Most rent-vs-buy calculators compare monthly payments. That's the wrong comparison — a monthly payment doesn't tell you whether you're building wealth. This calculator compares net worth instead: what a buyer's home equity looks like against what a renter's investment portfolio looks like, year by year.
I built it because every calculator I could find either buried its assumptions, pushed a lead form before showing results, or quietly assumed renters do nothing with the money they save. That last one bothered me the most — it's the single biggest reason "buying always wins" in most tools, and it's rarely stated out loud.
The honest limitation: this is a model, not a prediction. Real markets are volatile, local property tax and insurance vary widely, and the biggest factor — what a renter actually does with the money they save — depends entirely on discipline this tool can't measure. Treat the output as a framework for thinking, not a guarantee.
This site is built and maintained by Jack Wang, a software engineer. It's an independent, self-funded project — not affiliated with any bank, lender, real estate brokerage, or financial advisory firm.
Found an error in the model, have a suggestion, or spotted a bug? Feedback is genuinely welcome — the goal is for this to be the calculator that shows its work, and that only gets better with people checking it. Reach me at [email protected].
Try the calculator Free · No email required · Every assumption adjustable