The tools, in detail
1. RentalCalcs
Our productFree full-featured rental analysis with market research built in
The deepest analysis you can run without paying: the first 3 analyses unlock every Pro feature (sensitivity tables, 30-year projections, tax and refinance modeling, PDF export), and the first needs no account. It is also the only tool on this list with a market research layer built in: investment scores and rent data for 3,100+ US counties, plus buy vs rent, house hack, and Section 8 tools in the same product.
- First analysis is completely free with every feature: sensitivity analysis, 30-year projections, PDF export
- 10 financing structures (FHA, VA, USDA, DSCR, seller financing, ARM, and more) plus BRRRR mode
- Market research built in: market map and county reports for 3,100+ US counties
- Buy vs rent, house hack, multifamily, and Section 8 analyzers in one product
- No native mobile apps (runs in the mobile browser)
- No comps or ARV estimates; autofill works from the address, not full listing import
- No short-term rental revenue projections
First analysis free with every Pro feature. Pro is $29/month or $290/year.
Run a free analysis2. DealCheck
Property analysis with listing data import and an offer calculator
DealCheck is the best pure deal-volume tool: import a listing, get numbers, make an offer. RentalCalcs goes deeper per deal (sensitivity analysis, tax benefits, refinance and 1031 scenarios) and adds the market research layer DealCheck does not have. If you need comps and native apps, pick DealCheck. If you want full-depth analysis free and market data in the same product, pick RentalCalcs.
- Listing data import: pulls property details, taxes, and rent estimates so you type less
- Comps and ARV estimates for value-add and flip-adjacent analysis
- Maximum allowable offer (MAO) calculator for making offers at volume
- No sensitivity analysis: you cannot see how the deal changes as rent, rate, or price move
- No built-in market research layer: no county or city data, no market map
- No buy vs rent, house hack, or Section 8 analysis
Free tier, then Plus at $10/month and Pro at $20/month.
DealCheck vs RentalCalcs, feature by feature3. BiggerPockets calculators
Deal calculators inside the largest real estate investing community
BiggerPockets is the best place on the internet to learn real estate investing, and the calculators are a reasonable companion to that education. As standalone analysis tools they are shallow for the price: 5 free reports, then $39/month for calculators that skip sensitivity analysis and advanced financing. Buy the membership for the community; use a dedicated calculator for the numbers.
- The largest real estate investing community and forum on the internet
- Deep education library: books, podcasts, bootcamps, webinars
- Covers rental, BRRRR, flip, and wholesale calculators in one membership
- Calculator results are effectively paywalled: 5 free reports, then $39/month
- Analysis depth is intro-level: no sensitivity tables, limited financing structures, light tax modeling
- No built-in market research map or county-level data tied to the calculators
Five free calculator reports, then Pro membership at $39/month or $390/year.
BiggerPockets calculators vs RentalCalcs, feature by feature4. Zilculator
Automated property analysis reports from MLS and Zillow data
Zilculator occupies a sensible niche: cheap, data-connected report generation, especially for agents. RentalCalcs offers a deeper free analysis and a market research layer Zilculator does not attempt. If automatic MLS import for client reports is the job, Zilculator earns its price; for your own underwriting, RentalCalcs does more at free.
- Pulls property data from the MLS, Zillow, and Rentometer automatically
- Professional report output aimed at agents sharing analyses with clients
- Low price point for a data-connected tool
- No free tier to try a full analysis
- No built-in market research layer across counties and cities
- No Section 8, buy vs rent, or house hack analysis
Roughly $14 to $24/month for the core plans (Premium costs more), with a 7-day free trial.
Zilculator vs RentalCalcs, feature by feature5. Mashvisor
Market screening and Airbnb revenue data for finding where to invest
Mashvisor and a deal calculator answer different questions. Mashvisor is strong at "which market and which neighborhood," especially for Airbnb. RentalCalcs is strong at "does this specific deal work," with far deeper underwriting, and its market research layer covers the long-term rental side of market picking for free. STR investors may genuinely want both.
- Airbnb and short-term rental revenue projections, which almost no long-term-rental tool offers
- Neighborhood-level heatmaps for screening inside a metro
- Long-term vs short-term rental strategy comparison for the same property
- Per-deal underwriting is shallow next to a dedicated calculator: limited financing structures, no sensitivity tables, light tax modeling
- No BRRRR, buy vs rent, house hack, or Section 8 analysis
- No free tier, and full functionality lands at $50 to $75 per month
Lite at $18/month, Standard at $50/month, Professional at $75/month (quarterly billing).
Mashvisor vs RentalCalcs, feature by feature6. Stessa
Free bookkeeping and reporting for rentals you already own
Stessa is not really a rental property calculator, and that is fine: it is the best free bookkeeping tool for landlords. Run RentalCalcs to decide whether to buy, then run Stessa on what you own. Many investors use both; they overlap almost nowhere.
- Free bookkeeping with automatic bank transaction sync
- Tax-ready income and expense reports per property
- Rent collection and cash management built in
- Not an underwriting tool: it records what happened, it does not analyze a deal before you buy
- No cash flow projections, sensitivity analysis, or financing comparison
- No market research, buy vs rent, house hack, or Section 8 analysis
Free Essentials tier; Manage at $12 to $15/month; Pro at $28 to $35/month.
Stessa vs RentalCalcs, feature by feature7. A DIY spreadsheet
Free and infinitely flexible, if you maintain it
The honest baseline. A good spreadsheet can model anything, costs nothing, and teaches you the math. It also has no data behind it, breaks silently when a formula slips, and every scenario you want to test is another hour of your life. Most investors graduate from the spreadsheet the day they lose a deal to someone who analyzed it faster.
- Free forever
- Total control over every assumption
- Forces you to learn the underlying math
- No market data, rent estimates, or tax tables unless you add them
- One broken cell reference quietly corrupts every analysis after it
- Slow: sensitivity analysis and scenario testing are manual
Free (your time is the cost).
How we compared
We compared each tool on the public feature set and pricing published on its own site, verified July 2026: what the free tier actually includes, what the paid tiers cost, analysis depth (financing structures, sensitivity, tax modeling), and what surrounds the calculator (market data, education, data import). We build RentalCalcs, so instead of pretending neutrality, every entry above names what the competitor does better than we do. If a price or feature has changed, tell us and we will fix it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free rental property calculator?
If free means a complete analysis with nothing held back, RentalCalcs: the first 3 analyses include every Pro feature, the first needs no account, and the buy vs rent calculator and market map are free permanently. DealCheck has a genuinely useful free tier capped at 15 saved properties, and BiggerPockets gives free members 5 calculator reports before requiring Pro at $39 per month.
Are rental property calculators accurate?
The math is standard across good tools: cash flow, cap rate, cash-on-cash return, and IRR are well-defined formulas. Accuracy depends on your inputs, especially rent, expenses, and vacancy assumptions. That is why sensitivity analysis matters: it shows how the deal changes when your assumptions are wrong, which single-answer calculators cannot do.
What numbers should a rental property calculator show?
At minimum: monthly cash flow after all expenses and reserves, cap rate, cash-on-cash return, and a multi-year projection with appreciation and rent growth. Serious tools add IRR, DSCR for financing, tax benefit modeling, and sensitivity tables that stress-test the deal against rent drops and rate changes.
Is a spreadsheet good enough for analyzing rentals?
It can be, and building one teaches you the math. The tradeoffs are time and silent errors: no built-in market data, manual scenario testing, and formula mistakes that corrupt every deal analyzed after them. Purpose-built calculators exist because both problems compound as you analyze more deals.