Rent vs. Buy Calculator

🇺🇸 US-specific: property tax, closing/selling cost norms, and mortgage structure follow the US home-buying system.

Home price Down payment (%) 20 Mortgage rate (annual %) Loan term (years) Monthly rent (equivalent home) Rent increase (%/year) Home appreciation (%/year) Investment return (%/year) — opportunity cost of your down payment Property tax (%/year) Home insurance ($/year) Maintenance (%/year) — typical estimate: 1% HOA ($/month) Closing costs, buying (%) Selling costs, later (%) Years to compare 7

After the comparison period —

Buyer's net worth (home equity) $0.00

Renter's net worth (invested savings) $0.00

Home value at the end $0.00

Remaining loan balance $0.00

Rent at the end of the period $0.00

This runs a month-by-month simulation, not a rule of thumb — it accounts for what your down payment would have earned if invested instead, and compares that to the equity you'd build by buying.

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Free rent vs. buy calculator that runs a real month-by-month simulation — including the opportunity cost of investing your down payment instead — to compare net worth from renting versus buying, not just monthly payments.

This tool is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional financial or medical advice. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions. See our Disclaimer.

How it works

Enter home price, mortgage terms, and rent for a comparable home
Add appreciation, rent growth, investment return, and one-time costs
See which option leaves you with more net worth after your chosen number of years

Frequently asked questions

Why include investment return in a housing calculator?

Your down payment is money you could have invested instead. This calculator treats that as a real opportunity cost — the renter's side of the comparison assumes that money (and any month where renting costs less than buying) is invested, not just parked.

Why might renting win over a short period?

Closing costs (buying) and selling costs (later) are real cash outlays that only pay off once home appreciation and equity build-up outweigh them — that usually takes several years. Over short horizons, renting often comes out ahead in the simulation.

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From the blog

finance-calc

Should I rent or buy? Over 7 years, renting can actually leave you $43,000 richer — here's why

A rent vs. buy calculator that treats your down payment as an investment you're giving up, not just a cost you're paying.

2026-09-01

Update history

2026-09-03 Bounded numeric fields are now sliders instead of number inputs.
2026-09-01 Added: a cover image (a house on one side of a scale balanced against a stack of coins and a key on the other) — used as the card thumbnail, social share image, and blog title image.
2026-09-01 Launched: rent vs. buy calculator running a real month-by-month simulation (mortgage amortization, home appreciation, rent growth, and invested opportunity cost of the down payment) rather than a simplified rule of thumb. Entirely client-side.