Compare leasing vs buying a car, office equipment, or tech. See total cost, break-even year, and mileage threshold — instantly.
A real-time lease vs buy calculator for cars, office equipment, and tech/computers. Enter your lease quote (monthly payment, term, down payment, mileage allowance, end-of-lease fees) alongside the purchase scenario (price, financing, resale value, maintenance, insurance) and see total cost over the comparable period, the cheaper option, a side-by-side cost stack (payments, depreciation, interest, maintenance, mileage overage), the break-even year, and the mileage threshold where lease overage charges flip the math. Supports USD, INR, and AED.
Leasing wins when three things line up: you want a new asset every few years, your usage stays inside the allowance (mileage for cars, hours for equipment), and you value predictable monthly costs over long-term ownership. Tech leases shine for fast-depreciating assets like laptops and servers, where buying means owning obsolete hardware in three years. Car leases work best for drivers under 12,000 miles a year who upgrade frequently. Equipment leases let small businesses preserve cash and stay on the latest models without capital expenditure.
The lease bar shows four components: base payments (the bulk), down payment or security deposit, end-of-lease return fees, and mileage overage if you exceed your allowance. The buy bar shows depreciation (purchase price minus resale value — the single biggest cost of ownership), interest paid on financing, maintenance over the period (which spikes after warranty expires), and any insurance premium difference vs the leased equivalent. Notice that depreciation almost always dominates the buy side, which is why high-residual assets tilt the math toward buying.
For businesses, the after-tax economics often differ from the pre-tax numbers shown here. In the US, Section 179 lets you expense up to $1.16M of qualifying equipment in the year of purchase, and bonus depreciation can accelerate further. Operating leases, by contrast, give you a clean monthly deduction with no depreciation schedule to track. India offers depreciation under the Income Tax Act with rates varying by asset type; the UAE has corporate tax with specific deduction rules. Run this calculator for the pre-tax decision, then ask your accountant.
Leasing means lower monthly payments, always-new equipment under warranty, and predictable costs — but you build no equity and pay forever. Buying costs more upfront and exposes you to maintenance and depreciation risk, but eventually you own a paid-off asset whose ongoing cost drops to near zero. Leasing wins for short hold periods (2-4 years) and rapidly depreciating tech; buying wins the longer you keep the asset.
Residual value is what the leasing company estimates the asset will be worth at the end of the lease — it sets your buyout price if you decide to keep it. A higher residual generally means a lower monthly payment because you are financing a smaller drop in value. The resale value field on the Buy side is different: it is what you could actually sell the asset for in the open market, which determines real-world depreciation.
Most leases include 10,000-15,000 miles per year. Every mile over the allowance is charged at $0.15-$0.30 (or local equivalent) at lease end. If you drive 18,000 miles a year on a 12,000-mile lease at $0.25/mile, that is $1,500 a year or $4,500 on a 3-year lease — often enough to flip the lease-vs-buy math.
Often yes — lease payments are typically a fully deductible operating expense, while purchases must be depreciated over multiple years (though Section 179 and bonus depreciation in the US, or similar regimes elsewhere, can let you write off purchases faster). The right answer depends on your tax bracket, cash flow, and local rules. This calculator does not model tax treatment — use it for the pre-tax economics and consult an accountant.
You have three options: return the asset and walk away (paying any end-of-lease and overage fees), buy it out at the residual value if the market price is higher than the buyout, or roll into a new lease. Always compare the residual buyout price to actual resale value — if the asset is worth more than the residual, buying it out and selling can net you the difference. If it is worth less, return it.
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