Harbor Freight offers a wide range of products on its digital and physical store shelves. Many of those come from brands under the Harbor Freight umbrella, and there are offerings for all budgets. You can find expensive high-end tools, affordable knickknacks, replacement parts, and everything in between. Even if you’re working with a limited budget, you can find tools designed for driving screws and other fasteners, engraving objects, testing circuits, and inflating everything from beach balls to air mattresses.

Whether you’re looking to expand your own tool collection, itching for a low-risk way to try a tool you’ve never used before, or hoping to find the perfect gift for the handyperson in your life without breaking the bank, take a look at these 14 gadgets. They’re all under $25, all useful in common workshop or DIY circumstances, and deserve consideration for a spot in your (or your friend’s) garage, shed, or workshop tool kit.

This Bauer powered ¼-inch screwdriver is lightweight and powerful enough to handle basic day-to-day fastening jobs. It’s a relatively low-power 4V screwdriver that delivers up to 180 RPM and maximum torque of 42.7 inch-pounds. It likely won’t be suitable for more demanding fastening jobs but it could make things easier when you’re hanging a picture, assembling furniture, or tightening handles on cabinets.

In addition to turning screws at the push of a button, the driver features a built-in LED work light beneath the chuck and an LED flashlight at the bottom of the grip. The handle features forward and reverse controls and a grip release button. One of the drill’s coolest features is its two-in-one handle design. Pressing the grip release and twisting the handle changes the unit from an inline screwdriver to a pistol grip and back again.

A ¼-inch chuck accepts many common screwdriver bit. The kit has four included: A #1 Phillips one-inch bit, a #2 Phillips one-inch bit, a #6 slotted one-inch bit, and a #8 slotted one-inch bit. It also comes with a rechargeable integrated lithium-ion battery and battery charger, all for $19.99.

Angle grinders are commonly used to cut, polish, shape, sand, and otherwise manipulate metals and other dense materials. You can use one to sharpen your lawnmower blades or cut through a rusted padlock. You can also slice off the heads of any nails or screws that went sideways and won’t come out. With a wire wheel attachment, you can even scrub out rust and old paint, and that’s just for starters.

As its product listing implies, this Warrior angle grinder features a 4.3-amp motor that delivers up to 12,000 RPM to make quick work of your various cutting, scraping, and polishing jobs. Perhaps one of its best features is a two-position auxiliary handle which can make it comfortable for both right and left-handed users. The housing is made of cast aluminum and durable plastic for increased longevity. It’s also got a Type 27 guard that deflects debris away from you. That said, you should still wear all of the appropriate safety gear anytime you’re using any power tool; this goes double for particularly challenging tools like angle grinders.

If you’ve spent any time working with tools, you’ve probably at least seen a mechanical sander. They come in a variety of designs, from large belt sanders to handheld palm units. Regardless of what they look like, power sanders all use a motor to move sandpaper quickly, taking a lot of the work out of large finishing jobs.

Handheld palm sanders are often equipped with circular pads which hold sheets of round sandpaper. Others are rectangular and hold an abrasive strip that runs along the middle. If you’re using either of those to sand the inside of something, you might run into an issue, though: The sander might bump up against interior walls, making it impossible for you to get all the way to the edge or into the corners. By contrast, the Warrior detail sander features a shape that’s similar to a clothes iron; it comes to a point at the front and widens in the back. The result is that you can still sand a relatively large area quickly while also getting into some of those hard-to-reach spaces.

This sander retails for $19.99 and features a hook-and-loop pad so you can easily swap out old sanding sheets when they’re spent. A bag at the back collects dust to keep it out of your lungs and eyes — you should, as always, wear all of the appropriate safety gear when using a power sander — and leave you with less mess when you’re finished.

An engraver is like a pen that can write on almost anything. This Warrior cordless micro-engraver features a diamond tip, letting you leave your mark; Harbor Freight says you can use this engraver effectively on wood, metal, ceramic, and glass.

This handheld engraver measures 6.25 inches long and ⅞-inch wide. It also weighs just 1.86 pounds, making it small and light enough to fit into a pocket or toss in a bag when it’s not in use. It’s roughly about the size of a fountain pen, so it should be relatively intuitive to use, even for high detail projects. It also features a contoured grip so you can hold it comfortably and with control. You can use this engraver to carve names, special messages, artwork, and more into a wide range of materials. It’s powered by a pair of AAA batteries, which come included in the package, all for just $11.99.

Oscillating multi-tools have become an increasingly well-selling item in recent years, and for good reason: They’re one of the most versatile devices you can add to your collection, once you know how to use them. It’s not even new, being first invented by Wilhelm Emil Fein in 1867 as a way for doctors to remove plaster casts without hurting patients. Instead of rotating, Fein’s invention oscillated the blade back and forth, and that small change made all the difference.

Oscillating blades only cut when they meet with enough resistance. When the blade encounters softer materials, like skin, it just jiggles back and forth without cutting as there’s not enough resistance; that’s why it worked to remove plaster casts safely. Decades later, the same technology leapt out of the doctor’s office and into the workshop. Using an assortment of attachments, the oscillating cast saw became the oscillating multi-tool. Fein’s company was the only game in town for a multi-tool until his original patent expired in 2009; since then, dozens of other companies have begun making their own as well. This includes Harbor Freight’s in-house brand, Warrior.

In this case, Warrior’s oscillating mult-tool has six speed settings with a maximum speed of 20,000 oscillations per minute (OPM) and is compatible with more than 30 different attachments. If you’ve wanted to get your hands on a multi-tool, this could be a good place to start for just $19.99.

The fictional freeze rays we’ve seen in comic books may not actually exist, but heat guns do. The Warrior heat gun from Harbor Freight can be used to strip old paint, cure shrink wrap, thaw frozen pipes, and more.

It’s got two different heat settings so you can keep things mild for the easy jobs and then really bring the heat when it’s needed: Set to high, the tool gets as hot as 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (538 degrees Celsius). It’s also compact and lightweight, measuring 7-¾ inches long, 3 inches wide, and weighing just 5 pounds. This plug-in hand tool retails for $19.99.

Exercise care when using a heat gun, as there may be flammable materials hiding inside your walls or behind other materials. Make sure your work space is well-ventilated so flammable fumes don’t get trapped and ignite. Stripping old paint can release lead into the air, so keep your workspace well-ventilated. There’s also always the danger of burns with a heat gun, so always use one in accordance with safety guidelines and wear appropriate safety gear.

Getting a flat tire can potentially ruin your whole day as you sweat on the side of the highway waiting for roadside assistance to show up. A portable tire inflator can save you from a headache by giving you a reliable source of air, anywhere you go. It won’t fix a puncture, but if you’ve got a slow leak it could get you back on the road long enough to get the tire repaired or replaced.

The Pittsburgh portable tire inflator, retailing for $16.99, can draw power right from your car thanks to its integrated 12V accessory plug. As long as your 12V port works, you won’t have to go scrounging for quarters to get air at the gas station. Harbor Freight says it’ll fill the average car or SUV tire from ambient pressure to 35 PSI in around six minutes.

A built-in LED light gives you illumination at night, and it also comes with two nozzle adapters and a sports needle. A pressure gauge gives you real-time readings, and the entire unit can run for about 10 minutes at a stretch before needing to cool down. It can even inflate things up to 100 PSI, though you’re unlikely to need that much pressure in your day-to-day.

A circuit tester is a portable device for checking the health of an electrical system. It temporarily becomes a part of a circuit for the purposes of ensuring there’s power flowing through it properly. This handy little gadget, shaped like a screwdriver, lets you check to see if your 6V and 12V fuses are working as they should, with its narrow, needle-point probe checking for voltage to see if they’re carrying current properly. 

Some circuit testers alert you to the presence of electricity by making noise, but this Cen-Tech circuit tester uses an indicator light so you can see at a glance if your fuses are the root of an electrical problem. The device itself is just under a foot long, about three inches wide, and weighs only 0.3 pounds. The probe features a heavy duty high-impact handle so it can stand up to abuse and a 5-foot lead wire. The tester retails for an affordable $4.99.

A dead battery is one of the most common reasons a vehicle won’t start. If you’re lucky, a neighbor can give you a jumpstart, solving your problem. If not, you might need the help of the Cen-Tech battery and alternator checker. As the name suggests, this gadget lets you check the health of your car’s battery and alternator, all for just $6.99.

Attach the insulated alligator clips on their 28-inch leads to your battery terminals and the device’s indicator lights will tell you the status of your alternator and battery. Meanwhile, the main unit has a magnetic backing like a car hood so you can stick it to a metal surface and work hands-free without worrying about it falling. It weighs about 0.3 pounds and should work with any 12V lead-acid battery.

Along with providing readings, the checker even offers recommendations for when to recharge, retest, or replace the battery. It’s also helpful in determining if a problem is only battery-deep or if the alternator is the true source of the issue.

When a vehicle sits for too long without being started, it runs the risk of the battery dying from self-discharge. It can happen for a number of reasons; newer cars equipped with onboard computers draw a little bit of power from the battery even when the car is off, for example. You could also be getting phantom power draw from any number of circuits in your car due to bad wiring. Even if your vehicle doesn’t have a computer, batteries simply self-discharge slowly over time. It’s the reason you’re supposed to start your car and run it for a few minutes every once in a while when you’re not using it. 

Conversely, you could use outside help. The Harbor Freight’s Cen-Tech battery maintainer periodically checks your car’s battery and tops it up when necessary to make sure doesn’t discharge from lack of use. Just connect the alligator clips to your battery and plug the maintainer into an outlet. There’s a 10-foot power cord and 10-foot leads, along with a few other bells and whistles like an LED status indicator, reverse polarity indicator, and alerts for a bad battery or a short circuit.

Maybe you left the dome light on overnight, or you haven’t started your car in a while and you don’t have a battery maintainer. Either way, you might need to recharge your car battery before you can on the road. This is where a device like the Cen-Tech battery charger comes into play: It takes power from an electrical outlet in your home or elsewhere and transfers it to your battery via a pair of alligator clips.

Unlike a battery maintainer, which delivers a trickle charge to keep your car battery topped off, a battery charger delivers a much higher amount of electricity quickly to revitalize a battery that’s more significantly drained. This Harbor Freight charger does that and more, automatically switching to maintainer mode once your battery is sufficiently recharged. There’s also built-in reverse polarity protection so you don’t have to worry about the consequences of accidentally putting its alligator clips on the wrong posts. This particular charger is compatible with both 6V and 12V batteries and retails for $24.99.

Some gadgets like car chargers are designed to work with your vehicle’s 12V outlet. Many are not, though; a household three-prong plug simply won’t fit. That’s where power inverters come into play. These adapters plug into your vehicle outlet and provide a 12V power source for traditionally-powered devices. The Jupiter Power Inverter, available for $24.99 from Harbor Freight, does just that; it features a single grounded residential plug and a pair of USB ports for charging your phone and other small electronics.

Having this inverter handy means you could plug in a television, a gaming console, a small refrigerator, portable DVD or Blu-ray player, or anything else that you’d like, offering you a cool way to level up a road trip or when you’re out camping in the wilderness. The unit delivers up to 240 watts of peak electricity for devices that need additional power at startup, then 120 watts of continuous power thereafter.

This inverter weighs about half a pound and measures about 4.5 inches long, 1.5 inches tall, and 3 inches wide. Features include a built-in cooling fan and automatic low battery shutdown to protect your from running your car battery flat. Harbor Freight sells a whole line of Jupiter power inverters with different capabilities, but this was the only one that meets our $25 cutoff.

The Bunker Hill Security Door and Window Entry Alarm does what it says on the tin: It will alert you if a door or window gets opened unexpectedly. Each alarm comes in two parts, which can be attached to either side of your home entry point, without any tools.

When the door or window is closed, the two parts of the alarm are in close contact with one another, and the alarm is quiet. If someone tries to get in, a magnetic sensor detects the change in proximity between those parts, triggering an alert noise loud enough to hear from a distance; you’ll be sure to notice when someone opens a door or a window equipped with one of these alarms, even if you’re in a different room. A switch on the side lets you choose between “chime,” “alarm,” and “off” settings.

Each alarm retails for $7.99 and is powered by a trio of LR44 button cell batteries, the kinds often used in wrist watches. The good news is batteries are included and replacements are commonly available.

If you need to make precise measurements, it’s important to have the right tool. Measuring tapes are good for everyday objects and laser distance range finders are good for large spaces, but they aren’t the best for every job. Meanwhile, a digital caliper offers high levels of accuracy for smaller objects.

The Pittsburgh digital caliper has an LCD screen to display readings. It’s powered by a 1.5V LR44 watch battery that lasts about 12 months on average before needing replacement. The caliper is made of impact-resistant composite materials, so it can stand up to its fair share of abuse while remaining lightweight at just 0.12 pounds.

This measuring tool lets you make inside, outside, depth, and step measurements with a 6 inch maximum, accurate to within plus or minus 0.01 inches. You can get one at Harbor Freight for just $9.99.

We combed through each of Harbor Freight’s product categories to find every tool and gadget the retailer sells on its website for $25 or less. Some product categories like hand tools were excluded,  as they don’t contain any significant electronic or mechanical components that would qualify them as gadgets, even though they are absolutely useful in their own right.

Anything else that did meet that threshold was considered, but not everything made the cut. If there were several similar products, like powered screwdrivers or entry-level drills, only one was chosen, and always the one judged to have the best features, performance, or bells and whistles. Resultantly it might be worth considering other Harbor Freight products not in this list to find a gadget that best suits your specific needs.

The value of each product on this list is supported by our own personal experience wherever possible. Otherwise, we focused on products that had a minimum of four stars across at least 100 user reviews on the Harbor Freight website, though many of the more popular gadgets had amassed thousands.