Lightweight Spackle
This is the everyday stuff for small repairs. Pink when wet, dries white. Comes in small tubs or squeeze tubes.
Best for: Nail holes, small anchor holes, shallow dents. Anything under about 1/4 inch deep.
Advantages: Dries fast, usually 15-30 minutes. Sands very easily. Shrinks minimally. Won't crack in thin applications.
Disadvantages: Not strong. Not for anything that needs to hold weight or resist impact. Not for use with tape. Not for anything deep.
I keep a small tub of this in my utility drawer. It's what I reach for 90% of the time because 90% of my repairs are nail holes. Works great for its purpose.
Regular Spackle
The heavier version. White or gray, comes in larger tubs.
Best for: Medium repairs, deeper fills, areas needing slightly more durability than lightweight.
Advantages: Stronger than lightweight. Can fill deeper voids. Takes paint well.
Disadvantages: Takes longer to dry. Harder to sand. Shrinks more, often needs multiple coats for deeper fills. Still not strong enough for tape work.
I rarely use this anymore. For anything lightweight spackle can't handle, I usually jump to joint compound. But if you only want to buy one product and can live with slightly harder sanding, regular spackle is a reasonable middle ground.
Joint Compound (Mud)
The professional's choice for serious drywall work. Comes in buckets or boxes, ready-mixed or powder.
Best for: Taping seams, large patches, skim coating, anything requiring tape or mesh. Also works for all repairs that spackle handles, just overkill for small stuff.
Advantages: Strong bond, especially to paper tape. Feathers beautifully for invisible repairs. Available in different formulations for different purposes. Economical for large jobs.
Disadvantages: Slow drying, 24 hours for regular mud. Requires multiple coats. Harder to sand than spackle. More technique-dependent.
When I have tape work or repairs larger than a golf ball, I use joint compound. The results are better even if the process takes longer. All-purpose compound handles most situations. Topping compound is even easier to sand for finish coats.
Setting Compound (Hot Mud)
The powder you mix with water. Sets by chemical reaction rather than drying.
Best for: Repairs that need durability, high-traffic areas, deep fills, situations where you can't wait 24 hours between coats.
Advantages: Sets fast. Available in 5, 20, 45, and 90 minute versions. Harder than regular mud when cured. Excellent bond. Won't shrink as much as regular compound.
Disadvantages: Difficult to sand once set. Must be mixed fresh. Limited working time. Can't be re-wet once it starts setting.
I use 45-minute setting compound for tape repairs, deep fills, and anything behind doors or in areas prone to impact. The hardness is worth the sanding difficulty. For repairs that might take a beating, nothing else is as durable.
Crack Fillers
Specialized products with flexible additives. Often come in tubes or caulk-style cartridges.
Best for: Cracks that keep coming back, areas with ongoing movement, transitions between different materials.
Advantages: Stays flexible after curing. Moves with the crack instead of cracking again. Often paintable.
Disadvantages: Harder to feather and sand. Can look different than surrounding wall when painted. More expensive per volume.
I use crack filler sparingly. It's great for that one corner crack that I've re-mudded three times and keeps coming back. The flexibility accommodates the seasonal movement. But for most cracks, proper repair with regular compound works fine. Crack filler is a specialty tool, not a general repair product.
Vinyl Spackle and Patch Plus Primer
These are consumer-targeted hybrid products that try to combine multiple steps.
Patch plus primer includes primer in the spackle so you can supposedly paint directly over it. Vinyl spackle has added binders for flexibility.
My honest opinion: they're fine for casual repairs where you don't care about perfect results. The primer-included versions do reduce flashing, though not as well as actual primer. The vinyl versions do have some flexibility.
But they cost more and don't perform as well as using the right dedicated products. For serious work, I skip these and use proper spackle, compound, and primer separately.
My Actual Toolkit
Based on what I actually use, not what marketing says I need:
Lightweight spackle: Small tub, for nail holes and minor dings. Use it constantly.
All-purpose joint compound: 4.5-gallon bucket, for anything involving tape, mesh patches, or large repairs. Buy a new one every few years.
45-minute setting compound: Box of powder, for repairs needing durability or multiple coats in one day. Lasts years because I don't use much at a time.
Flexible crack filler: One tube, for that persistent corner crack. Bought it three years ago and still have half left.
That's four products that cover everything. I've tried the others and they're either redundant or underperforming compared to these four.
Common Mistakes
Using spackle where you need compound: Tape work with spackle fails. Large patches with spackle crack. If you need strength or tape, use compound.
Using compound where spackle is fine: For a nail hole, you don't need a product that takes 24 hours to dry and requires three coats. Spackle is quick and easy for small stuff.
Ignoring setting compound: Regular mud is fine for most things, but when you need durability or speed, setting compound is dramatically better. I wasted years not knowing this.
Overbuying: Those small repairs don't need a gallon of compound. Buy sizes appropriate to your actual needs. Spackle in tubes is great for occasional use because it doesn't dry out like a half-empty tub.
The repair aisle is confusing on purpose. Companies want you to think you need specialized products for everything. You don't. Four basic products handle 99% of situations.