Worx Nitro WG186E vs Greenworks GD40BC

The Worx Nitro WG186E and Greenworks GD40BC both run on 40V cordless power and land around the same rating in our reviews, but they’re built around different priorities. The Worx puts a brushless motor and a real metal blade at the centre of the package; the Greenworks puts a wide line-cutting swath and an included battery at the centre of its value. Neither is objectively “better” — they’re aimed at different gardens and different sheds.

At a glance

Attribute	Worx Nitro WG186E	Greenworks GD40BC
Battery platform	40V PowerShare (2× 20V), brushless motor	40V G40 (open, 40+ tools)
Battery included	No — sold bare (.92 version)	Yes, 4 Ah included
Cutting supplied	38 cm line + 25 cm metal blade	Wide 40 cm line head
Weight	~4.1 kg	Similar handheld class
Best suited to	Light brush, tall growth, brambles	Open grass, medium-to-large lawns
Extra versatility	DriveShare interchangeable heads	Shared battery across 40+ G40 tools
Rating (our review)	8.0	8.0

Clear wins: the WG186E wins on cutting versatility, since its brushless motor and included blade take on brush the Greenworks isn’t built for; the GD40BC wins on out-of-box value and raw grass-clearing speed, since it arrives with a battery and the widest line cut of the two.

Battery and what’s actually in the box

This is where the two machines diverge most. The Greenworks GD40BC ships with a 4 Ah battery on its open G40 platform, a system shared across more than 40 Greenworks garden tools — so you’re cutting grass the day it arrives, and any future G40 purchase draws on the same battery pool. The Worx Nitro WG186E tested here is the .92 variant, sold bare: no battery, no charger. It runs on two 20V PowerShare packs, which makes sense if you already own Worx tools, but it’s an added cost — and a delay — if you don’t. Factor that into any price comparison between the two; a bare tool and a battery-included tool aren’t really the same purchase.

Cutting power: blade vs wide line

The WG186E’s standout feature is its brushless motor paired with a 25 cm metal blade, alongside a 38 cm line option. That combination lets it take on tall grass, light scrub and brambles that a line-only machine would struggle with. The GD40BC leans the other way: its 40 cm line cutting width is one of the widest in its class, which means fewer passes and faster clearing on tidy, open ground, but it’s happiest left on grass and lawns rather than pushed into woody growth. If your land is genuinely mixed, with patches of bramble or coarse weeds mixed into the grass, the Worx’s blade removes a follow-up purchase the Greenworks doesn’t cover as well.

Ecosystem and extra versatility

Beyond the brush cutter itself, each system offers a different kind of flexibility. Worx’s DriveShare lets the same WG186E motor power other attachments — a pole saw or tiller head, for instance — turning one purchase into several tools built around a shared drive unit. Greenworks’ G40 takes a different approach: rather than swapping heads on one motor, it’s a single battery platform spanning 40-plus separate tools, from mowers to hedge trimmers to blowers. Both are genuine value-adds; which one matters to you depends on whether you’d rather share a motor or share a battery.

Full detail on each is in our Worx Nitro WG186E review and Greenworks GD40BC review.

Choose the Worx Nitro WG186E if…

• You need a cordless machine that can genuinely handle brambles and light scrub, not just grass
• You already own Worx PowerShare batteries, or don’t mind buying into the ecosystem separately
• You’d like the option to expand into other DriveShare attachments later

Choose the Greenworks GD40BC if…

• Your ground is mostly open grass, and you want the widest, fastest line cut in this class
• You want a battery included in the box rather than an extra purchase before you can start
• You’re already building out, or plan to build out, the Greenworks G40 platform

Which should you buy?

If your work is genuinely grass-only — a lawn, a field margin, tidy ground without woody growth — the GD40BC is the simpler buy: it arrives ready to use with its battery included, and its wide 40 cm cut will clear open ground faster than almost anything else in the class. But if your ground throws up brambles, tall coarse weeds or light scrub alongside the grass, the WG186E’s brushless motor and included metal blade make it the more versatile machine day to day — you’ll just need to budget for PowerShare batteries if you don’t already own them. Existing battery ownership is often the deciding factor: buy into whichever platform you’re already committed to, or already leaning towards, before comparing the tools themselves.