01
Annual depreciation
The difference between the purchase price and the expected resale value, spread over the years of use.
(Purchase price − resale value) ÷ years of use
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A tool that runs on your numbers
Own vs rent calculator
Enter the purchase data and the rental price you were quoted in a real offer, and the cost per hour for both options appears with the break-even between them. No ready-made market prices — the formula is written under the result.
Method
The formula, item by item
The annual cost of each option is worked out, then divided by operating hours. Fuel and operator wages are common to both options, so they are left out.
02
Annual cost of owning
Annual depreciation plus maintenance, insurance and registration. It is paid in full whether you need the machine for one month or for a year.
Annual depreciation + annual maintenance + annual insurance and registration
03
Annual cost of renting
The monthly rental price you were quoted in a real offer, multiplied by the number of months you need the machine.
Monthly rent × months needed
04
Cost per hour
The annual cost of each option divided by annual operating hours.
Annual cost ÷ annual operating hours
05
Break-even months
Owning is paid for the whole year while renting is paid only for the months you need, so the two options cost the same at a specific number of months.
Break-even months = annual cost of owning ÷ monthly rent
06
Break-even hours
Break-even months are converted into annual hours on the assumption that your hours are spread evenly over the months you need the machine. Below these hours renting costs less; above them owning costs less.
Break-even hours = break-even months × (annual hours ÷ months needed)
Limits
What this calculator does not include
- 01Fuel and operator wages are common to both options, so they are in neither cost.
- 02You enter the rental price from an offer you actually received; the calculator assumes no price. If your offer caps the hours or adds extra charges, work out their effect yourself.
- 03Financing cost, if the machine is bought on a loan or instalments, is not included because it differs from one contract to another.
- 04Maintenance is entered as a single annual figure. On older machines this cost grows with age, so update it every year.
- 05It does not count the cost of moving the machine between sites or the cost of downtime.
FAQ
What to ask before relying on the figure
Because rent differs from one supplier to another and from one season to another, and a ready-made figure quietly becomes a reference. Enter the price from the offer in front of you and change it with each new offer.
Because renting is paid only for the months you need while owning is paid for the full year, so months are what change the gap between the options. The months are then converted to hours at your own rate of hours.
What you expect to sell the machine for at the end of the years of use you entered. If you intend to run it until scrap, enter the expected scrap value.
No. It is an arithmetic comparison with your numbers, not a recommendation to buy or rent; financing, availability and the nature and length of the project come on top of it.
Inside TAC Flow
Each machine’s cost from its real record, not from an estimate
The calculator compares numbers you enter once. Inside the platform, each asset’s maintenance, diesel fills and spare parts build up as actually recorded against it, so your comparison uses your real machines’ figures.
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