Finance & Investment
Rent vs Buy Calculator
Rent vs Buy: rent vs Buy Calculator compares your total rent against the down payment plus mortgage payments minus the estimated home value; it excludes property tax, insurance, maintenance, closing/selling costs and investment returns. Worked through below with real figures, and the calculator repeats the working on your own inputs — free, on-device, instant.
Rent vs Buy Calculator takes your home price, down payment, mortgage interest rate and years to compare and gives back a clear figure with the supporting breakdown, applying standard financial formulas. It's a quick, browser-based way to run the numbers on a money decision.
About this calculator
Rent vs Buy is easiest to get wrong in the setup, not the arithmetic. Rent vs Buy Calculator compares your total rent against the down payment plus mortgage payments minus the estimated home value; it excludes property tax, insurance, maintenance, closing/selling costs and investment returns. It matters any time money changes value over time — savings, loans, investments, prices and pay all reduce to these relationships. The worked example on this page (Renting at 20,000/month is 240,000/year. Buying adds an EMI plus maintenance and taxes but builds equity — the tool compares total cost over your expected stay; longer stays usually favour buying.) shows the full substitution; the calculator above runs the same working on your own numbers, in your browser, with nothing uploaded.
How to use
- Enter the home price and your down payment.
- Enter the mortgage rate and the years to compare.
- Enter your current monthly rent, rent increase, and home appreciation.
- Press Calculate to compare buying vs renting.
Why use Rent vs Buy Calculator
Fast
Calculations run in your browser. No round trip to a server.
Private
Your inputs never leave your device. Nothing is uploaded.
Free
No signup, no paywall, no ads-in-results, no watermarks.
Educational
Uses simplified financial formulas for educational estimates. Results may not include fees, taxes, insurance, lender rules, penalties, or credit decisions.
Mobile-ready
Optimised for phones, tablets, and desktops alike.
Transparent
Clear about the method used and its limits, with disclaimers where they matter.
Common uses
Use it for relocation decisions
Use it for a break-even time-horizon check
Use it for a rent-vs-mortgage cost comparison
Use it when deciding how long to stay
Use it when rents or prices shift
Use it for long-term housing budgeting
Technical notes
Rent vs Buy Calculator compares your total rent against the down payment plus mortgage payments minus the estimated home value; it excludes property tax, insurance, maintenance, closing/selling costs and investment returns.
This is a simplified comparison: it excludes property tax, insurance, maintenance, closing/selling costs and investment returns, and assumes the rent and home-value figures you enter.
Nothing you type is uploaded — the calculation happens entirely on your device.
FAQ
How does this compare renting and buying?
It totals the cost of buying (down payment plus payments, minus the home’s value at the end) against the total rent paid over the same period, then shows which is cheaper.
What does it leave out?
It is a simplified estimate. It ignores property tax, insurance, maintenance, closing and selling costs, and the investment return you might earn on a down payment.
Why does home appreciation matter?
Appreciation builds equity that offsets the cost of buying. Higher assumed appreciation makes buying look better; higher rent increases make renting look worse.
Does the Rent vs Buy Calculator send my data to a server?
No. The Rent vs Buy Calculator runs entirely in your browser — your inputs never leave your device, and nothing is uploaded or stored.
Worked example
Renting at 20,000/month is 240,000/year. Buying adds an EMI plus maintenance and taxes but builds equity — the tool compares total cost over your expected stay; longer stays usually favour buying.