2027 Chevy Silverado 1500 vs. GMC Sierra 1500: Battle of the Brands

• What's new: The Silverado and Sierra, GM's full-size pickup twins, get huge updates and bigger price tags for 2027. The Silverado starts at $41,395 and the GMC at $51,295, but both can venture well north of $75,000.
• Why it matters: These are the automaker's best-selling products, with tons of variations, and it can be tough to decide between.
• Edmunds says: The GMC offers a more upscale experience with plenty of luxe features, while the Chevy can be a lot more affordable without feeling too barebones. 

Power and fuel economy

The Sierra and Silverado once again share an engine menu, but most of the items on that menu are either new or improved.

In the new category, GM replaces its 5.3-liter and 6.2-liter V8 engines with a pair of larger and more powerful ones. With the top-dog 6.6-liter L78, GM can now lay claim to the most powerful naturally aspirated truck V8, as it slightly outranks the 6.4-liter Hemi available from Ram. (This is a somewhat arbitrarily V8-centric claim, of course, and there are more powerful engines in half-tons, including the high-output version of the Ram's Hurricane inline-six and the supercharged V8s in the TRX and Raptor R.)

In the improved column sits the Sierra/Silverado base engine, a turbocharged 2.7-liter four-cylinder dubbed TurboMax. Both power and torque increase for 2027, and the turbo-four ditches its previous eight-speed automatic for a 10-speed like the one hooked to the other engines. 

The Duramax light-duty diesel, still in a category only GM participates in, is itself unchanged. One difference from 2026 is that the Duramax engine is now available on the base models, the Sierra Pro and Silverado WT.

The only real powertrain-related differences between these two GM trucks come in their towing and payload ratings. GMC's go as high as 13,500 pounds for towing and 2,310 pounds for payload, while Chevy quotes maxes of 13,700 pounds and 2,340 pounds, respectively. 

That said, their capabilities should be the same; GM is likely using the average weight of each truck lineup to calculate the ratings. Since GMCs tend to have more equipment, they're heavier, and because they're carrying more of their own weight, their stated ratings are lower. We wouldn't make a small difference like this a deciding factor in which truck you choose. Fodder for bragging rights? Sure.

Interior

Interior trappings are trim-dependent, but GMC still offers the slightly fancier top option with its Denali Ultimate. The Silverado High Country is still pretty nice, though.

We don't yet have interior measurements for these trucks, but we can be pretty certain that they'll match each other. Both trucks will again be available with a two-door regular cab or a choice of four-door arrangements — the tidier Double Cab or the roomier crew cab. Our initial impressions of the interiors of both trucks reveal cavernous back seats and nicer cushions for both the backrest and the bench itself in both back seats.

Technology and safety equipment

All 2027 Sierras and Silverados get the same infotainment setup: a 16.3-inch center touchscreen beside a 12.2-inch driver gauge display. There is an increase in sameness compared to 2026, as the base trucks now get the same system as all the other trims. Previously, the least expensive models were saddled with an older system running on a smaller screen, and their gauges were of the analog variety. A new 11.5-inch passenger display is available on both 2027 trucks.

Availability is again a differentiator on the safety side. The base driver assist suite is the same for both trucks, and it's been expanded for 2027, but the headline hands-free driving feature is more broadly available at GMC. Chevy offers Super Cruise as an option on two of its seven trims and includes it as standard on another two. Of the Sierra's six available trims, all but the base truck are offered with Super Cruise — one with it available and four where it's standard.

Trims and pricing

GMC's trim ladder is unchanged, starting with the Pro and continuing up in price and equipment to the Elevation, AT4, Denali, AT4X and Denali Ultimate. Chevy chose to rename the former LT trim simply as Silverado, so that hierarchy is now WT (Work Truck), Custom, Silverado, Custom Trail Boss, Trail Boss, High Country and ZR2.

The most bare-bones entries from each brand — regular cab, rear-wheel drive, no options — are the $41,395 Silverado WT and the $42,095 Sierra Pro. While both prices are higher than their 2026 versions, the gap between them has narrowed from $1,400 to a delta of $700. That's for the super bare-bones Sierra Pro that will most often be used for fleets, however. Ones that you're more likely to find on dealer lots with more features will start at $51,295.

Aside from that base model, GMC has only released pricing for its crew cab models, which will be available first, so it's not yet possible to gauge the price difference on midtier trims.

The crew-cab-only AT4X and ZR2 are once again mechanically the same, but GMC includes some more features (panoramic roof, 16-speaker Bose sound system) and nicer upholstery and trim (quilted white leather and mahogany instead of the ZR2's red hides and forged carbon fiber) that help explain the $5,500 difference — $79,995 for the Silverado ZR2 and $85,495 for the Sierra AT4X.

The logical way to approach the GMC vs. Chevy conundrum is to decide which features you want and then determine which of the 13 combined trim levels meets those needs without making you pay for too much stuff you don't want. If, after having read this, you still make your decision based on family tradition, styling or just vibes, that's totally cool. Both trucks look to be solid improvements on their predecessors, something we'll confirm once we put them through the full Edmunds testing wringer.