance, except inside a declared alliance. Makita says its LXT packs are compatible only with Makita 18V lithium-ion tools carrying the Star symbol or a yellow battery receiver. DeWalt, Milwaukee and Makita manuals all tell owners to use a tool only with its specifically designated battery packs, because other packs can cause injury or fire.

Alliances are the exception, and the owner sets the terms. Bosch says its Professional 18V batteries and chargers work with all new and existing Professional 18V tools, and through the AMPShare alliance with 18V tools from partner brands. Two other alliances exist on the European market. The POWER FOR ALL Alliance, started by Bosch for home and garden tools, puts the 2026 reach of its 18V battery at 150+ products, 10+ partners brands. The Cordless Alliance System (CAS) is, according to Rothenberger, a manufacturer-independent 18V system founded in 2018 and based on Metabo's 18V battery technology. Its size depends on whom you ask: the CAS site claims 50+ brands and 500+ tools, while Rothenberger's CAS page gives 40 brands and 400+ products. Neither page is dated, so check the alliance's current list rather than relying on a logo on the box.

Bosch's own two 18V ranges do not swap with each other. The POWER FOR ALL Alliance says Bosch's Professional (blue) 18V and DIY POWER FOR ALL (green) 18V systems are separate and will not be unified, and that backward compatibility is promised only within each system. A blue pack is therefore not a green-tool pack, or the reverse, unless Bosch's documentation for a specific tool says otherwise.

05Do FLEXVOLT batteries work in 20V MAX tools?

Yes. DeWalt says a FLEXVOLT pack runs as a 20V MAX battery in 20V MAX tools and as a 60V MAX battery in 60V MAX tools, and that two 60V MAX packs together power DeWalt's 120V MAX products. A common belief is that FLEXVOLT packs only suit the larger tools; DeWalt's DCB606 page lists all three platforms as compatible.

The reverse does not apply. A plain 20V MAX pack is not listed as a 60V MAX battery, so a 60V MAX tool needs a FLEXVOLT pack. The switch between modes happens inside the pack when it is fitted to the tool, which is why one pack can serve both sizes of tool.

06Do Makita LXT batteries fit XGT tools?

No. Makita markets XGT as a separate 40V max / 80V max system, with the higher figure reached by running two packs together, and says LXT packs are only for its 18V tools. The one cross-platform item Makita lists is the ADP10 adapter, which lets an XGT charger charge 18V LXT packs; it is a charging adapter, not a way to run an LXT pack in an XGT tool.

The voltage on XGT packs is reported two ways. Makita markets XGT as 40V max / 80V max, and its UK BL4040 page and XGT kit data sheet list the nominal voltage as 40 V (Makita's stated nominal). Some retailers, RS among them, title the same BL4040 pack as 36 V, a figure no Makita page on file states. This page follows Makita's figure.

Milwaukee has a similar split. M12 is a separate, smaller Milwaukee line sold with its own packs; ITS, a retailer, lists M12 packs such as the M12 B4 as 12 V. Milwaukee's M18 tool manuals specify M18 packs and M18 chargers.

07Do chargers and third-party battery adapters work across platforms?

Chargers follow the same rule as packs: charge only with the charger the tool maker specifies. Makita's ADP10 is the only manufacturer-made cross-platform charging item in the sources read, and it stays inside Makita's own range.

Charger mix-ups are a recorded problem rather than a theoretical one. Australia's consumer regulator, the ACCC, names power tools among the products most likely to be connected to an incompatible charger, which can overcharge a pack. In its December 2022 issues paper it reported that power tools made up 6% of the lithium-ion battery incident reports received by Australian state and territory consumer-law regulators between January 2017 and August 2022, a sample of 95 reports in total. That 2022 share is still the most recent power-tool count of its kind: the ACCC's October 2023 final report covered 231 lithium-ion product safety reports received from April 2017 to March 2023 and named power tools among the higher-energy products whose incidents were trending upward, but gave no separate power-tool figure.

Third-party adapters that put one brand's pack on another brand's tool are a different matter. No tool maker statement specific to these adapters was found for this page. What the makers do say points one way: use only designated packs, and never modify a pack to fit something it was not made for. Warranty wording points the same way. Makita says a non-genuine or altered battery voids the warranty on the Makita tool and charger and risks bursting and fire, and Milwaukee's European warranty excludes damage caused by non-approved accessories or parts. Neither notice names adapters, but an adapter puts a non-designated pack on the tool. The practical reading is that an adapter places the tool outside the conditions its maker sets. Power inverters that run mains devices from a tool battery were also outside the sources read, so they are not covered here.

08How often do power tool batteries turn up in battery fire records?

Often enough to show up near the top of the one city-level count in the sources read, though no national rate for tool packs was found. Phoenix Fire Department investigators linked 19 fires in 2024 to power tool batteries, second only to micromobility devices such as e-bikes, and up from the year before. In 2025, power-tool packs accounted for 16 of 72 lithium-ion battery fires the department investigated, according to its December 2025 public summary. US recall counts and the wider record are gathered in the power tool battery recall and fire data.

These are counts from a single US fire department, so they say nothing about how likely any one pack is to fail, and they do not record whether a non-designated pack, charger or adapter was involved. What they do show is that cordless tool packs are among the lithium-ion batteries investigators keep finding at fire scenes, which is the practical case for the makers' rule set out above: charge each pack only on the charger its maker specifies, keep metal objects away from its terminals, and never modify it to fit another tool.

09Which accessories fit across brands even when batteries do not?

The working ends of cordless drills, drivers and rotary hammers are largely cross-brand, even though the batteries are not. The table below shows the platform, nominal voltage and tool holder of the cordless drills and drivers in the AccessoryFit database, as each maker states them.

• Impact drivers from DeWalt, Makita, Milwaukee and Ryobi all hold bits in a 1/4 in hex holder, so one set of impact-rated driver bit sets serves any of them. The detail is in the guide to hex shank sizes for impact drivers.
• Drill/drivers and hammer drills use keyless jaw chucks, and chuck size names the largest shank the chuck accepts, so a 1/2 in chuck takes the same bits whichever battery powers it. The guide to chuck capacity on 3/8 in and 1/2 in drills sets out the limits.
• Cordless rotary hammers from DeWalt, Makita and Milwaukee in the database all take SDS-plus bits, covered in the guide to SDS-plus and SDS-max shanks.

For a buyer choosing between platforms, that means bit sets and drill bits carry over if the battery system changes; packs, chargers and tools do not.

10When does a battery not fit, or not work, in a tool?

A battery fails the fit test whenever the platform on the pack differs from the platform on the tool, or the tool needs a mode the pack cannot supply. The cases in the makers' own statements are these:

• Different brand. Makita LXT packs are for Makita Star-symbol tools only; other makers designate their own packs.
• Same brand, different line. LXT packs do not run XGT tools, and M12 packs are a separate Milwaukee line from M18.
• 20V MAX pack in a 60V MAX tool. Only FLEXVOLT packs run as 60V MAX.
• Wrong charger. Charge only with the charger the maker specifies; Makita's ADP10 is a maker-supplied exception for LXT packs on XGT chargers.
• Modified pack or third-party adapter. DeWalt warns a modified pack may rupture, no maker approves cross-brand adapters in the sources read, and Makita voids the tool and charger warranty for non-genuine or altered packs.
• Bosch blue pack in a green tool, or the reverse. The two Bosch 18V systems are separate, per the POWER FOR ALL Alliance.
• Regional versions. Labels change between the US and Europe; confirm with the maker before mixing packs bought in different markets.

11How do you check whether a battery fits a tool?

Four checks, using the tool, the pack and the maker's documents, confirm battery fit before buying a spare pack or a bare tool.

1. Read the platform name on the tool. Look for the platform name on the tool's battery receiver or nameplate, such as 20V MAX, M18, 18V LXT, ONE+ or Professional 18V, not just a voltage.
2. Read the platform name on the pack. It must match the tool's platform, or appear on the tool maker's list of compatible packs.
3. Check the manual's battery list. Tool manuals name the battery and charger types the tool takes; Makita's manuals list the applicable pack models.
4. Confirm the charger. Use the charger the maker specifies for that pack, and check regional versions before using a charger bought abroad.

12Where do you go next?

Once the battery question is settled, the accessory side is where cross-brand choice opens up. The tool-by-tool accessory search lists the bits, blades and discs that fit a given cordless model, and every fit guide on the site, from blade arbors to sanding pads, is grouped in the accessory fit guides.

13Questions readers ask