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Picking a new faucet or bathroom appliance is a big decision! They’re expensive and the last thing you’ll want to do is replace it in 2 years.
Finding the right faucet starts with finding the right brand. Each major brand will have different pros and cons.
Today I’ll be comparing Kohler vs Glacier Bay faucets so that you can pick the one right for you.
The good news is that you can’t go wrong. Kohler and Glacier Bay are both fantastic brands and make high quality faucets that are durable, beautiful, and perform well.
I’ll tell you up front that Kohler is the winner in this showdown. They’re higher quality, have more finishes, and are the most durable faucets on the market. The only downside is the price – Glacier Bay faucets are super affordable.
Both brands are high quality, but they have different strengths and weaknesses.
Quick Summary: Which Brand is the Right Pick for You?
Kohler is best for…
- Families with kids – Kohler products are some of the most durable on the market so they can hold up to the hard daily use of whole families.
- Paying for quality – Kohler faucets aren’t cheap, but they are known for being some of the highest quality you can get. Buy Kohler if you’re willing to pay for quality.
Glacier Bay is best for…
- Budget friendly – Trying to save money? Glacier Bay faucets are perfect for you. These are way cheaper than other brands.
- Rental property – If you own rental property and want a cheap faucet replacement, Glacier Bay products might be a good fit for you. They’re cheap and it won’t break the bank if you have to replace them every 5 years.
- Large residential property – If you’re trying to outfit an apartment complex or multi-family housing with a bunch of faucets, Glacier Bay is a good pick. They’re affordable and durable.
| Kohler | Glacier Bay | |
| Price | $$$ | $ |
| Technology | Tie | Tie |
| Design | Wide variety | Limited variety |
| Finishes | Bathroom: 12 Kitchen: 11 | Bathroom: 9 Kitchen: 11 |
| Models | Bathroom: 97 Kitchen: 95 | Bathroom: 112 Kitchen: 73 |
| Warranty | Limited lifetime warranty | Limited lifetime warranty |
Kohler Overview
I grew up using Kohler products. Everything in our house was Kohler: Sinks, faucets, toilets, showerheads.
I’m pretty sure my childhood home still has the same Kohler products that it came with when it was built in 1997.
Kohler is known for durable and high quality products.
Kohler is one of the oldest and largest plumbing companies in the world. They’re one of the best American made faucet brands in the country. When it comes to bathroom and kitchen faucets, they’re widely considered to be top of the line.
The company was founded by John Kohler in 1873. They were the first company to create a one-piece bathtub for everyday use. These days they offer absolutely every plumbing product you could ever need.
They are best known for their touchless technology in kitchen and bathroom faucets. That’s one of the reasons they are super popular in commercial spaces. They also produce one of the most durable toilets.
Kohler is also one of the most innovative companies when it comes to being environmentally-friendly. They are working hard to create more products that use less water and energy while remaining effective.
Pros and Cons of Kohler
Pros
- American Made – Kohler faucets are one of the few faucet brands made in the USA guaranteeing a higher quality faucet.
- Environmentally friendly – Many Kohler faucets are designed with an option to utilize less water making it better for the environment.
- Variety – Kohler has a huge lineup of different faucet options from type of finish to design and installation type to handle type.
Cons
- Less specialized – Kohler has one of the widest product offerings with plumbing products. They are less specialized on faucets compared to a company like Delta.
- More expensive – Compared to other brands like Moen and Delta, Kohler is on the pricey side.
Glacier Bay Overview
Glacier Bay is one of the more popular brands in the US. They are actually owned by Home Depot and are one of their leading in-house brands. You can buy Glacier Bay faucets and products at other stores as well.
The number one thing that sets Glacier Bay apart from other brands is their affordability.
Glacier Bay was established to be an affordable brand for home owners, large scale residential housing, and construction companies.
Glacier Bay is the most budget friendly faucet brand on the market. The faucets are high quality, have technological functions like TurboSpray and FastMount. The faucets come in a variety of finishes, models, and design options to fit any bathroom. These faucets are a great purchase if you’re on a budget. However, they aren’t the best faucets out there. If you are looking for a good value purchase, these are a great option.
Pros and Cons of Glacier Bay
Pros
- Affordable – Glacier Bay was created as a budget-friendly alternative to some of the household name brands. It’s the cheapest brand in the industry that is still quality.
- That’s it. We don’t have any more pros. It’s a budget brand and that’s the only quality worth highlighting.
Cons
- Less durable – These faucets are made in China and Taiwan and simply aren’t as high of quality as other brands that are American or German made. Boring design – The faucets made by GB don’t look bad, but they just don’t look like anything special.
- Limited selection – Glacier Bay only has around 180 total models to pick from. This sounds like plenty, but it’s actually not much compared to other brands.
Kohler vs Glacier Bay: Feature Comparisons
We’ve done a deep dive on Kohler vs Glacier Bay features to compare for you.
1. Price
Glacier Bay is one of the cheapest faucet brands I could find. Compared to Kohler, it’s not even close.
Glacier Bay was created to reach the budget-end of the market. They are positioned as the more affordable option next to industry leaders.
They do a great job at trying to help a portion of the industry that can’t afford more expensive faucets like Kohler.
I just want you to be fully aware that there is a tradeoff in price for the quality that you get.
Kohler
Kohler faucets tend to be on the more expensive side.
Most of their bathroom faucets tend to range between $250-500 with most of those in the $300-400 range.
Glacier Bay
Honestly, the only advantage Glacier Bay has over Kohler is the price. GB was created as a budget option.
If you’re struggling to make ends meet and need to replace your faucet, then you should go with Glacier Bay.
The majority of their kitchen faucets fall in the $80-120 range while the average bathroom faucet can be purchased for around $80.
I might sound overly negative on Glacier Bay and I’m honestly not trying to be. If it’s what you can afford, you should buy one and be happy about it. Home Depot makes good products.
But I do believe you should buy Kohler if you can afford something a bit higher end.
2. Design
Both brands have a number of different types of faucets to pick from. Moen simply has more models so they are more likely to have options that are right for you. They also put more emphasis on appearance and aesthetic than Glacier Bay.
Glacier Bay’s faucets look very “standard”. I don’t really know how else to describe them?
Kohler
When it comes to design, Kohler has a number of options. You can pick from six different mount options for their bathroom faucets. The most popular ones are their widespread, centerset, deck-mount, and single-hole. The vast majority of their faucets are lever faucets.
Most of their kitchen faucets are single-hole set ups with one handle. Their most popular spout types are pull-down, pull-out, or a standard faucet with side sprayer.
Glacier Bay
Home Depot has done a good job at making Glacier Bay a faucet brand that will fit anyone’s needs. When it comes to the different types of faucets, they have you covered. You can get any kind of faucet hole size or spacing that you need: single, double, three hole, or even four hole faucet arrangements.
You can get a variety of different mounts or arrangements. They’ve got wall mounts, deck mounts, centerset, widespread, etc.
While they do have all of the options you might need, the actual design or appearance leaves something to be desired.
They honestly just look bland. If you go to your local home depot, none of them are going to be particularly eye-catching.
But if you’re trying to replace a faucet in your rental apartment, you may not care about eye catching. You just want something that won’t break the bank.
3. Technology
Honestly, neither of these brands are considered top of the line when it comes to faucet technology. Both fall short of other brands like Moen or Delta faucets.
Kohler and Glacier Bay both have touchless technology in their bathroom and kitchen faucets.
For a budget brand, Glacier Bay really does try hard to implement tech functions to help their faucets perform better.
Neither one are really winners in this category.
Kohler
When it comes to bathroom faucets, Kohler has been surprisingly un-innovative. They really don’t have any fancy features or even touchless options for bathroom faucets.
In the kitchen though, Kohler has introduced a number of high tech features and faucet functions over the years.
The most popular features are…
- Touchless faucet technology
- 2 or 3 function sprayheads
- Innovative docking technology so that your sprayer or pulldown faucet will actually stay connected
- Their ProMotion technology is available for their pulldown and pullout faucets.
Glacier Bay
Glacier Bay is a budget faucet brand that still tries to have some technological features built in. They aren’t industry leaders by any means, but they do their best to keep up. I honestly appreciate their desire to make quality products for budget-minded buyers.
They actually offer touchless technology on both their kitchen and bathroom faucets. This is more than some of the big brands can say.
They do have some exclusive technological features:
- TurboSpray – Provides focused water columns with 30% more power than your standard pull-down faucet.
- FastMount – Mounting system that helps make installation quicker and easier
It’s worth mentioning that most of the top faucet brands have similar technologies to these.
4. Finishes and colors
Kohler and Glacier Bay are fairly close when it comes to faucet finishes, but Kohler gets the win by just a small margin. They have a few more options to pick from over GB.
Kohler
Kohler has 12 different finish or color options for their kitchen faucets and 11 to pick from for their bathroom faucets.
Glacier Bay
When it comes to finish options, Glacier Bay is right in the middle of the pack. They offer 9 different bathroom faucet finishes to pick from and 11 finishes for their kitchen faucets. They have a couple of two-tone options as well that we didn’t include here. If you like the look of matte finishes, Glacier Bay has you covered.
5. Models
Neither of these brands have the widest selection of models to pick from. In fact, Kohler actually has the least amount of options compared to most major brands (ex. Delta or Moen).
Kohler has around 190 and Glacier Bay is right at 185 total faucets between bathroom and kitchen faucets.
Kohler
Kohler has a pretty great variety of faucets with 97 different kitchen faucet models and 95 different bathroom faucets to pick from.
Glacier Bay
Glacier Bay has a limited selection of different models to pick from. They have 113 different bathroom faucets to pick from and only 76 different kitchen faucet options. This total of 189 is on the lower end compared to most brands.
6. Warranty
All of the warranties we’ve seen offered by different faucet companies are the exact same.
Kohler
Kohler faucets come with a lifetime warranty on their faucets for leaking, dripping, or other issues. This guarantee is only good for the first owner of the faucet. Improper care or cleaning can nullify the warranty.
Glacier Bay
The Glacier Bay warranty is a limited lifetime warranty. This means that the product is guaranteed against manufacturer defects but not against everyday wear and tear. It’s good to know that you have this kind of warranty on a product. It protects your purchase and gives you confidence in the product.
Final Verdict: Kohler vs Glacier Bay Faucets
Kohler is known for creating amazing faucets and shower heads with modern styles, durability, and design. Their products are high quality and perform well over time. I’m confident that if you purchase a faucet from Kohler, you are going to love it.
I honestly can’t say the same for Glacier Bay. They are just a lower quality brand. But if you’re on a budget, then you should feel comfortable buying one!
If we had to pick one brand to go with, we’d go with Kohler as the better option.
- Kohler – Great for high-end models and classic finishes like polished chrome. Super durable products.
- Glacier Bay – Best for people on a budget or people trying to buy faucets for residential or commercial spaces.
I hope this Kohler vs Glacier Bay comparison helped you decide which brand is right for you!
If you’re interested to see how other brands compare, check out our Moen vs Kohler vs Delta article.
