Enter your local service quote and what your gear costs — see the yearly gap, the per-hour wage DIY pays you, and the honest verdict.
The service-vs-DIY math
service = quote × visits
DIY = mower ÷ 8 + fuel & blades + (your hours × your rate)
The cash half is rarely close — DIY wins it by $700–1,500 a season for most lawns. The time half is where honest people disagree: 30–40 hours a season is real, and pricing your hours at zero is only correct if you'd genuinely rather be mowing. Both answers are respectable; this page just prices them.
A worked example
A $50 quote × 28 mows is $1,400. DIY with a $600 mower setup: $75/year amortized + $60 running = $135 cash — the gap is $1,265, and at 35 hours of mowing that's DIY paying $36 an hour, tax-free. Price your time at $30/hr and the gap narrows to ~$215 — suddenly a fair trade for 35 Saturdays' half-hours back.
The hybrid most people land on
Mow it yourself (the $36/hour part), skip the treatment program and run the schedule from the fertilizer,pre-emergent, and soil test pages — that's the program's brain for the cost of products — and hire out the once-a-year machine jobs like aeration where the rental hassle eats the savings. Best of both ledgers.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a lawn mowing service cost?
Typically $35–70 per visit for a suburban lawn (size, region, and gate width all move it), usually weekly in season. A 28-visit season runs $1,000–2,000. Full-service programs (mow + fertilize + weed control) add $300–700 a year on top.
Is it cheaper to mow my own lawn?
Almost always in cash: a good mower amortized over its ~8-year life plus gas and blades runs a few hundred a year versus $1,000+ for service. The honest question is the hours — a weekly mow is ~35 hours a season. Whether that's a cost (chore) or a benefit (podcast time and exercise) is yours to price, and the calculator lets you.
What does a full lawn treatment program include?
The big brands' standard program is 5–8 visits: pre-emergent + fertilizer in spring, summer feedings with spot weed control, fall fertilizer, sometimes lime or grub control. It's exactly the schedule this site's calculators produce — the program's value is discipline and liability, not secret chemicals.
Should I buy a battery or gas mower?
Under ~10,000 sq ft, battery is the easy call now: no gas cans, no winterizing, half the noise, and modern packs handle it fine. Big lawns and thick southern grasses still favor gas or a bigger battery investment. Either way the amortization math in this calculator is the same — just different numbers in the mower field.