Festool MFT alternative: buy one, or build one?

(We’re not affiliated with Festool — we design plans compatible with that ecosystem, so consider this an opinion from inside the niche.)

The MFT is the bench that popularised the 20 mm grid, and it’s genuinely good. People hunt for alternatives for three reasons: price, fixed format, and fragility on rough jobsites. Here’s the honest decision tree.

When buying a commercial table wins

• You need it this week, working immediately, zero build time.
• Resale value and warranty matter to you.
• Your work is mostly at the bench, in one place, with light transport.

When building wins

• Budget: an MFTC costs around €150/$170 in materials plus two weekends — for a bench that also hauls your Systainers, folds to under 50 cm, and survives being dragged into a truck bed.
• Format freedom: need it one hole-row narrower to pass doorways? Longer extensions to rip a full sheet? That’s literally why the MFTC exists.
• Jobsite reality: a shop-built plywood bench shrugs off abuse you’d never inflict on a premium aluminium table — and any part can be remade.
• Integration: drawers for Systainers, rail storage in the top, a shop-vac bay — a commercial table will never carry your kit.

”But will a homemade bench be accurate?”

Accuracy lives in the hole grid, not the price tag. Drill the grid with a jig (or LR32-style system) and your dogs and rails behave exactly as on a commercial top. Builders from Pittsburgh to Toronto run these daily, professionally — see the gallery.

The hybrid most pros choose

Plenty of MFTC builders also own a commercial MFT: the bought table lives in the shop, the built cart does the jobsites. Same hole logic, same height, same dogs. If that’s your direction, start with the MFTC plans and read what’s included.