The closest widely recommended Benjamin Moore equivalent of Sherwin-Williams Creamy (SW 7012, LRV 81) is White Dove OC-17, which lands near LRV 85 with the same soft, creamy white read, a few points brighter and a shade more neutral than Creamy's open yellow.
On the Behr deck, Swiss Coffee is the warm white most people reach for, sitting near LRV 84 with a touch more brightness and a faint green-yellow cast.
The delta is small in every case (a few LRV points either way), so treat these as very close and not exact. The only way to be sure is to confirm the match on your own wall before you buy gallons.
No paint company publishes an official cross-brand chart, so any Creamy equivalent really comes down to which color lands closest on two numbers: light reflectance value (LRV) and undertone. For the full method behind these calls, we walk through how cross-brand paint matching works in the pillar guide. The short version: brands mix on different bases and tint systems, so no color code maps one for one. What we can do is find the Benjamin Moore and Behr colors that read almost the same in a room, then hand you a way to prove it on your own wall before you commit a single gallon.
The closest matches, side by side
| Color | Brand + code | Approx LRV | Undertone vs Creamy | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creamy (reference) | Sherwin-Williams SW 7012 | 81 | Warm creamy white, open soft yellow, very little gray | The color you are matching |
| White Dove | Benjamin Moore OC-17 | ~85 | The same soft creamy white, a shade more neutral and a few points brighter | Closest overall |
| Navajo White | Benjamin Moore OC-95 | ~78 | Keeps Creamy's open, buttery yellow, a clear step deeper and cozier | Warmer, deeper alternative |
| Swiss Coffee | Behr Swiss Coffee | ~84 | Very close, a touch brighter with a faint green-yellow | Best Behr option |
Try it on your house
No photo? Try a sample
LRV figures are published-figure approximations and can move a point or two between fan decks and sample batches. Any hex or RGB you see for these colors is a digital rendering, not a spec: Creamy around #EFE9D4, White Dove around #F1EEE2, Navajo White around #EFE7CE, Swiss Coffee around #F0EBDB. The authoritative reference is always a physical paint chip viewed in your own light.
Read the lineup top to bottom and the pattern is clear. White Dove is the honest first call: it holds Creamy's soft, creamy character and is the warm white most designers name when a Benjamin Moore client falls for SW 7012, so the tradeoff is that it reads a few points brighter and a shade cleaner than Creamy's open yellow. Navajo White goes the other direction, keeping that buttery, openly warm cast Creamy is loved for, but it sits a real step deeper, so save it for rooms with enough light to carry the extra body. Swiss Coffee is the Behr pick, genuinely close and the easiest of the group to buy on a Saturday morning, though it leans a hair brighter and faintly greener. Every one of them is a near miss by a point or two, which is the whole reason this article ends where it does: on your own wall.
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Why there is no exact Creamy equivalent
Three forces keep a perfect Creamy clone off the shelf. The first is that every brand mixes its whites in-house. Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, and Behr each chase a warm creamy white from a different starting point, so two colors can post a similar LRV and still lean apart once real light hits the wall. Creamy carries an open, soft yellow with almost no gray to steady it, which is exactly what gives it that milky, butter-in-sunlight glow. White Dove gets close on brightness but reads a touch more neutral, Navajo White holds the yellow but drops deeper, and Swiss Coffee tips slightly greener. None of them is wrong. They are simply three points clustered around the same warm target.
The second force is the tint system. Each brand builds a color on its own base paint, then loads a proprietary set of colorants, so a match that looks dead-on in a fan deck can drift a shade at the register, where the mix, the sheen, and even the batch nudge the undertone. That is how two colors with a similar published LRV can dry a hair brighter or creamier on drywall. The third force is context, and Creamy is unusually sensitive to it because its yellow is out in the open. North light cools that cream and can make it read almost off-white, warm bulbs push it further toward butter, and a wood floor or a brass fixture will bounce even more warmth back onto the wall. Creamy and its Benjamin Moore match can agree in a bright living room and separate in a dim hallway. This is normal, and it is exactly why we frame these as the closest recommended matches rather than exact equivalents.
When the Benjamin Moore match works (and when to stay Sherwin-Williams)
- Switch to White Dove OC-17 when you already run Benjamin Moore for trim and cabinets and want a single supplier. At roughly LRV 85 it keeps Creamy's soft, creamy read while sitting a shade more neutral, which most rooms register as clean rather than cool.
- Reach for Navajo White OC-95 when the warm yellow is the whole reason you love Creamy. It holds that open, buttery cast more faithfully but sits deeper, near LRV 78, so it holds its warmth in bright, sun-washed rooms and can feel heavy in low light.
- Go with Behr Swiss Coffee when budget or store access points you to Behr. It is the closest Behr warm white to Creamy, a touch brighter and faintly greener, and easy to find at The Home Depot when you need a gallon today.
- Stay with Sherwin-Williams Creamy when the rest of your palette was built around SW 7012, or when your samples show a visible drift. For the full personality of the color, its lighting behavior, and its best rooms, see Creamy undertones and best rooms, and if you want the exact way to line two colors up without guessing, here is how to compare paint colors step by step.
Related matches
Rebuilding a whole Sherwin-Williams warm-neutral scheme on the Benjamin Moore deck? We ran the same math for two colors people cross-shop right next to Creamy: the Benjamin Moore match for White Duck, the warmer, greiger white a step down from Creamy, and the Benjamin Moore match for Drift of Mist, the soft light greige people pair with it on trim and adjoining walls. Read alongside this one, they let you carry a full Sherwin-Williams palette onto the Benjamin Moore shelf without guessing at each swap.
Frequently asked questions
What is the closest Benjamin Moore equivalent of Creamy?
The closest widely recommended Benjamin Moore match is White Dove OC-17. Its LRV sits near 85, about four points above Creamy at LRV 81, and it reads the same soft creamy white a shade more neutral and a touch brighter. Navajo White OC-95 is a warmer, deeper alternative that keeps Creamy's open yellow. The delta is small, so paint a sample and confirm it on your own wall before you commit.
Is there a Behr version of Creamy?
Behr does not sell Creamy, but Swiss Coffee is the warm white most people reach for. It is a creamy white near LRV 84 that reads a touch brighter than Creamy with a faint green-yellow cast. Because Behr and Sherwin-Williams tint on different bases, hold a Behr chip against a Creamy chip in your own light before deciding.
What is the LRV and undertone of Sherwin-Williams Creamy?
Creamy (SW 7012) has a published LRV of 81, which makes it a soft, creamy white rather than a stark one. Its undertone is an open, warm yellow with very little gray, which is why it reads like milky cream in sunlight and cozier than cooler, cleaner whites. A good cross-brand match needs a similar LRV and that same soft, warm-yellow character.
Will the Benjamin Moore match look identical to Creamy?
No. No brand publishes official equivalents, so even the closest match carries a small LRV and undertone delta that shifts with your lighting, sheen, and the surface underneath. Treat White Dove or Swiss Coffee as very close, not identical, and test the specific match on your own wall before you buy gallons.
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Trademark notice. Sherwin-Williams and Creamy, Benjamin Moore, and Behr are trademarks of their respective owners. FacadeColorizer is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by these companies. Brand and color names are used descriptively (nominative fair use). Hex and RGB values are approximate digital renderings; the only authoritative reference is a physical paint chip.
Trademarks mentioned (Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, Behr, Caparol, Brillux, Sto, Alpina, Valspar, PPG, Glidden, Dulux, Crown Trade, Sandtex, Farrow & Ball, Johnstone's, Leyland) are property of their respective owners. FacadeColorizer is independent and not affiliated with any of them. Nominative fair use under Lanham Act §1125.
