10 Best Sawhorses in 2023 – Reviews, Top Picks & Buyer’s Guide

You’ve got a project elevated on a set of sawhorses, working it, bringing it ever closer to a finished product. So far, you’ve invested over 20 hours, and you can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. But then, the leg of one sawhorse buckles as you apply pressure from an angle it doesn’t approve of. Your work comes crashing to the floor, and in a flash, all of those hours of work are suddenly wasted.

If you’ve never experienced a scenario like this, then you should consider yourself lucky. To make sure you never do, the following ten reviews will help you find the best sawhorses available; ones that you can trust to hold your projects and not collapse.

We’ve tested these load-bearing tools to see how they handled the…load. Unfortunately, some sawhorses were injured in the making of this list as they collapsed under the weight of their responsibilities.

A Summary of our Favorites (updated in 2023):

Rating	Image	Product	Details
Best Overall		WORX Pegasus Portable Sawhorse	Quick clamps hold your materials Holds 1 000 lbs Folds completely flat	CHECK PRICE
		Rockwell JawHorse Sawhorse	Can support a 600-lb load Doubles as a bench vice Has foot pedal lever	CHECK PRICE
Best Value		2x4basics Saw Horse	Supports up to 2 000 lbs per pair Supports up to 2 000 lbs per pair Stackable	CHECK PRICE
		ToughBuilt Folding Sawhorse	Up to 1 300 lbs on a single sawhorse Side notches hold 2x4s Adjustable height legs	CHECK PRICE
		Bora Portamate Speedhorse Sawhorse 2-Pack	1 500-lb capacity per sawhorse 2X4 notches to create a table Sets up in seconds	CHECK PRICE

The 10 Best Saw Horses:

1. WORX Pegasus Portable Sawhorse – Best Overall

The more ways a tool can be used, the better it is in our book. That’s why we loved the WORX Pegasus Portable Sawhorse. It’s more than just a mere sawhorse, though it is definitely that. It has fold-out supports that transform it from an ordinary sawhorse into a workbench.

Taking things another step further, there are two clamps built right into the top of the bench. They’ll grab whatever material you’re working with, holding on with a firm grip and not letting go. It’s like having another pair of hands while working, which we probably don’t have to tell you, is incredibly useful.

You might think that something this versatile would be weak, but you’d be wrong. This single sawhorse/workbench can hold up to 1,000 pounds. However, it weighs a mere 30 pounds, so you can easily carry it around without difficulty. Plus, it folds flat, making it even easier to carry and to store as well.

At the bottom of the table are tabs to hold a power strip that can be very useful in certain situations. We just wish that the height of this tool were adjustable to maximize its usability.

All in all, we think that this is the best sawhorse of the year.

2. Rockwell JawHorse Sawhorse

What if a single tool could replace your sawhorse, workbench, clamps, and even your bench vice? Say hello to the Rockwell JawHorse Portable Material Support Station. So much more than just a sawhorse, this tool will make your work more enjoyable than ever before.

To start, this solid steel support station has enough strength to support a 600-pound load. A single clamp system spans the full length of the sawhorse and it can deliver up to one ton of clamping force. Spread it out and clamp down a sheet of plywood to turn it into a work table. Or, bring it in tight and use it as a vice to clamp down whatever you’re working on. You can be sure it won’t go anywhere.

Naturally, your hands are often full while you’re working. That’s why the JawHorse was built with a foot pedal lever to control the clamping. You can operate it with both hands attending to your work, something you can’t do with any other sawhorse.

There’s no question, this is a premium product with a matching price tag. But considering all the great features and functionality the JawHorse provides, we believe it’s worth the higher cost.

3. 2x4basics Saw Horse – Best Value

Though many sawhorses today are loaded with fancy extra features, the base tool is really very simple. For a return to the basics, the 2X4basics Sawhorse brackets are simple and dirt-cheap without any gimmicks or frills. But that doesn’t mean they’re not useful.

At the end of the day, all a sawhorse needs to do to be a useful tool is reliably hold up heavy loads. To that end, these sawhorses can hold up to 2,000 pounds per pair. And while they may not fold up for easy storage, they are stackable, or you can disassemble them in mere minutes and they’ll take up very little space.

One of our favorite features about these sawhorses is how versatile and customizable they are. Be warned; assembly is definitely required. All you get with this purchase is the brackets. You’ll have to supply 2x4s to actually build the sawhorses.

The upside is that you can build them to any height and length you desire. Need a sawhorse that’s eight feet tall and 16 feet long? Well, with the 2X4basics sawhorse brackets, you can easily build one. They’re not for everyone, but we think they’re the best sawhorses for the money.

4. ToughBuilt Folding Sawhorse

Combining one of the highest load capacities we’ve seen with adjustable height legs, the ToughBuilt Folding Sawhorse is built tough to withstand the rigors of life on a job site, just as the name implies. Each of these sawhorses can hold up to 1,300 pounds for a total weight capacity of 2,600 pounds for the pair.

Despite the substantial strength of these stout sawhorses, they’re surprisingly light, weighing in at a mere 20 pounds each. That makes them easily portable, aided by the collapsable legs that fold into the body, creating a neat and easy-to-carry package.

When you need more space than a sawhorse can provide, the large notches on each end of these sawhorses will fit a 2×4 lying vertically. When you connect two sawhorses with a 2×4 on each side, you’ll create a spacious work table that you can cover with a full sheet of plywood.

These aren’t the cheapest sawhorses, but you get a lot of quality for the money you spend. Still, the ToughBuilt Folding Sawhorses can’t quite match the incredible versatility of our top picks.

5. Bora Portamate Speedhorse Sawhorse 2-Pack

If you’re a worker who’s always on the move, you need tools that work like you do; quickly. That’s the idea behind the Bora Portamate Speedhorse Sawhorses. They’re meant to set up quickly and pack up just as fast, allowing you to get started or get out in record time. They succeeded in this endeavor, setting up in just a few seconds thanks to the quick-release technology.

These were the strongest sawhorses that we tested, capable of supporting up to 1,500 pounds apiece for a 3,000-pound total capacity for the pair.  That’s impressive, but they sacrificed versatility to manage it since these sawhorses are not height adjustable.

On the ends of each sawhorse are deep notches that will hold a 2×4 lying vertically so you can create a job site table out of these sawhorses with a few pieces of wood. It’s a nice feature, but not enough to justify the extravagant price tag. Especially when you consider that they’re fixed at one height that can’t be changed.

6. Metabo Portable Folding Sawhorses

Weighing just 11 pounds per pair and folding almost completely flat, the Metabo HTP Portable Folding Sawhorses are some of the lightest and easiest to transport sawhorses we’ve seen. If that were the only metric for ranking these sawhorses, then the Metabo sawhorses would top the list.

At such a low weight, you might expect these to be weak and flimsy. Well, they weren’t flimsy, but they certainly didn’t feel as stable as some of the more stout sawhorses we’ve used. Still, they have a rated capacity of 1,200 pounds for the pair, which is pretty decent, if not as strong as some that we’ve seen.

Included with these sawhorses are four sawbucks. You can use these to attach a 2X4 to the top of each sawhorse, lying flat. We found this most useful as a way to add additional height to these sawhorses since they aren’t adjustable.

7. TOMAX Folding Sawhorse

The TOMAX Folding Sawhorse is constructed from steel and protected with a powder-coated finish. It looks like a sturdy device, and it weighs the same 20 pounds as the ToughBuilt folding sawhorse in our fourth position. But that tool can hold up to 1,300 pounds while the TOMAX tops out at a lackluster 440 pounds.

One nice feature on the TOMAX is that the legs are adjustable, allowing you to change the height from 25-40 inches. But doing so is a hassle, requiring you to squeeze your fingers into the small recesses in the back of the legs to loosen a tiny wingnut. At least they fold almost completely flat for easier transportation.

8. Woodstock D4220 Sawhorse Brackets

Similar to the 2X4basics sawhorse brackets in the third position on this list, the Woodstock D4220 Sawhorse Brackets allow you to build your own sawhorses out of 2X4s. You can build them to any height and length you desire, even using larger lumber for the top instead of 2x4s. It’s one of the cheapest ways to get a good sawhorse.

But we didn’t like these ones as much as the 2X4basics. First, only two brackets are included in the package, which only allows you to build a single sawhorse. The Woodstock brackets also don’t seem quite as sturdy. They’re much smaller, offering much less support for the legs. Overall, we weren’t impressed with them, though they’re still a very affordable way to build sawhorses.

9. Bora Portamate PM-3300T Steel Folding Sawhorses

Simple but only moderately strong, the Bora Portamate Steel Folding Sawhorses didn’t perform as well as we’d hoped. They’re reasonably priced compared to the competition though, which is what drew us to them in the first place. Plus, they’re protected by a one-year warranty, providing peace of mind we didn’t get from other sawhorses.

But there were some notable flaws with the Portamate sawhorses. First, they aren’t very strong, especially for solid steel. Each sawhorse can only support 500 pounds. Worse, you’re stuck at just a single height since these aren’t height adjustable. It’s nice that they come fully assembled and ready to work, but they lack the flexibility and robustness that we like to see on our sawhorses.

10. WORX WX065 Clamping Sawhorse Pair

These lightweight plastic sawhorses from WORX are each equipped with a trigger-handle bar clamp to hold onto whatever you’re working on. Being one of the main selling points of the item, we expected them to be a useful feature. To our dismay, they were quite weak, and the plastic broke easily. One actually bent just from trying to clamp it down all the way.

With a folded depth of just 2.5 inches, you can easily store these sawhorses when they’re not in use. With a capacity of 1,000 pounds together they ought to be able to hold up to sustained use. In truth, the plastic is quite thin, making the entire unit flimsy. While they may be fine for holding stationary items, we don’t recommend using them for more intense work with higher pressure demands such as for making cuts with a power saw. Despite the obvious drawbacks, this is actually one of the higher-priced sawhorses.

Buyer’s Guide – Purchasing the Best Sawhorse

Though simple in function, sawhorses can become surprisingly complex once all the features and fancy extras are added. But are they all necessary? If you’re still unsure of which sawhorses are the right ones for you, then this buyer’s guide should help. In it, we’ll briefly discuss the most important things that you need to keep in mind when deciding on a set of sawhorses to trust with your work.

Load Capacity

If you load up a sawhorse and it collapses, you’ll lose not just the sawhorse, but possibly your work as well. For that reason, load capacity is the first thing that you should consider when picking a set of sawhorses.

The load capacity represents how much weight the sawhorses can support. If you’ll only be using your sawhorses for light-duty work, then this may not be as big of an issue for you. On the other hand, if you need sawhorses that can hold up an engine block, then you’ll want to make sure you pick some heavy-duty sawhorses or disaster may ensue.

What’s a Good Load Capacity?

There’s a lot of variance between sawhorses when it comes to load capacity. Some of the sawhorses we tested maxed out at just over 400 pounds per sawhorse. Others were capable of holding loads as heavy as 1,500 pounds on a single sawhorse. For any heavy-duty applications, we’d recommend sawhorses that can handle about 1,000 pounds per sawhorse.

Portability

If you only ever work in your workshop, then portability may not be the most important factor for you. But if you work outside of your shop often, moving around the house or even traveling to other places to work, then portability is a key factor to consider.

There are two main components of portability: weight and size.

Adjustable Height

We’re all different heights, and so are the projects we’re working with. A comfortable working height for one person who’s 5’4” and another person who’s 6’2” are going to be drastically different. But many sawhorses come at a fixed height, forcing you to make do with whatever height it’s set at.

Adjustable height sawhorses fix this problem by allowing to extend or shorten the legs to change the overall height of the sawhorse. But not everyone feels they need this feature. It’s not essential to the overall function of the sawhorse, but adjusting it to the right height for you can make a major difference in how much you enjoy your work!

Versatility

Today, a sawhorse can be a lot more than just a sawhorse. Some of the fancier models have all sorts of features making them much more versatile than a boring old sawhorse. One versatile feature is the ability to transform from a sawhorse into a workbench. This can drastically increase the usefulness of your sawhorse, allowing you to find more uses for it than if that ability weren’t present.

Some sawhorses we tested were so versatile that they could be built to any length or height you want. That makes them great for specialty uses where you can’t seem to find the right sawhorse for what you need. In these cases, a versatile sawhorse that opens up those possibilities might be the only viable option.

Extra Features

We’ve already mentioned some of the extra features that can be included on sawhorses, but there are plenty more. One of our favorites is clamps. These come in different forms, but they’ll hold your work, freeing up your hands. Features like this are so useful, it’s like having another set of hands.

Cost

There’s a pretty major discrepancy between the cheapest sawhorses we tested and the most expensive. But that doesn’t mean that the priciest options always outperformed the more budget-conscious choices. In fact, we were quite impressed by the abilities presented by some of the lowest-cost sawhorses we tested. You don’t necessarily have to spend a lot of money to get a quality set of sawhorses.

Sawhorse Skills

Remember, purchasing your sawhorses is only part of the battle. Once you get them home, the fun begins. But the fun can turn south in a flash if you don’t follow proper safety protocols. What starts as a fun project can end in injury or worse. Continually brush up on your skills and always remember to follow all the safety steps to keep yourself from having any unfortunate accidents.

Final Verdict:

We had to test tons of these sawhorses, holding literally tons of weight, just to find the best ones to recommend to you. Many of them never made the cut, shattered or bent support legs failing, often alarming our testers with the unexpected crash.

We think that the WORX Pegasus Portable Sawhorse is the best sawhorse overall. More than a sawhorse, it has folding supports that transform it into a table. Impressively, at a meager 30 pounds, it can support 1,000 pounds of weight, and it has two quick clamps that can act as a second set of hands.

For a premium option with all the bells and whistles, we recommend the Rockwell JawHorse. This versatile tool can be your sawhorse, workbench, and even a bench vice with one ton of clamping force.

The 2X4basics Sawhorse Brackets is the best sawhorse if you’re on a budget. Not only are they dirt cheap, but they can hold up to 2,000 pounds once assembled and they can be built to any size to fit any need.