As a repair technician who has repaired and replaced literally thousands of garage door openers, I have some pretty strong opinions on the topic. I truly hate unreliable garage door openers.
Two major manufacturers dominate the U.S. garage door opener market: Chamberlain and Genie. Chamberlain sells openers and accessories under their own name, Sears/Craftsman, LiftMaster, and any number of other random brands. Genie makes their own stuff as well as the Overhead Door brand.
After the big two there are some smaller brands such as Linear, Marantec, Sommer, Ryobi, Horman, etc.
To try to organize this site I have categorized these openers by brand. Now is a good time to mention that everything you read here is 100% my opinion formed by my experience and is not based on any actual statistics.
Currently, two of the following brands offer truly reliable garage door openers with widely available replacement parts and accessories. And you should have no trouble finding a technician with experience working on them. With any of the others, you are taking a risk. Here is the list in order of what I perceive to be the most popular with the general public:
- LiftMaster*/Chamberlain/Sears-Craftsman/other private labeled brands
- Genie/Overhead Door
- Linear *
- Marantec *
- Ryobi
- Sommer
- Hormann
*only available thru professional garage door and opener dealers.