Rent vs buy, the honest way
"Renting is throwing money away" is the most expensive half-truth in Indian real estate. Put in three numbers. We'll do the math a lender does — including the money your down payment could've earned elsewhere.
Where they cross
The honest breakdown
Assumptions you can change ›
What this calculator compares, and why it is fairer
Most rent-versus-buy tools compare your rent with your EMI and stop there. That comparison is rigged in favour of buying, because it quietly ignores the money that leaves your account on day one: the down payment, stamp duty and registration. This tool follows two people with exactly the same money and asks a simpler question. After the years you plan to stay, who is worth more?
The buyer's side
The buyer pays the down payment and purchase costs upfront, then an EMI plus a yearly allowance for upkeep and property tax. The home grows in value each year at the rate you set. At the end, the buyer sells, pays the selling costs and clears whatever is left on the loan. What remains is the buyer's net worth.
The renter's side
The renter keeps the down payment and purchase costs and invests them from day one. Every month the rent is cheaper than the buyer's total housing cost, the renter invests the difference too. Rent rises each year at the rate you set, so this gap narrows over time and can flip. At the end, the renter's net worth is simply the value of that investment pot.
Why the answer changes so much with the inputs
In most large Indian cities, a year's rent is a small fraction of what the same home costs to buy. That low rental yield is why renting and investing often wins over shorter stays. Buying tends to catch up when you stay longer, when prices grow faster than you expected, or when the invested money earns less than you assumed. Open "Assumptions you can change" and move one number at a time; you will see which one your own decision really hinges on.
The defaults are a reasonable starting point, not a forecast. Stamp duty differs by state, loan rates differ by profile, and nobody knows what property prices or markets will do over the next decade. Treat the crossing point as a range, not a date.
What the numbers leave out
Money is only part of this decision. Security of tenure, the freedom to move for work, and the plain comfort of owning your walls are real, and no calculator can price them for you. Our longer piece, the honest math on rent versus buy, walks through these trade-offs with worked examples.
Does the tool include home loan tax benefits?
No. For a self-occupied home, the new tax regime gives no deduction for interest, and the old regime caps it at ₹2 lakh a year. Whether that helps you depends on which regime suits you, which we cover in this guide on home loans and the tax regime choice.
Is the renter's return realistic?
It is an assumption you control. A lower return makes buying look better; a higher one favours renting. Set it to what you would actually earn with discipline, not a best-case figure.
Does anything I enter leave my phone?
No. The arithmetic runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.