DIY OR HIRE A PRO
Lawn mowing
Compare the cost of owning and using equipment with a lawn service over your chosen number of years.
Example numbers—not local quotes. Replace them with your prices and hours.
How this calculator works
DIY cash = equipment purchase + years × annual maintenance + total visits × supplies per visit. Professional cash = total visits × all-in price per visit. All equipment purchase costs are charged to the selected period; no resale value, financing or inflation is assumed. Cash equipment recovery divides the purchase cost by annual professional spending minus annual DIY operating costs. It assumes unchanged prices and does not include your time. Cost including time adds total person-hours × your hourly time value. The professional break-even price subtracts your remaining time cost from the DIY total, and for recurring work divides by total visits. All figures are USD. Prices are illustrative, editable assumptions, not location-specific estimates.
Is mowing your own lawn worth it?
Compare a full season, not just the price of one cut. Your DIY lawn mowing cost includes equipment purchased for the project, yearly maintenance and fuel or other consumables for every visit. The calculator charges the full equipment purchase to the period you select; it does not assume resale value.
Worked example: 24 cuts in one season
Illustrative inputs, not local prices: a $400 mower, $60 annual maintenance and $3 per cut total $532 in cash. A service charging $45 per cut totals $1,080. At one person-hour per DIY cut and a time value of $25/hour, DIY totals $1,132 including time. If coordinating the service takes 0.1 hour per visit, hiring totals $1,140 including your time. That small difference can change with a few extra cuts or a longer mowing session.
Costs and quote details to check
Include trimming, edging, clipping cleanup, fuel or charging costs and equipment upkeep. Ask whether the professional price includes these tasks, whether there is a seasonal minimum, and how skipped or additional visits are billed. Match the same number of visits and the same work on both sides.
When DIY or a lawn service makes sense
DIY may fit when you already have suitable equipment, storage and time for recurring work. A service may fit when scheduling, access or the physical work makes mowing difficult. Enter zero equipment cost if you already own the mower and do not plan to replace it for this comparison.
How is mower payback calculated?
Payback divides equipment purchase cost by annual professional fees minus annual DIY operating expenses. It excludes the value of your time. If those annual cash savings are zero or negative, there is no cash payback under your inputs. Try a second scenario with your time included before deciding.