Considerations are somewhat different for personal vs business use. For personal use: I prefer to rent things I don't intend to reuse indefinitely (movies, fo

Considerations are somewhat different for personal vs business use. For personal use: I prefer to rent things I don't intend to reuse indefinitely (movies, for instance). But I'm very careful about recurring subscription fees. They add up quickly. Netflix is my one non-utility subscription - mostly because it costs so much less than a cable TV subscription while offering such a better experience. I prefer to purchase anything that might inhibit my access to data I intend to use in the long term (basically, any software for creating/editing non-ephemeral data). Also, a lot of software is ridiculously overpriced at rental prices. I rent my apartment because purchasing an equivalent home would cost multiples of my rent every month - I basically couldn't afford it. Also, real estate is already overpriced where I live and thus a poor investment, I don't want the responsibility for upkeep, and I don't intend to stay in this location for more than a few years. I rent cars because I only need one once or twice a year. I don't even take cabs more than about once a month. Basically everything else I buy. Or don't need and thus don't buy OR rent. For business, cash flow and spending money to make money flip some of the considerations on their head. Renting software for collaboration makes more sense than self hosting as long as the costs are less than the value of the time you'd spend maintaining it. Other software is worth renting or buying (whatever the business model the producers use) simply because you need its features and you don't get a choice of how to pay. The increased productivity of the right package over the wrong one for an employee's core function is easily worth hundreds, often thousands per year. Office space: rental is a no-brainer unless you're Apple or Google. Furniture: if you expect your company to exist for more than a few years, buy. Furniture lasts a long time. Computers: Buy Macs, rent Windows. Your engineers and designers need the latest and greatest once every couple years, sure. But the rest of the company will do fine with their hand me downs. However, the build quality on windows computers is a race to the bottom, and I've seen too many laptops fall apart within 18 months. Whereas probably 80% of Mac laptops are just fine 5 years in, if a little cosmetically blemished. Appliances: rent. Rental companies seem to have fewer qualms about replacing your appliance and taking the old one back to repair, instead of stringing you along scheduling repairman visit after repairman visit. And you just don't want to be without a coffee machine or dishwasher for three weeks.