Rent vs Buy Calculator
Compare the true costs of renting versus buying a home. Factor in appreciation, maintenance, taxes, and opportunity cost.
🏡 Buying
🔑 Renting
Return on alternative investments
Cost of Buying
Cost of Renting
📊 Year by Year
| year | Buy Cost | Rent Cost | Difference | Better |
|---|---|---|---|---|
About Rent vs Buy Calculator
This rent versus buy calculator compares the true cost of owning against renting over a holding period you choose. On the buying side it amortizes the mortgage to see how much principal you build, then adds property tax, insurance and maintenance and subtracts appreciation; on the renting side it grows rent by your assumed annual increase and credits the return you would earn investing the down payment instead. A year-by-year table shows which option is ahead each year and where the crossover falls. The math runs in your browser.
Use Cases
How to use
In the Buying column enter Home Price, Down Payment percentage and Mortgage Rate, then pick a Loan Term of 15, 20 or 30 Years.
Add the ownership costs: Property Tax Rate per year, Home Insurance per year, Maintenance per year and expected Home Appreciation per year.
In the Renting column enter Monthly Rent, Annual Rent Increase, Renters Insurance and the Investment Return you would earn on the money not tied up in a down payment.
Drag the Time Horizon slider anywhere from 1 to 30 years to set how long the comparison runs.
Read the verdict banner, which says whether buying or renting wins over that period and by how many dollars.
Compare the Cost of Buying and Cost of Renting breakdowns, then use the Year by Year table to find the year buying overtakes renting.
Pro Tips
- Enter your values carefully — small differences in inputs can lead to large changes in the Rent Vs Buy Calculator result, especially for long time periods.
- Use the Rent Vs Buy Calculator to compare multiple scenarios side by side. Open the tool in several tabs to see how different assumptions impact your outcome.
- Bookmark this Rent Vs Buy Calculator and return whenever your situation changes — small updates in income, rates, or expenses are easy to recompute.
- Export or copy the result before closing the tab. Since the Rent Vs Buy Calculator stores no data server-side, your inputs reset when you navigate away.
- Combine this Rent Vs Buy Calculator with our other financial tools (loan, tax, budget calculators) for a more complete financial picture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The Rent Vs Buy Calculator is 100% free, with no signup, no paywall, no limits, and no watermarks on results. You can use it as often as you need.
No. The Rent Vs Buy Calculator runs entirely in your browser. Your inputs stay on your device and are never transmitted to our servers, guaranteeing privacy.
The Rent Vs Buy Calculator uses industry-standard formulas and returns mathematically precise results based on the inputs you provide. Always verify with a professional advisor for major decisions.
Yes. The Rent Vs Buy Calculator is fully responsive and works on iOS, Android, and all modern mobile browsers with no app install required.
After the initial page load, most calculations run offline because the logic runs in JavaScript on your device. If you lose connection mid-session, you can usually keep calculating.
While the Rent Vs Buy Calculator provides accurate computations, it does not replace professional advice. For tax, legal, medical, or major investment decisions, consult a certified advisor.