Total Rent Paid
$183,899.09
Rent vs Buy Calculator
Compare the long-term net cost of renting vs. buying a home.
Buying Saves You
$142,527.06
Net Cost of Buying
$41,372.03
Home Equity Built
$177,290.37
Interest Paid (period)
$121,827.88
How to use the Rent vs Buy Calculator
The Rent vs Buy Calculator is free and runs entirely in your browser — no sign-up, and nothing you enter leaves your device. It opens pre-filled with a realistic example, so you can see how it works before replacing any figure with your own; the results update as you type. Press Calculate to refresh the result panel, or Reset to return to the example.
The inputs it asks for:
- Current Monthly Rent — a dollar amount.
- Annual Rent Growth — a percentage (enter 6 for 6%).
- Home Price — a dollar amount.
- Down Payment — a dollar amount.
- Mortgage Rate — a percentage (enter 6 for 6%).
- Mortgage Term (yrs) — a number.
- Home Appreciation Rate — a percentage (enter 6 for 6%).
- Years to Compare — a number.
Worked example
Using the example values — Current Monthly Rent $2,000.00, Annual Rent Growth 3%, Home Price $350,000.00, Down Payment $70,000.00, Mortgage Rate 6.5%, Mortgage Term (yrs) 30, and 2 more — the Rent vs Buy Calculator returns a Buying Saves You of $142,527.06. It also reports Total Rent Paid ($183,899.09), Net Cost of Buying ($41,372.03), Home Equity Built ($177,290.37).
Prefer your own numbers? Change any field above and this recomputes instantly.