tool hire
Should you hire or buy power tools?
Tools split cleanly in two. Anything you will use repeatedly and can carry in one hand is usually worth owning. Anything heavy, specialised or needing a certificate to operate is usually worth hiring, however cheap the purchase price looks, because the cost you are comparing against is not just the tool.
Last reviewed 13 September 2026
Why trust this page: GetBrent is a directory. We take no commission on hires and we sell nothing. The manufacturer would rather you bought and the hire company would rather you hired - we have no stake in which way you go, which is the only reason a comparison like this is worth reading.
Hire when...
It is a one-job tool
A floor sander, a wallpaper stripper, a concrete breaker. Most people use these once and then store them for a decade.
It is heavy, awkward or needs transport
If you need a van to fetch it, ownership includes a van.
Training or a certificate is involved
Some equipment needs demonstrable competence to use legally on a work site. Hire firms will often provide the briefing with the machine.
The professional version is far better than the DIY one
Hiring gets you the trade machine for a day rather than the consumer one forever - which usually means the job takes a third of the time.
Buy when...
It is part of your normal week
Drills, drivers, grinders, saws. If you reach for it monthly, own it.
You are already on a battery platform
The biggest hidden factor in cordless tools. Once your van is full of one maker's batteries, the bare-tool price is the real price, and it changes the maths completely.
You need it at no notice
Hire counters keep opening hours and jobs do not. A tool you own is available at seven on a Sunday morning, which is when half of all DIY actually happens.
Cleanliness or setup matters
Anything you calibrate, dial in, or keep set up a particular way is painful to re-establish on a hired machine every time.
Work out your own break-even
We do not publish prices, because a national average would be wrong for your job. Put in the quotes you have actually been given and the sum does the rest. Nothing is saved or sent.
On running costs: Consumables, battery replacement spread over its life, and servicing. Leave it at zero if you only want the raw comparison.
Enter a purchase price and a hire rate to see the answer.
A guide, not advice. It compares cash spent and ignores finance, tax treatment, VAT recovery and what the item is worth when you sell it - all of which can move the answer, sometimes a long way. For anything substantial, put the numbers to your accountant.
The costs people forget
A purchase price against a day rate is not a fair comparison. These are what sit on the ownership side of it.
Consumables
Blades, discs, abrasives, bits. On some tools these outrun the machine cost within a year.
Batteries and chargers
Batteries are the expensive half of a cordless tool and they wear out on a schedule of their own.
Servicing and calibration
Applies to anything measuring, cutting to a line, or driving fixings to a torque.
Storage and security
Tool theft from vans is endemic. Insurers increasingly ask where tools are kept overnight.
Downtime
A broken tool you own is your problem. A broken tool you hired is swapped.
Before you commit either way
- Count the actual days of use over a year. Most people overestimate by a wide margin.
- If cordless, compare bare-tool prices against your existing battery platform, not kit prices.
- Ask the hire firm what consumables are included, and what they charge for a blade you wear out.
- For anything with a dust or vibration exposure limit, check what the machine requires before you commit either way.
If you are buying, know the makes
What each manufacturer builds, the model ranges, and how they compare.
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