Paint Sprayer vs. Roller: Which Should You Use?

When it comes to painting interior walls and ceilings, you’ll have to figure out which side of the paint sprayer vs. roller debate you want to stand on. Both application options are relatively easy and DIYable, but there are some important differences to understand before investing in the supplies.

What Are the Differences Between a Paint Sprayer and a Paint Roller?

The most obvious difference between the two is that a paint sprayer is a much larger investment, costing a few hundred dollars as opposed to the $20 to $40 you’d spend on rollers and brushes. Paint sprayers still take some time in the preparation phase, but they make the actual application much faster, especially on rough surfaces, like when you paint popcorn ceilings. Paint rollers are easier to use without making mistakes, like drips and bubbles from applying too much paint.

Cost Differences

When deciding on paint sprayers versus rollers, you’ll have to give some serious thought to the up-front and long-term costs of both.

Up-Front Cost

In all cases, rollers will cost less up front than investing in a paint sprayer. The supplies you’ll need to paint a room with a roller include a roller frame, roller covers, at least one paintbrush, and a roller tray. You can expect to spend between $20 and $40 on everything, depending on the quality you choose. A high-end paint roller can drive up the cost.

You can spend between $350 and $500 on an airless sprayer, which is ideal for larger projects like interior walls, or between $180 and $300 on a high-volume, low-pressure (HVLP) sprayer, which has slower application and will make your painting project take longer.

Any way you slice it, investing in a paint sprayer is going to cost more initially than buying rollers. If you’re not keen on investing in a sprayer but don’t want to put the time and effort into using a roller, you can always hire an interior painter to get the job done. The cost to paint the interior of your home will be higher if you hire a pro, but it might be the best option if you don’t plan on multiple projects down the road.

Long-Term Cost

Paint sprayers might come with a higher up-front cost, but you won’t have any recurring costs like you would with rollers. Roller covers are single-use, so you’ll have to buy new ones for each project. You’ll also need to replace brushes every so often. If you only plan on painting once, brushes and rollers are a better investment, but if you plan to use your equipment for many projects down the road, the long-term cost could be similar over time.

With that being said, though, you’ll see more paint waste with a paint sprayer, which means you’ll have to account for more paint when calculating how much paint you need. At the end of your painting project, all of the paint left in the hose and the interior components of the sprayer is unusable, so that can eat away at the long-term savings.

Paint Sprayer vs. Roller: Differences in Preparation

No matter which option you choose, you’ll have to spend some time preparing your space to cover areas you don’t want to paint, like ceilings, trim, flooring, baseboards, light switches, and more. Due to a paint sprayer giving you less control over the application, you’ll usually spend more time preparing the room for paint if you’re going to use a paint sprayer.

With rollers and brushes, you often only need a strip of tape on all edges and corners where you don’t want paint to bleed over. With a sprayer, you’ll have to cover a much larger portion of the surface you don’t want to paint with tape and plastic to prevent overspray from getting where you don’t want it.

Ease of Use Differences

Perhaps most importantly, there are differences in how easy paint sprayers versus rollers are to use as a DIYer.

Application

The application process itself is significantly easier and faster when you use a paint sprayer, especially if you opt for an airless sprayer. You’ll just need to hold the nozzle, which doesn’t weigh much and is easy to maneuver. An HVLP sprayer has a small paint tank attached to the nozzle, so it’s a bit more cumbersome, but it will still be easier on your wrists than applying pressure with a roller to get good coverage.

Application is also easier with a sprayer because you use a single tool to paint all surfaces. When you use a roller, you won’t be able to get coverage in corners, along trim, or around light switches and outlets, so you may have to switch back and forth between a brush and a roller.

Ease of Use

While a paint sprayer will make quick work of your painting project, there’s also a higher risk of mistakes. A roller tends to soak up excess paint on the wall as you use it to prevent you from applying too much at once. If you use a sprayer, it’s much easier to apply too much or too little paint as you work. As such, sprayers require more painting technique and take some time to get used to using properly.

Professional Appearance

If you know what you’re doing and can avoid drips and bubbles from over-application, a sprayer will leave you with a more professional-looking paint job. You won’t get any brushstrokes or accidental texture from a roller during application, so you’re more likely to end up with perfectly smooth walls and ceilings.

Time Investment

Using a sprayer takes longer to set up because you have to cover more of the areas you don’t want to paint, but the application is so much faster that the entire project will take less time when you use a sprayer.

Of course, you can always hire a local interior painter to save the most time, and you’ll also end up with a professional appearance.