Lease vs Buy Calculator
Compare the total cost of leasing and buying a car or piece of equipment over the same period, including the value left at the end. Enter the lease quote and the loan quote, and see the total and monthly cost of each over the lease term, the loan balance still owed and what the car is worth when the lease would end.
Your numbers
As quoted, with any tax on the payment.
Down payment and fees paid up front. If the dealer's figure includes the first monthly payment, take it out.
Also the comparison period.
Optional, e.g. a disposition fee.
Optional. Miles over the allowance × the lease's per-mile rate, plus any wear charges.
The negotiated price before tax.
Optional.
Optional: title, registration, dealer fees.
Tax and fees not covered by it go into the loan.
What the car or machine will be worth when the lease would end.
Optional: what the cash paid up front could have earned, such as your savings rate.
Cheaper option
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- Total cost of leasing
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- Total cost of buying
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- Leasing, a month on average
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- Buying, a month on average
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An estimate from the numbers you typed, at a fixed loan rate. Not financial, tax or legal advice: check the lease and loan contracts, and ask a tax professional about business use.
The calculation runs in your browser and ParrotNotes does not store your numbers. They sit in the page address so you can bookmark or share the result.
How each total is worked out
Both options are costed over the same period, the lease term. The lease total is what you pay at signing (down payment or capitalized cost reduction, first fees; take the first month out if the dealer counted it), plus the monthly payments, plus any fees at the end (a disposition fee, for example) and expected excess mileage and wear charges.
The buy total is the down payment, plus the loan payments made in the period, plus the loan balance still owed at the end, minus what the car is worth then. Sales tax and fees go into the loan unless the down payment covers them. Adding the balance and taking off the resale value is the same as saying you sell the car at the end, pay off the loan and keep the rest.
Worked example over 36 months: lease at $450 a month with $3,000 due at signing and a $395 end fee: $3,000 + $16,200 + $395 = $19,595.00, or $544.31 a month. Buy a $35,000 car with $5,000 down and a $30,000 loan at 6% for 60 months: $579.98 a month, $20,879.43 paid in 36 months, $13,086.10 still owed. Worth $21,000 at the end: $5,000 + $20,879.43 + $13,086.10 − $21,000 = $17,965.53, or $499.04 a month. Buying is $1,629.47 cheaper.
The value at the end decides most comparisons
A lease's residual value is the car's value at the end of the term, set when you sign. The CFPB says it sets your payment and the price to buy the car at the end, and that it is worth asking how accurate it is. For the buy side you need your own estimate: type a resale value, or the percent of value the car will lose over the period. On the example, losing 40% of $35,000 leaves $21,000.
Small changes move the answer. Add 7% sales tax to the example and finance it: the loan is $32,450, the payment $627.35, and buying costs $20,739.38, so leasing comes out $1,144.38 cheaper. Try a few resale values before deciding.
What the cash up front could have earned
Cash paid at signing or as a down payment is cash you no longer have. Enter a return on cash, such as your savings rate, and each side is charged what that cash would have earned over the period, compounded monthly. At 4%, the example's $3,000 at signing adds $381.82 to the lease and the $5,000 down payment adds $636.36 to buying. Monthly payments are left out of this part.
What this calculator does not do
It assumes a fixed loan rate and payments on schedule, and leaves out insurance, maintenance, registration renewals and fuel, which you pay either way; check the lease for its insurance and maintenance terms. It does not cover ending a lease early, which the CFPB and the FTC warn can be costly. For equipment, use the same fields: the lease's monthly payment and term against the price, loan and resale value of the machine. Taxes on business use are left out; see the FAQ.
Sources, read on 2026-10-27:
- CFPB, What should I know about leasing versus buying a car? (reviewed September 12, 2023)
- FTC Consumer Advice, Financing or Leasing a Car (July 2022)
- Federal Reserve, Keys to Vehicle Leasing: Leasing vs. Buying, Monthly Payments
- Federal Reserve, Keys to Vehicle Leasing: Leasing vs. Buying, Rate Disclosure
- IRS, Publication 463 (2025), Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses: Leasing a Car (reference only)
Need the value at the end? The car depreciation calculator estimates what the car will be worth. For the miles, the mileage reimbursement calculator works out what the business miles are worth, and the cost per mile calculator what each mile really costs you.
More for reps on the road: Best car for a sales rep, Windshield time: turn drive time into done admin, Sales territory management.
The car is your office, the calls are the job
Whichever you choose, the miles and the customer visits add up. Record each visit and call in ParrotNotes and get a structured note, a summary and the action items, so the follow-ups are written down before the next drive. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.
Get Started FreeRelated tools
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