Rent vs Buy Calculator
Compare the true net cost of buying a home versus renting over the years you plan to stay — factoring in the mortgage, ownership costs, equity built, and home appreciation against rising rent.
How to Use
- Enter the home price, down payment %, and mortgage rate for the buy scenario.
- Enter how many years you plan to stay — the single biggest factor in this decision.
- Enter your monthly rent for the comparable rental.
- Set expected home appreciation and annual rent increase (3% each is a common assumption).
- Read which option costs less over your time horizon, and by how much.
Show Work
Notes
About the Rent vs Buy Calculator
The Rent vs Buy Calculator gives you a fast, free answer for personal-finance and money decisions without sending anything off your device. Compare the true net cost of buying a home versus renting over the years you plan to stay — factoring in the mortgage, ownership costs, equity built, and home appreciation against rising rent.
How it works
Enter your figures and the result appears instantly, updating the moment you change anything. There is no submit button and nothing to wait for, so it is easy to try a few what-if numbers and compare the results. Just check each box holds the kind of value it expects.
Want the deeper story? The Knowledge Base explains the ideas behind the tools in more detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it better to rent or buy?
It depends mostly on how long you'll stay. Buying has big up-front costs (down payment, closing) that take years to recoup through equity and appreciation, so short stays usually favor renting and longer stays favor buying. This tool nets it all out over your chosen horizon so you can see the crossover for your numbers.
What counts as the cost of buying?
Here it's your down payment plus all mortgage payments over the period, plus ongoing ownership costs (this tool assumes about 2.6%/year of the home's value for property tax, maintenance, and insurance), minus the equity you've built — your home's appreciated value less the remaining loan balance.
Why does the years-staying number matter so much?
Buying costs are front-loaded: the down payment and closing costs are sunk immediately, and early mortgage payments are mostly interest. The longer you stay, the more those costs are spread out and the more equity and appreciation work in your favor. A few years can flip the answer entirely.
What about investing the down payment instead?
A thorough rent-vs-buy analysis also considers what you'd earn by investing the cash you didn't tie up in a house. This calculator keeps it simpler and doesn't model that opportunity cost, so treat the result as a solid first pass rather than the final word.
Is this exact?
No — it's an estimate. It excludes closing costs, selling costs, tax deductions (mortgage interest, property tax), and the investment of savings. Use it to see the rough crossover point and how sensitive it is to your assumptions, not as a precise dollar figure.
How do I use the Rent vs Buy Calculator?
Simply type your numbers and read the result, which refreshes the instant you change something. There is nothing to submit and nothing to wait for.
Does it cost anything or need an account?
No. The tool is completely free, there is no account to create, and it keeps working offline after the page first loads.
Is anything I type uploaded?
No. The tool works entirely on your device, so the values you enter never leave your browser.
Common Use Cases
Deciding whether to buy
See if buying beats renting over the years you actually expect to stay put.
Testing your time horizon
Watch the answer flip as you change years-staying to find your break-even point.
Comparing markets
Plug in local home prices and rents to compare the buy-vs-rent math city to city.
Negotiating rent
Quantify how much cheaper renting is so you know what a fair rent looks like.
Planning a move
Factor a likely relocation into the decision before committing to a purchase.
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