I shopped for school supplies at Walmart and Target. One had better prices for nearly everything on my list.

Back-to-school season often requires a major shopping haul, and if you're debating between two stores, it's probably Walmart and Target.Both are go-to spots for all things school, but I was curious which offered a wider selection and better deals. With Labor Day looming, I looked for basic school supplies at each store, searching for the same items in equivalent sizes.My list included everything from pens, pencils, and coloring supplies to notebooks, folders, and other essentials. I even sought out backpacks and binders.Here's how each category stacked up on this particular trip. Walmart felt festive from the get-go. Walmart's back-to-school section was easy to find. Savannah Born The first thing I saw when I walked into my local Walmart was a giant "back to school" banner hung above the last-call fireworks,Signs led me to the back corner, where I found three full aisles of name brands and Pen+Gear, Walmart's private label. It also had cardboard displays with plenty of goodies, from rulers to mini staplers. It wasn't hard to find the back-to-school section at my local Target, either. I didn't have to look far to find Target's back-to-school section. Savannah Born During my visit in mid-July, my local Target still seemed to be setting up some of its supplies. However, the "school shop" was easy to find.In addition to big names, Target carried supplies from its in-house brands, Up&Up, Mondo Llama, and Dealworthy — the third being the most budget-friendly option. Mechanical pencils were first on my list. Target had tons of mechanical pencils. Savannah Born Sure, Walmart had mechanical pencils, but Target's overflowing pop-up display made a stellar first impression.It included my favorite Papermate Clear Point mechanical pencils in multiple colors and package sizes. I found two-packs for $3.99 each.Walmart had the same two-pack for $3.97, but I only saw one color variety. I preferred Target's selection, even though Walmart had a lower price. In my opinion, Target's pen selection offered more than Walmart's. My Target (left) had a more exciting pen display than Walmart (right). Savannah Born Walmart generally seemed to have slightly lower prices on pens. For example, a five-pack of Pilot G2 gel pens costs $5.97 at Walmart versus Target's $5.99.However, the trade-off seemed to be a lackluster variety compared to Target, which I felt had a broader range of brands, package sizes, and designs in-store.I didn't find much that caught my eye at Walmart — mostly varieties of G2 and Papermate pens — but it had the basics. And I was happy to see my beloved Papermate Flair felt-tip pens at both retailers. I found 12-packs of colored pencils for $0.50 at both retailers. The colored pencils at Target (left) were the same price as similar ones at Walmart (right). Savannah Born For the best deal on colored pencils, I'd happily shop either store's value brands. Packs of a dozen pencils were only $0.50 apiece. Walmart's binder section impressed me a little more. Target (left) had a lot of binders, and so did Walmart (right). Savannah Born I didn't appreciate my local Walmart's neat binder aisle until I went to Target, where the shelves felt trickier to parse through.Walmart's 1½ -inch Pen+Gear binders clocked in at $4.97 across the board, including patterned ones.Target's 1½-inch Up&Up binders, on the other hand, were $0.02 pricier, and I didn't see any patterned varieties from this brand in my store. The only patterned binders I saw were not store brand, and the price tags seemed to reflect that.I found a checkered binder for $4.99, but it was only 1-inch thick. The rest of the printed binders I saw, including 1-inch varieties, cost at least $5.99.The real kicker was my middle-school must-have, a 2-inch Case-it Laptop Zipper Binder. It rang up to $22.84 at Walmart versus $23.99 at Target. Target's decorative folders were much cheaper than Walmart's. Many folders were under $2 at Target. Savannah Born Spending $2.72 each on garden, ice-cream, and space-themed folders at Walmart felt reasonable, but one trip to Target changed my perspective.I found similar plastic folders, also in a range of fun designs, for $1.99 each. Even fun licensed Despicable Me and Spider-Man folders were the same sub-$2 price at Target. Regular folders were basically a draw. Both Target (left) and Walmart (right) had tons of folders. Savannah Born Unlike the fashion folders, which had a substantial price discrepancy, regular solid-colored folders were priced similarly. Both carried store-brand, two-pocket plastic folders for $0.50 apiece.For a plastic-pocket Five-Star folder, though, I'd pay $2.37 at Walmart and $2.39 at Target. I'd buy notebooks at either store, including composition books. Notebooks at both retailers were quite affordable. Savannah Born Walmart's Pen+Gear 80-sheet composition books cost $0.38 each versus Target's Dealworthy version for $0.39.These both felt like can't-beat prices for something I remember using daily in school.At only $0.35 apiece, regular 70-sheet notebooks came in even cheaper at both stores. Target's backpack section never seemed to end. Target's selection of backpacks really impressed me. Savannah Born Both stores had great starting prices for back-to-school bags. I found backpacks as cheap as $4.97 at Walmart and $5 at Target.Both retailers also had designs featuring iconic licensed franchises, like Spider-Man, Toy Story, and Hello Kitty, as well as sets that included lunch kits, keychains, and water bottles.However, in my opinion, Target had a better selection for teens and what I'd estimate to be double the inventory.That said, I did notice that Walmart often offered lower prices on many of the comparable, simpler designs.For example, searching for a plain pink backpack, I found an 18.5-inch Eastport one at Walmart for $22.97, compared to a similar-looking 17.5-inch All-in-Motion one at Target for $40.I can't speak to how the quality compares, but both looked chic and functional, with several zippered pockets and side pouches — and Target's was nearly double the price. Markers and highlighters were close in price, but cheaper overall at Walmart. I'd be happy to buy markers at Walmart. Savannah Born Walmart and Target both carried 10-packs of store-brand markers for $0.50. A 10-pack of Crayola markers, however, was $0.02 cheaper at Walmart than at Target.Sharpie highlighters had a larger price difference, at $2.44 at Walmart versus $2.49 at Target. Crayon prices were incredibly low at both retailers. I'd buy crayons at Target (pictured) or Walmart. Savannah Born Both stores had 24-packs of private-label crayons for $0.25 each, or $0.50 for the same-size Crayola box. I'd go to either for my artsy fix. Both retailers had impressive glue selections, but Walmart had better deals on Elmer's. There were a ton of glue options at both stores, but Walmart (pictured) had some better deals. Savannah Born A 12-pack of Elmer's glue sticks was $4.47 at Walmart, a smidge cheaper than Target's same-size pack for $4.59. Regular 4-ounce glue bottles cost $1.97 and $1.99, respectively.Numbers aside, the glue sections were surprisingly broad and fun to browse at both retailers.For example, I discovered a 4-pack of "Toy Story"-themed glue sticks for $2.94 at Walmart; Target had a 4-pack of scented glue sticks for $2.99. Four-packs of Post-its were a similar value at both retailers, but singles were a better price at Target. I'd probably get my Post-it notes at Target (left) than Walmart (right). Savannah Born At first, I assumed Post-it notes were cheaper at Target across the board. However, looking more closely at the package sizes showed the value may differ slightly across products.A four-pack of 3-by-3 Post-it notes was $4.97 at Walmart and $3.19 at Target. However, Walmart's pack included 360 total notes, or 90 per pad — many more than Target's, which had 200 total notes, or 50 notes per pad.So, to buy a four-pack of Post-it notes, I'd shell out $0.01 per note at Walmart and closer to $0.02 per note at Target. It's an almost negligible difference, but it was a good reminder that prices aren't always what they seem upon first glance.Singles, on the other hand, were an incredible deal at Target. The same 90-sheet stack cost $0.89 at Target and $1.25 at Walmart, a $0.36 difference. Walmart offered cheaper rulers, mini staplers, and erasers. I saw similar prices for rulers at Target (left) and Walmart (right). Savannah Born For a 12-inch wooden ruler, I'd pay $0.82 at Walmart and $0.89 at Target. Mini staplers had the same $0.07 price difference, coming in at $4.22 at Walmart and $4.29 at Target.I found that packs of two standard rubber erasers were also $0.02 cheaper at Walmart. If I had to shop at one store for back-to-school season, I'd choose Walmart. On this particular trip, Walmart impressed me a bit more. Savannah Born I'm typically a Target shopper. But — even though most price discrepancies were mere pennies — they kept stacking in Walmart's favor.Target certainly had merits, though, specifically with its impressive backpack, mechanical pencil, and pen selections. Plus, it had cheaper fashion folders and single-pack Post-it notes.However, Walmart offered equivalent or lower prices in just about every other category I assessed, both for its store-brand products and ones from recognizable names.Nevertheless, it's important to consider that this is a limited view based on in-store prices at the time of my trips. Both stores were running major back-to-school sales (or "rollbacks" at Walmart) at the time of my visit, and the best deals may vary from week to week.For example, since my shopping trip, Target has announced a bunch of discounts on back-to-school essentials, like 30% off uniform polos and 20% off Champion backpacks.If you want the lowest prices, monitor retailers' weekly ads and seasonal deals. The "better" retailer for you will likely depend on when you're shopping and what you're looking for.One thing's for sure, though: Both stores are solid spots for back-to-school shopping on a budget. And, who knows? Maybe a late-summer round of markdowns will lead me back to Target again soon.Business Insider reached out to Target and Walmart for comment.