Liftmaster vs Chamberlain – Comparison and Review

If you are on the market for a garage door opener you will have likely heard of both Liftmaster and Chamberlain.

Both are known for offering some good quality products at a reasonable price. But the question I want to ask is which the better option is.

Both options have a host of different features but here I am going to do a direct comparison between them and the most popular product for each company. I will start of by giving my thoughts on each of them after using them myself for 2 months each. Then after I will do a more direct comparison between the 2 to compare their differences and similarities.

Chamberlain vs Liftmaster

Chamberlain B970

Like me start of my talking about this Liftmaster. The setup for this was quite easy to follow along and install. If you are swapping out your old garage door opener it should be even easier. Also, once you get the hardware side of things set up you can set it up to your Wi-Fi network. Even if you are not the most technical person the instructions are well laid out and you should be up and running quite quickly.

Of course, when using the wifi you can install the app on your phone and you can use it to open and close the door. There are also 2 remotes included which will open it as well, so you don’t have to connect to your wifi network if you don’t want to or if you don’t intend to use it that way. But if you do – anyone who has a phone in your household can operate it whenever they need and that is an extremely useful feature to have. Using the app, you can also see if your garage door is open or closed which can be useful in certain situations.

When they door is opening it is surprisingly quiet. With one of my old garage door openers it was quite loud and would sometimes wake some people up if I used it late at night. Though with this one you won’t have this issue which is great.

One great feature that also is included is the back up battery. Where if you lose power, the door will still work which can be really useful especially for certain people.

On a final note the construction feels great and well built along with the belt itself being durable and well-made.

Advantages
  • Easy set up
  • Can be operate with mobile phone
  • Reasonable pricepoint
  • Back up battery
  • Well built
Disadvantages
  • n/a

Liftmaster vs Chamberlain

Liftmaster 8500 Elite Series

First off, I would like to talk about the set up. Overall it is relatively easy to follow though there are a couple of more tricky parts. Though you should still be up and running quite quickly.

The design and functionality of this Liftmaster is great. It allows for super quiet opening and closing with makes for using it at afterhours times no problem at all.

In terms of the overall build quality it is excellent. The Chamberlain is great though this has a slight edge over it as well. It even comes with a lifetime warranty on the motor and a 5-year warranty on the parts – this is a great sign of the manufacturer backing their products which not only offers piece of mind but also often confirms a quality product.

This garage comes with 2 remotes to open and close the door which work seamlessly. Out of the box this unit can not be operated by using your phone. You will need to buy a Liftmaster Internet Gateway which is an additional cost which is disappointing.
Advantages
  • Premium build quality
  • Quite easy set up
  • Lifetime warranty on motor and 5 years on parts
  • Works flawlessly
Disadvantages
  • Extra device needed to operate with phones
  • More expensive

Chamberlain or Liftmaster – Conclusion

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liftmaster or Chamberlain is a question I often hear. Well both units have their own pros and cons. Though between the 2 I would personally opt for the Chamberlain.

This is because the Chamberlain has some more features straight out of the box. For example, it has the back up battery functionality which the Liftmaster doesn’t have and it also has the functionality to be operated with your phone out of the box whereas with the Liftmaster you will have to buy an additional extra.

In terms of functionality both options are basically the same and there is no major difference there. For build quality, the Liftmaster does have a slight edge but the difference isn’t that much. On a final note the price on the Chamberlain is quite a bit cheaper than the Liftmaster and overall for me I would recommend buying the Chamberlain – it works flawlessly and has a lot of useful additional features that are great to have.