MyBoatPlans vs Ted’s Woodworking: Which Plans Win for DIYers?
The one-sentence answer: MyBoatPlans is the specialist resource for woodworkers who want to build boats — 518 boat-specific designs covering every hull type from kayaks to plywood motorboats, with construction-grade blueprints and dimensional materials lists throughout. Ted’s Woodworking is the generalist library for woodworkers who build everything — furniture, sheds, outdoor structures, toys, workshop fixtures, and, yes, some boats — across a 16,000+ plan collection that is simply the broadest digital woodworking library on the market.
If your goal is to build a wooden boat — a kayak, a canoe, a flat-bottomed skiff, a sailing dinghy — and you want the deepest available selection of boat-specific plans, MyBoatPlans is the clear specialist choice. If your woodworking interests span multiple project types and a boat is one of many things you might eventually build, Ted’s Woodworking is the broader investment that will serve you across every project type you take on.
Both are digital PDF plan libraries sold on ClickBank. Both are widely used and highly regarded by DIY woodworkers. What separates them is purpose: one is optimized for the boat builder, the other for the all-around woodworker. This comparison walks through every dimension of that difference so you can make the right call for your shop and your project list.
TL;DR — 5 key points:
- Scope: MyBoatPlans = 518 boat-specific plans (rowboats, kayaks, canoes, sailboats, motorboats); Ted’s Woodworking = 16,000+ plans spanning every woodworking category imaginable
- Best for boat building: MyBoatPlans wins on depth, specificity, and marine construction documentation — stitch-and-glue methods, hull fairing, epoxy application, and marine hardware guidance are native to the library
- Best for general woodworking: Ted’s Woodworking wins on breadth — furniture, cabinets, outdoor structures, workshop fixtures, plus video tutorials and a 3D blueprint viewer
- Skill level: Both have accessible entry points; Ted’s video content helps complete beginners; MyBoatPlans assumes basic woodworking familiarity before attempting boat construction
- Price: MyBoatPlans ~$47, Ted’s Woodworking ~$67 — both one-time purchases with 60-day money-back guarantees
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1. Two Different Tools for Two Different Builders
Start here, because understanding the fundamental difference between these two products resolves most of the comparison before you go any further.
MyBoatPlans is a specialist library. Every single one of its 518 plans is for a boat. Not a shed, not a bookcase, not a birdhouse — a boat. Creator Martin Reid built MyBoatPlans around a focused premise: that a woodworker who wants to build a wooden boat has a specific and distinct set of needs that a general woodworking library will only partially address. Boat construction involves hull geometry, buoyancy considerations, marine-grade materials, waterproofing techniques, and construction methods — stitch-and-glue plywood, lapstrake planking, strip building — that are entirely foreign to furniture or shed building. MyBoatPlans packages that specialized knowledge into a library organized around boat types, hull designs, and construction methods that match how a boat builder actually thinks and works.
Ted’s Woodworking is a generalist library. The 16,000+ plans span everything a woodworker might ever want to build: Adirondack chairs, kitchen cabinets, garden sheds, pergolas, children’s furniture, workbenches, tool storage, outdoor games, and yes, some boats. Creator Ted McGrath built this library around a different premise: that woodworkers have diverse interests, and having one comprehensive library that covers all of those interests is more useful than buying a separate collection for each project type. The library’s differentiators include video tutorials that walk through build processes and a 3D blueprint viewer that lets you rotate and examine a design before the first board is cut. With a gravity score of 83.4, Ted’s Woodworking is the market-leading general woodworking plan library.
The decision tree:
- You want to build a kayak, canoe, rowboat, sailing dinghy, or plywood motorboat — and you want the deepest possible selection of boat-specific plans → MyBoatPlans
- You build furniture, shed structures, outdoor projects, AND want a boat to be on the future list without buying a separate library → Ted’s Woodworking
- You are a serious woodworking hobbyist who wants boat-building depth AND general woodworking breadth → Both (combined cost is still well under what a single professional naval architect charges for a custom boat design)
Neither product is objectively better. They are optimized for different builder profiles, and the right choice depends almost entirely on which profile describes you.
2. Plan Library Comparison
The headline numbers — 518 vs 16,000+ — deserve closer examination. Raw plan count is only meaningful when you understand what those plans cover.
| Feature | MyBoatPlans | Ted’s Woodworking |
|---|---|---|
| Total plans | 518 (all boat-specific) | 16,000+ (all woodworking categories) |
| Boat plans specifically | Entire library — all 518 | Subset (boats among hundreds of categories) |
| Other project types | None — boat building only | Furniture, sheds, outdoor structures, cabinets, toys, tools, farm, home decor, and more |
| Plan formats | PDF blueprints | PDF blueprints + video tutorials + 3D blueprint viewer |
| Video content | No | Yes |
| 3D visualization | No | Yes — 3D blueprint viewer |
| Marine construction methods | Yes — stitch-and-glue, lapstrake, strip building | Limited |
| Hull geometry documentation | Yes — included per plan | Not applicable for most plans |
| Materials lists | Yes — per plan | Yes |
| Skill levels covered | Beginner boat builder to advanced | Beginner to advanced across all categories |
| Creator | Martin Reid | Ted McGrath |
What 518 boat-specific plans actually means
When MyBoatPlans says 518 plans, every single one is a boat or watercraft design. That is not 518 variations on the same skiff — it represents genuine variety across hull types, boat categories, sizes, and intended uses.
By boat category: Rowboats and skiffs, flat-bottomed fishing boats, canoes, kayaks (solo and tandem), paddleboards, sailing dinghies and small sailboats, plywood motorboats, pontoon platforms, tenders and dinghies for larger vessels, and traditional wooden watercraft including dories and prams.
By construction method: The library covers the primary methods used in amateur wooden boat building — stitch-and-glue plywood construction (the most beginner-accessible method), lapstrake planking (a traditional method producing a distinctive ribbed hull), and strip-built construction (used primarily for kayaks and canoes for its smooth finish). Each method requires different tools, skills, and materials, and MyBoatPlans provides designs specific to each.
By size range: From compact 8-foot kayaks a solo builder can complete in a garage over a winter to 20-foot plywood sailboats that represent a multi-season commitment. For most hobbyist boat builders, the 10–16 foot range represents the most practical target, and this range is particularly well-represented in the MyBoatPlans library.
By intended use: Day-trip paddling boats, fishing platforms, sailing trainers, tender boats for offshore use, recreational rowing boats, and family watercraft. The intended use shapes everything from hull geometry to construction method to the hardware required.
For a deeper look at what is included in the package, the MyBoatPlans Review 2026 breaks down the full content in detail.
What Ted’s Woodworking boat plans look like
Ted’s Woodworking includes boat plans, and they are genuinely useful for the right builder. Users report finding solid rowboat, small sailboat, and basic flat-bottomed boat designs within the library. The plans are formatted consistently with the Ted’s library standard — dimensions, materials lists, and assembly steps — and are accessible to woodworkers who are already comfortable with the library’s format from other project types.
The limitation is depth. If you need a stitch-and-glue kayak designed for Class II whitewater paddling, or a traditional lapstrake Norwegian pram, or a plywood sailing dinghy with a centerboard trunk — the specificity of boat design at that level is not what Ted’s Woodworking is optimized for. Boat construction involves so many boat-specific variables (waterline length, beam-to-length ratio, rocker profile, freeboard height, construction method compatibility) that a library purpose-built for boats will always have more of what a serious boat builder needs than a general woodworking collection’s boat subset.
For a woodworker who wants to build one simple flat-bottomed johnboat as a weekend project, Ted’s boat plans may be entirely adequate. For a woodworker who wants to take wooden boat building seriously as a craft and hobby, MyBoatPlans’ 518 dedicated designs represent a fundamentally different level of specialization.
3. The Boat Building Question
If building a wooden boat — even one — is on your project list, this section is the most important part of the comparison.
Wooden boat building occupies a unique position in the woodworking universe. It looks like woodworking because it uses the same basic tools: saws, planes, sandpaper, clamps, and drill. But the construction methods, the geometry, and the materials science involved in boat building diverge significantly from furniture or shed construction.
Hull geometry is unlike any structure in land-based woodworking. A boat hull must displace water efficiently, distribute load through curves rather than right angles, and maintain structural integrity under dynamic loading from waves and current. The plans for a well-designed boat reflect a lot of engineering that a furniture plan simply does not need to address. In MyBoatPlans, the dimensional blueprints include the hull cross-sections, sheer lines, and rocker profiles that allow a builder to reproduce the design accurately. This geometry is specific to each boat type — a kayak’s hull shape is nothing like a rowboat’s, which is nothing like a flat-bottomed fishing skiff.
Construction methods are boat-specific. Stitch-and-glue plywood construction — the most accessible method for beginner boat builders — involves cutting plywood panels to template shapes, stitching them together with copper wire through drilled holes, applying epoxy fillets along all interior seams, and then glassing over the interior and exterior with fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin. None of this is standard woodworking practice. The materials (marine plywood, epoxy, fiberglass cloth, marine hardware) are purchased from different suppliers than lumber and standard hardware. MyBoatPlans provides this method-specific guidance throughout the library because boat building requires it.
Marine materials are a different world. Marine plywood (BS1088 or equivalent) is specified for most wooden boat construction because standard construction plywood delaminates when wet. Epoxy formulated for marine use, fiberglass cloth weights, and marine-grade hardware are all materials with specific requirements and purchasing channels. A general woodworking plan library does not need to address these — but a boat builder does. MyBoatPlans integrates materials guidance into its plans in ways that reflect this reality.
For the woodworker who wants to build a boat: MyBoatPlans is the better starting point. The 518 designs give you genuine choice across boat types and sizes. The construction documentation reflects the marine-specific methods and materials that boat building actually requires. And the boat-specific framing — how to approach hull fairing, how to sequence the construction, how to apply epoxy for a waterproof laminate — is embedded throughout the library in a way that a general woodworking library’s boat plans typically are not.
For a step-by-step overview of what the wooden boat building process involves before you commit to a project, see How to Build a Wooden Boat.
4. General Woodworking Breadth
If your interests extend beyond boat building, this section is where Ted’s Woodworking demonstrates its strength.
The 16,000+ plan library in Ted’s Woodworking is not just large — it is organized across every meaningful woodworking category. A brief inventory of what is covered:
Indoor furniture: Dining tables, coffee tables, side tables, beds, dressers, nightstands, bookshelves, media consoles, desks, chairs, benches, and storage units across every room in the house.
Kitchen and built-ins: Kitchen cabinets, pantry units, built-in bookshelves, window seats, mudroom lockers, and custom storage solutions.
Outdoor structures: Garden sheds, pergolas, gazebos, deck furniture, Adirondack chairs, garden benches, raised bed frames, compost bins, potting benches, and fencing.
Workshop and shop furniture: Workbenches, tool cabinets, hand tool racks, lumber storage, drill press stands, and shop storage systems.
Toys and children’s items: Wooden toys, rocking horses, toy chests, children’s tables and chairs, playhouses, and swing sets.
Decorative and gift items: Picture frames, cutting boards, serving boards, candle holders, wall art, plant stands, and turned items.
Farm and animal structures: Chicken coops, rabbit hutches, dog kennels, bird feeders, bat houses, and horse-related outbuildings.
And some boats: The library includes boat plans as a category within this breadth.
For a woodworker who wants one library that covers all of this, Ted’s Woodworking is genuinely difficult to outgrow. The gravity score of 83.4 reflects years of market validation — this is a library that serves a broad audience of woodworkers well.
The video tutorials and 3D blueprint viewer add dimensions that text-and-diagram plans cannot. Watching a process demonstrated on video is categorically different from reading instructions about it, and for visual learners or builders tackling a new joinery technique for the first time, the video content in Ted’s library has real instructional value. The 3D viewer — which allows you to rotate a design and examine its spatial relationships before building begins — helps builders understand how pieces relate to each other in a way that 2D plans require experience to interpret.
For a comparison of Ted’s Woodworking against another specialized tool in the home silo, DIY Smart Saw vs Ted’s Woodworking and My Shed Plans vs Ted’s Woodworking walk through parallel specialist-vs-generalist decisions.
5. Skill Level and Learning Curve
The skill requirements for these two products are meaningfully different, and it is worth being direct about that before you purchase.
Complete beginners
Ted’s Woodworking for the complete beginner. If you have never built anything from wood before, Ted’s Woodworking is a more sensible starting point. The library includes plans for genuinely simple beginner projects — a small garden box, a basic shelf, a step stool — that require only a few tools and modest skill to complete successfully. The video tutorials help visual learners understand process before they attempt it. The 3D viewer reduces the risk of building errors by making spatial relationships visible before any cutting begins. A complete beginner who starts with one of Ted’s entry-level plans, builds a few simple pieces to develop fundamental skills, and then progresses to more ambitious projects is following a sensible learning path.
MyBoatPlans for the complete beginner. Starting with a boat as your first woodworking project is technically possible with the simpler designs in the library (a flat-bottomed punt, a basic johnboat), but it is not generally advisable. Boat building involves more variables, more material specificity, and more technique-sensitive steps than simple furniture or shed building. A builder who does not yet understand grain orientation, sheet goods cutting, or basic joinery will face a steeper learning curve on a boat project than on a simple terrestrial structure. The honest recommendation: if you are completely new to woodworking, spend time with Easy Woodworking Projects for Beginners to build foundational skills, then approach boat building with a solid tool foundation already in place.
Woodworkers expanding into boat building
This is the most natural audience for MyBoatPlans, and the library is built for exactly this profile. A woodworker who already owns a circular saw, jigsaw, power drill, random-orbit sander, and basic hand tools, who is comfortable reading dimensional plans and following sequential build instructions, has everything needed to start on the simpler designs in MyBoatPlans. The stitch-and-glue construction method was specifically designed to be accessible to non-professional builders — the technique is systematic and the tolerance for minor imprecision is higher than in fine furniture or complex joinery work.
The skills that transfer from general woodworking to boat building include: accurate measuring and marking, clean sheet goods cutting, reading dimensioned plans, understanding grain direction, and working with adhesives. The skills that are new to a boat builder include: epoxy mixing and application, fiberglass lamination, hull fairing, and marine hardware installation. MyBoatPlans provides sufficient guidance on the boat-specific elements to bridge a competent woodworker into the marine domain.
Experienced woodworkers wanting marine projects
For an experienced woodworker who wants to build a serious wooden boat — a 16-foot lapstrake canoe, a plywood sailing dinghy with a full deck and cabin, a traditional Norwegian pram — MyBoatPlans provides the specialized design and documentation resources that general woodworking expertise cannot substitute for. The construction methods are learnable but they are genuinely different, and having plans that are designed around those methods (rather than adapted from a library built for land structures) makes a significant difference in build quality and outcome.
A note on tool and power tool safety. Both MyBoatPlans and Ted’s Woodworking are plan libraries — they are not safety courses. Wooden boat building involves power tools (circular saw, jigsaw, router, belt sander), marine chemicals (epoxy resins, acetone, fiberglass cloth), and working in enclosed spaces. Always follow manufacturer safety guidelines for every tool and material. Wear appropriate PPE: safety glasses, hearing protection, gloves when handling epoxy and solvents, and a properly rated respirator when sanding epoxy or applying fiberglass. Ensure adequate ventilation in any enclosed workspace where epoxy or solvents are used. If you are new to power tools, get hands-on training before beginning any significant project.
6. Price and Value Comparison
Current pricing
Both products are one-time purchases with no subscription, delivered as digital downloads through ClickBank.
- MyBoatPlans: approximately $47 standard
- Ted’s Woodworking: approximately $67 standard
Both carry the ClickBank 60-day money-back guarantee. If either product does not meet your expectations, you can request a full refund within 60 days — no questions asked.
For a detailed breakdown of MyBoatPlans’ current pricing and what is included, see MyBoatPlans Price 2026.
Value comparison
The context that makes both libraries compelling value is what wooden boat plans cost anywhere else.
Hiring a naval architect for a custom design: Entry-level custom boat design fees start at $1,500–3,000 for a simple plywood hull and can reach $10,000–25,000+ for a complex sailing vessel. These are professional engineering fees that reflect real expertise, and they are the baseline against which a $47 digital plan library looks like an extraordinary bargain.
Individual plans from online stores: Reputable individual boat plan sets — from designers like Chesapeake Light Craft, Glen-L, or Bateau — typically cost $35–150 per single plan set. A serious boat builder who wants to evaluate multiple hull designs before committing would need to buy several sets. MyBoatPlans’ 518-plan library for $47 represents dramatically better value at that comparison.
Books and periodicals: Wooden boat plan books like those from International Marine Publishing run $30–60 and typically include 10–20 designs without full-scale templates or materials lists.
Free plans online: Available, but quality varies enormously. Many free plans lack materials lists, cut lists, or adequate construction documentation. The time investment in filtering, evaluating, and supplementing free plans is significant.
Against this landscape, $47 for 518 complete boat plans — with dimensional blueprints, materials lists, and construction guidance — is straightforwardly excellent value for a woodworker who wants to build boats.
Long-term value
A one-time purchase provides lifetime access to the library. A boat builder who uses MyBoatPlans to build a 10-foot kayak in year one, a 14-foot canoe in year two, and a 16-foot sailing dinghy in year four has extracted value many times over the initial purchase price. The same logic applies to Ted’s Woodworking across a lifetime of varied woodworking projects.
The meaningful question is not whether either library is worth purchasing — at these price points, both clearly are. The question is which one is right for your specific goals.
7. Best Use Case Scenarios
Theory aside, here is how the comparison maps to real building situations.
”I want to build a kayak or canoe this summer”
Winner: MyBoatPlans — clearly
You have a specific goal, a specific type of watercraft, and a timeline. MyBoatPlans has multiple kayak and canoe designs organized around the most accessible construction method for first-time boat builders: stitch-and-glue plywood. Pick a design that matches your skill level and timeline, download the blueprints, source the marine plywood and epoxy, and start building. The documentation — dimensional plans, materials list, step-by-step construction sequence — was written for exactly this scenario. Ted’s Woodworking may have some canoe or kayak plans, but the depth of kayak-specific variety and the marine construction documentation native to MyBoatPlans makes it the right tool for this goal.
”I want to build furniture AND outdoor projects AND maybe a shed”
Winner: Ted’s Woodworking
Your project list spans multiple categories, and a boat is a distant maybe rather than a near-term goal. Ted’s Woodworking is the appropriate library for this profile — the 16,000+ plans cover everything on your list, and the video tutorials and 3D viewer add genuine support value for a woodworker tackling diverse project types. Paying for a boat-specific library when boats are a low-priority maybe is premature. If and when boat building becomes a serious goal, MyBoatPlans will still be there and the $47 investment will still be well worth it.
”I want to build a small plywood rowboat for fishing”
Winner: MyBoatPlans
A flat-bottomed plywood johnboat or small skiff for fishing is one of the most accessible boat building projects available — and it is squarely in MyBoatPlans’ wheelhouse. The library includes multiple flat-bottomed and semi-V fishing boat designs suited to this exact use case, complete with construction documentation specific to plywood boat building. A fishing rowboat of this type is also one of the better projects for a woodworker making their first boat, because the construction geometry is relatively simple compared to kayaks or sailboats.
”I’m new to woodworking and want to start with simpler projects first”
Winner: Ted’s Woodworking (build skills first, then MyBoatPlans when ready)
As noted in the skill level section, complete beginners are better served by developing woodworking fundamentals on simpler projects before tackling boat building. Ted’s Woodworking has dozens of entry-level plans — garden boxes, simple shelving, outdoor furniture, small storage units — that build the core skills you will need when you eventually move to a more complex construction domain like boats. See Easy Woodworking Projects for Beginners for a practical sequence. Once you have solid fundamentals and some successful projects behind you, MyBoatPlans is the natural next step for the builder who wants to expand into boats.
”I’m serious about woodworking as a hobby and want comprehensive coverage”
Winner: Buy both
A serious hobbyist who wants both the general woodworking breadth of Ted’s Woodworking and the marine construction depth of MyBoatPlans is not choosing between two competing products — they are building a complete library. At a combined cost of roughly $114 at standard pricing, owning both provides one of the most comprehensive personal woodworking plan collections a hobbyist could have: everything from a simple birdhouse to a 16-foot wooden sailboat. Both carry 60-day guarantees, so the financial risk is minimal.
For a related comparison about how specialized tools stack up against Ted’s general library, see Model Railroading vs Ted’s Woodworking.
MyBoatPlans — 518 Boat Plans. Dimensional Blueprints. Materials Lists Included.
The specialist boat building library for woodworkers who want to build a wooden kayak, canoe, rowboat, or plywood sailboat. 518 designs, complete construction documentation, 60-day guarantee.
8. Side-by-Side Comparison Table
| Comparison Point | MyBoatPlans | Ted’s Woodworking |
|---|---|---|
| Total plans | 518 | 16,000+ |
| Plan focus | Boat building only | All woodworking categories |
| Boat plan depth | Entire library — maximum boat variety | Subset of the full library |
| Boat construction methods | Stitch-and-glue, lapstrake, strip building | Limited boat-specific method guidance |
| Other project categories | None | Furniture, sheds, toys, cabinets, outdoor, tools, farm, more |
| Plan format | PDF blueprints | PDF blueprints + video + 3D viewer |
| Materials lists | Yes — per plan | Yes |
| Dimensional blueprints | Yes — with hull cross-sections | Yes |
| Video tutorials | No | Yes |
| 3D blueprint viewer | No | Yes |
| Marine construction guidance | Yes — epoxy, fiberglass, marine hardware | Not applicable |
| Skill level required | Basic woodworking familiarity | Beginner-friendly entry level available |
| Creator | Martin Reid | Ted McGrath |
| Standard price | ~$47 | ~$67 |
| Money-back guarantee | 60-day | 60-day |
| Sold through | ClickBank | ClickBank |
| Best for | Woodworkers who want to build boats | General woodworkers with diverse project types |
| Lifetime access | Yes | Yes |
| Market position | Leading boat-specific plan library | Market-leading general woodworking library (gravity 83.4) |
| Buy both? | Yes — complementary, no overlap in intent | Yes — complementary, no overlap in intent |
9. The Verdict
This is one of those rare comparisons where there is a genuinely correct answer for each audience — not a “it depends” hedge but a clear directional recommendation based on who you are and what you want to build.
MyBoatPlans is the right choice if:
You want to build a wooden boat. Full stop. Whether it is a kayak for weekend paddling, a canoe for family camping trips, a flat-bottomed skiff for fishing, or a more ambitious plywood sailing dinghy — if building a wooden watercraft is your goal, MyBoatPlans is the specialist library that was built for exactly this purpose. The 518 designs give you genuine choice. The dimensional blueprints and materials lists give you construction-grade documentation. The boat-specific construction method guidance — stitch-and-glue technique, epoxy application, hull fairing — covers the marine-specific territory that a general woodworking library will not. And at ~$47 against any other way of obtaining quality boat plans, the value proposition is strong.
Get MyBoatPlans — 60-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Ted’s Woodworking is the right choice if:
Your woodworking interests span multiple project types, or you are a beginner who wants the broadest possible foundation for a woodworking practice. The 16,000+ plans, video tutorials, and 3D viewer make Ted’s the single most comprehensive general woodworking library available in digital format. If you want to build furniture this year, tackle a shed project next year, and maybe consider a boat somewhere down the line — Ted’s Woodworking is the library that never runs out of what you need.
Check Ted’s Woodworking — 60-Day Guarantee
Buy both if:
You are a serious woodworking hobbyist who wants maximum coverage: the general woodworking breadth of Ted’s Woodworking for everyday projects, and the marine construction depth of MyBoatPlans for boat-building goals. The combined purchase is roughly $114 at standard pricing — still less than the cost of a single professional boat plan from a naval architect — and comes with a 60-day guarantee on each. For the committed woodworker, both libraries together represent a lifetime of projects without ever needing another plan purchase.
Both products are risk-free at purchase. Both are one-time investments. The only question is whether your goal is a boat, everything else, or both.
Visit the Official MyBoatPlans Site — Risk-Free 60 Days
518 boat plans, dimensional blueprints, marine construction guidance, and materials lists. One-time purchase. 60-day money-back guarantee.
10. Frequently Asked Questions
Does Ted’s Woodworking include boat plans?
Yes, Ted’s Woodworking includes some boat plans within its 16,000+ design library. However, boat plans are a subset of the general woodworking library, sitting alongside furniture, sheds, cabinets, and every other woodworking category. MyBoatPlans, with 518 dedicated boat designs, offers significantly more depth and variety in boat-specific plans. For a builder who wants to build one simple boat project, Ted’s coverage may be adequate. For a builder who wants to take boat building seriously as a specialty within woodworking, MyBoatPlans’ depth is in a different category.
Is MyBoatPlans or Ted’s Woodworking better for building a kayak?
MyBoatPlans is better for building a kayak. The library includes multiple kayak designs across solo and tandem configurations, using stitch-and-glue plywood construction — the most accessible method for first-time boat builders. The plans include dimensional blueprints with hull cross-sections, materials lists specifying marine plywood and epoxy quantities, and step-by-step construction sequences written around the marine construction process. Ted’s Woodworking may include some kayak plans, but the boat-specific depth — particularly the stitch-and-glue construction documentation and the variety of hull forms — is lower.
Which is better for a complete beginner: MyBoatPlans or Ted’s Woodworking?
Ted’s Woodworking is generally better for complete beginners because it covers simpler project types — small furniture pieces, garden storage units, basic shop projects — that build foundational woodworking skills without the added complexity of marine construction. The video tutorials and 3D viewer provide support that helps new builders understand process and spatial relationships before attempting hands-on work. MyBoatPlans requires basic woodworking familiarity before attempting boat building — even the simplest designs in the library are more technically demanding than a beginner’s first few furniture projects. The sensible path: develop woodworking fundamentals with Ted’s or simpler projects first, then move to MyBoatPlans when you are ready to tackle marine construction.
Can I use both MyBoatPlans and Ted’s Woodworking together?
Yes, and they complement each other well precisely because they do not overlap in purpose. Ted’s Woodworking covers general shop and furniture projects; MyBoatPlans covers marine construction. A serious woodworking hobbyist who uses Ted’s for everyday woodworking projects and MyBoatPlans when a boat project is on the list has a comprehensive library that covers everything they are likely to want to build. There is no duplication of intent between the two libraries — they serve different construction domains.
Which product is better value: MyBoatPlans or Ted’s Woodworking?
Both are excellent value against the baseline of professional design fees. Ted’s Woodworking is higher-priced ($67) but broader in scope across all woodworking categories; MyBoatPlans is lower-priced ($47) but boat-specific. If you want to build boats, MyBoatPlans delivers more boat-relevant value per dollar — 518 dedicated designs with marine construction documentation that a general library’s boat subset cannot replicate. If you want general woodworking breadth across furniture, sheds, outdoor structures, and a vast range of other project types, Ted’s delivers more overall variety. For the woodworker with diverse interests, Ted’s broader scope at a modest price premium is reasonable value. For the woodworker whose goal is specifically boat building, MyBoatPlans is the more targeted and cost-effective investment.
Check the Current Price on the Official MyBoatPlans Website
Final Thoughts
The MyBoatPlans vs Ted’s Woodworking comparison resolves more cleanly than most product comparisons because the two libraries are genuinely optimized for different purposes. This is not a case where one is clearly better or where the decision is arbitrary. It is a case where your specific project goal — build a boat vs build everything — maps directly to the right product.
MyBoatPlans exists because boat building is sufficiently distinct from general woodworking to warrant a dedicated specialist resource. The hull geometry, the construction methods, the marine materials, the waterproofing requirements — all of this belongs to a domain that a general woodworking library addresses only partially. If you want to build a wooden kayak, a plywood canoe, or a flat-bottomed fishing skiff, the 518 boat-specific plans in MyBoatPlans give you genuine choice, complete documentation, and marine construction guidance that will carry you through the build. At ~$47 one-time, it represents extraordinary value against any alternative source for quality wooden boat plans.
Ted’s Woodworking exists because most woodworkers build a wide range of project types and want one library that covers all of them. The 16,000+ plans, the video tutorials, the 3D viewer, and the decades of market validation behind Ted’s Woodworking make it the benchmark general woodworking library. If your interests span furniture, outdoor structures, shop fixtures, and everything between, Ted’s Woodworking is the library that will serve you for a woodworking lifetime.
For the boat builder, MyBoatPlans is where to start. For the all-around woodworker, Ted’s Woodworking earns its gravity score. For the serious hobbyist who wants everything, both libraries together at a combined ~$114 is one of the best investments in DIY resources available at any price.
Both products carry 60-day money-back guarantees. The decision is as low-risk as a purchase gets.
Get MyBoatPlans Now → 60-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Safety note: Boat building and woodworking involve power tools, marine chemicals including epoxy resins and solvents, and work in potentially enclosed spaces. Always follow manufacturer safety guidelines for every tool and material. Wear appropriate personal protective equipment — safety glasses, hearing protection, gloves when handling epoxy and solvents, and a properly rated respirator when sanding epoxy or working with fiberglass. Ensure adequate ventilation in any workspace where resins or solvents are in use. Neither MyBoatPlans nor Ted’s Woodworking is a safety course. If you are new to power tools or marine construction materials, seek hands-on instruction before beginning a project.
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