Kingston Brass vs Moen – Brand Comparison

It can be expensive to upgrade your home, and fixtures can eat up a significant portion of your budget, which leads to the inevitable compromise between what you can afford and what you want.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get the best of both worlds? Well, get ready to be excited, because you can! Kingston and Moen carry a range of superior kitchen faucets priced at half of what you’d expect to pay from the most expensive brands. 

While both of these brands are direct competitors and many of their products are similar, they both excel in different areas. Although their inventories are enormous, we’ll do our best to shine some light on what they have to offer so you can narrow down your decision.

Kingston Brass Faucets

To say that Kingston Brass has a wide selection would be a bit of an understatement. They have a massive selection of plumbing fixtures, and they probably carry every kind of bath and kitchen product you can imagine (unless you are imagining a rubber ducky).

Although they don’t sell bath toys, they do specialize in making vintage-inspired faucets with modern designs. A big reason for their popularity is their pricing. You’d be hard-pressed to find better deals on faucets from anyone else. 

Kingston also has a huge variety of finishes and styles available, with over 60 collections and 20 different finishes to choose from. You can find anything from pull-down faucets to pot fillers in finishes like Nickel, Bronze, and Brass on their website.

Although many of Kingston’s models have a traditional look, they are equipped with all the features you’d expect from a modern faucet, like hands-free operation and flawless engineering. A few of their most popular collections include the Kaiser, Heritage, and Continental Collections.

Double-Take: Are Kingston Brass Faucets Good Quality?

If you read through their customer reviews online, you can find many complaints about Kingston brass, especially about issues with their special finishes like Oil Rubbed Bronze. It makes a lot of people question if Kingston brass faucets are actually good quality.

To answer that question, the body of their faucets is made from heavy-duty solid brass, and they are built to last for generations if maintained properly. If you decide to go with a special finish, keep in mind that it requires much more maintenance than a standard finish.

Company History

Kingston Brass was founded in Chino, California, in 1988 by a group of industry professionals who saw a chance to make a name for themselves. Early on, the company embraced technology and cutting-edge supply chain management strategies to break into the plumbing and fixture business. They also make Elements of Design faucets as well.

At first, Kingston was focused on a small but high-quality line of products. Since then, they have grown considerably and currently have over $10 million in products! If you are wondering who makes Kingston Brass faucets, they have several brands under their umbrella, including Gormmetier, Fauceture, and Vintage.

All of their faucets are backed by the Kingston Brass warranty for the lifetime of the product, and they offer free shipping. The return policy on direct purchases is 30 days; for most wholesale dealers, it is 30 days.

Pros	Cons
Some of the most affordable prices	Some finishes require special care
Unique and elegant vintage-inspired designs	Primarily manufactured in Taiwan, with some items manufactured in China*
Modern engineering
Wide selection
Lifetime warranty
Modern engineering and design features
ADA compliant

*We don’t necessarily consider this a con, but want to be transparent. Kingston’s faucets are manufactured in Taiwan with Taiwanese-made parts, except for faucets with model numbers beginning LS-, which along with the bathtubs and sinks, are made in China.

Moen

Moen also happens to be one of the world-leading most trusted kitchen faucet brands. While Moen doesn’t have quite as many options as Kingston in some areas, they still have a king-sized selection of pullout/pulldown, fixed spout, and bar prep faucets. Most of Moen’s faucets are deck mounted, but they do have a few wall mount faucets as well.

Similarly, they carry primarily one-handle faucets, but you will find some 2-handled faucets in their inventory. Sprouts come in HighArc or LowArc, and more than 20 colors to mix and match. Plus, you have 10 different finishes to choose from, including nickel, bronze, and stainless steel.

Moen’s Arbor Series is full of elegant, affordable faucets that are durable and easy to maintain. The Arbor One-Handle High Arc MotionSense Wave Pulldown Faucet is a trendy mid-range model.

For a more affordable but still luxurious choice, check out the Moen 7594C Arbor One-Handle Pulldown Kitchen Faucet Featuring Power Boost and Reflex. If you want a commercial-style faucet, you can’t go wrong with the Moen Brushed Nickel Edwyn One-Handle Pre-Rinse Spring Pulldown Kitchen Faucet.

Double-Take: Are Moen’s Faucets Made of Brass?

Moen uses a variety of different materials to make the parts for their faucets, including plastic, brass, stainless steel, and zinc. The body of every Moen faucet is made with lead-free brass and steel. The construction materials vary from model to model.

Company Background

The Moen company was born out of serendipity on one fateful night in 1927 in Seattle, Washington. As the legend goes, a seemingly meaningless event, a sudden burst of hot water inspired inventor Al Moen to invent the idea for the first single-handle faucet.

Since that fateful day, Moen has been a major presence in the plumbing and fixture industry, with distributors in over 55 countries. They’ve continued to innovate and refine their products over the years to deliver cutting-edge features like smart home capability and hands-free operation.

Besides kitchen faucets and bath fixtures, Moen also sells accessories like towel bars and rings, shower curtain rods, and garbage disposals. Most of Moen’s products are backed by a lifetime warranty, and they accept returns within 30 days of the date you received your order.

If you like products that are made in the USA, you’ll be glad to hear that Moen has two manufacturing plants in the US. One in North Carolina and the other in Pennsylvania. While the company likes to boast this fact, many of the parts used in Moen products are still manufactured in China.

Pros	Cons
Sophisticated design and flexible functionality	Some parts are made in China
Affordable prices	Limited selection of two-handle faucets
Smart home features
Versatile selection
Easy to find replacement parts
Great customer service
Lifetime warranty
Manufactured in the USA

Conclusion

Moen is more established than Kingston, and they probably generate 10 times the annual sales revenue, but that doesn’t mean all that much—they are both two of the most reliable kitchen faucet brands in the industry.

If you are going for a traditional or Victorian look, Kingston has an incredible variety of finishes and two-handle faucets worth considering. Moen has some great traditional styles and a nice line of sinks for modern and contemporary styles.

Both of these brands have a versatile selection of designs and features to fit in with any kitchen, but there’s definitely a lot of ground to cover. Good luck shopping and bon voyage!