PPG vs Glidden Paint Colors: What's the Difference?

If you've ever noticed a PPG colour and a Glidden colour that look suspiciously identical, that's not a coincidence — PPG Industries owns Glidden, and the two brands share the same underlying colour-matching system for the vast majority of their libraries. In practice, that means most Glidden shades have a direct PPG equivalent with the same name and hex value, distinguished only by a "PPG" prefix on the Glidden product code.

Colours That Are Genuinely the Same Paint Match

Here are a few examples, shown side by side, so you can see exactly how closely the two libraries track each other:

Where the Two Libraries Actually Differ

Glidden's catalogue isn't a pure subset of PPG's, though — it also carries a large number of shades with no PPG equivalent at all, generally the more playful or seasonal names rather than the numbered architectural range. A few examples:

Which Should You Actually Buy?

In practice, for the hundreds of shared colours, it comes down to availability and price in your area rather than any real difference in the paint itself — the colour match is identical. Glidden tends to be positioned as the more budget-friendly, widely available option in North American hardware stores, while PPG's own-branded lines lean toward the professional and specialty end. If a shade only exists in Glidden's library (like the ones above), that's your answer made for you. On this site, we treat Glidden as the primary listing for any colour the two brands share, so if you land here from a PPG search for one of the matched shades, the Glidden page is the one we point you toward.

For more paint colour comparisons and design inspiration, explore our design inspiration hub, or browse the full colour catalogue to compare shades across every brand we cover.