Decision tool

Should you rent or buy in India?

The honest comparison most people get wrong — because they forget the opportunity cost of locking up a down payment. Enter your numbers and see which truly costs less over your time horizon.

The scenario

Adjust to match your situation. Everything updates instantly.

If you buy

Details of the home you'd purchase.

Home Price (₹) — the price of the home you'd buy

Down Payment (% you pay upfront — the rest becomes your loan)

Home Loan Interest Rate (% charged per year by the bank)

Loan Term (years you'll take to repay the loan)

One-Time Buying Costs (% of price — stamp duty, registration, and similar charges paid once)

Yearly Price Growth (% — how much you expect the home's value to rise each year)

If you rent instead

Renting a home similar to the one above, instead of buying it.

Monthly Rent (₹) — for a similar home nearby

Yearly Rent Increase (% — how much rent typically goes up each year)

Your comparison

These apply equally to both scenarios above.

Years You Plan to Stay (how long you're comparing buying vs. renting for)

Return If You Invest Instead (% per year — what your down payment money could earn in mutual funds or an FD instead of a home)

What buying really costs you

after subtracting your home's value

—

What renting really costs you

after subtracting your investment gains

—

What this calculator gets right

Rent versus buy is rarely a simple maths question, but it is a maths question first — and most people skip that part or get it wrong. A back-of-envelope comparison usually just weighs monthly rent against monthly EMI, which misses almost everything that actually decides the outcome: what your down payment would have earned if left invested, how much of each EMI actually builds equity versus pays interest, how fast rent in your city tends to rise year over year, and how the one-time costs of buying (stamp duty, registration, brokerage) get spread thinner the longer you stay. This tool runs all of that together for your specific numbers and time horizon, rather than relying on a rule of thumb that may not fit your city or your plans.

The opportunity cost of your down payment

If you rent, the lump sum you would have used as a down payment can be invested. This calculator counts the returns you'd earn on it — the single biggest factor most rent-vs-buy comparisons ignore.

Equity you build by selling

When you buy, part of every EMI pays down principal, and the property may appreciate. At the end of your horizon, that equity offsets the interest and costs you paid.

Rent doesn't stay flat

Rent typically rises 5–8% a year. Over a 10-year horizon, compounding rent inflation adds up significantly — so it's modelled here rather than assumed constant.

Your time horizon is decisive

The longer you stay, the more buying tends to win, because purchase costs are spread over more years and equity compounds. Short stays usually favour renting.