How to use this tool
- Fill in the buying assumptions: home price, down payment, mortgage rate and term, and the ongoing costs of ownership.
- Fill in the renting assumptions: monthly rent and how fast it's likely to grow.
- Set your expected investment return and how many years you plan to stay — the result compares net worth under each path at that point.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Don't treat the output as a single "correct" answer — run it again with a lower appreciation rate or a lower investment return to see how much that changes things.
Frequently asked questions
- Why compare net worth instead of just monthly payment?
- A mortgage payment builds equity in an asset that (usually) appreciates; rent doesn't. But renting frees up the cash you'd have spent on a down payment and closing costs to be invested instead. Comparing net worth — what you'd actually be worth at the end of the period, in either scenario — accounts for both sides properly, not just which monthly number is smaller.
- What happens to the money a renter doesn't spend on a down payment?
- It's assumed to be invested at the return rate you set, growing the whole time. Additionally, in any month owning would have cost more than renting, that difference is invested too — so the comparison assumes a disciplined renter who actually invests the difference, not one who just spends it.
- Does this account for mortgage interest tax deductions?
- No — tax treatment of mortgage interest varies significantly by country and changes over time, so modeling it reliably isn't something this tool attempts. If it applies where you live, factor it in yourself; it would improve the buying scenario's numbers somewhat.
- How sensitive is the result to the assumptions?
- Very — home appreciation and investment return rate in particular can flip which option comes out ahead. Try a few realistic scenarios (a conservative and an optimistic case for each rate) rather than trusting a single run.
How GetByteRush compares
Most free tools for this online work the same way: you upload your file to their server, wait, then download the result — which means your file (and often your email, for a "free" account) sits on someone else's infrastructure. Here's the actual difference:
| Feature | GetByteRush | Typical online tools |
|---|---|---|
| Data ever leaves your device | No — calculated in this tab | Yes, uploaded to process |
| Compares net worth, not just monthly payment | Yes | Varies — many tools only compare monthly cost |
| Account required | Never | Often, past a certain usage level |
("Typical online tools" reflects publicly documented behavior of common free file-processing sites as of 2026 — always check a specific competitor's own privacy policy and pricing page, since these details change.)