Hire vs. Rent: What's the Difference?
Edited by Aimie Carlson || By Janet White || Updated on October 7, 2023
Hire often refers to obtaining services or temporary use of an object, while Rent typically implies paying for the use of a property or item over a specified period.
Key Differences
Hire primarily revolves around the act of obtaining services or acquiring temporary usage rights to an object. For instance, we often 'hire' a consultant or 'hire' a tool for a specific job. On the other hand, Rent commonly suggests making a payment for the use of an item, especially real estate, over a predetermined duration. People generally 'rent' apartments or 'rent' cars when they need them for longer durations.
When we talk about 'hiring' something, the duration can be short and may be event-specific. You might hire a suit for a night or hire a taxi for a ride to the airport. In contrast, 'renting' usually indicates a longer period. You might rent a car for a week or an apartment for a year.
Hire often comes into play in employment contexts, too. Businesses hire employees. Rent, conversely, remains mostly associated with tangible assets. It's less about services and more about using a property or item.
Hire vs. Rent in Payment:
Both hiring and renting entail some form of payment. However, when you hire, the payment might be for a service or a short-term use. Whereas when you rent, it's commonly a periodic payment, like monthly rent for a house or a daily fee for a rented bicycle.
ADVERTISEMENT
Neither hiring nor renting transfers ownership. When you hire a tool or rent a house, the ownership remains with the original owner. The difference lies mainly in context, duration, and sometimes the type of item or service in question.
Comparison Chart
Primary Association
Services and temporary usage of objects
Prolonged use of property or items
Duration
Short-term, can be event-specific
Longer duration, periodic
Context
Employment, short-term use
Property, tangible assets
Payment
For service or short-term use
Periodic payment (e.g., daily, monthly)
ADVERTISEMENT
Ownership Implication
No transfer of ownership
No transfer of ownership, use of asset over time
Hire and Rent Definitions
Hire
To employ someone for a job.
They decided to hire a new manager for the project.
Rent
To grant the use of property in return for payment.
He rents out his vacation home during the summer.
Hire
To obtain the temporary use of an object for a fee.
I'll hire a suit for the wedding.
Rent
To occupy rented property.
She rents in a quaint neighborhood.
Hire
To grant the use of something in return for payment.
They hire out boats to tourists.
Rent
Payment, usually of an amount fixed by contract, made by a tenant at specified intervals in return for the right to occupy or use the property of another.
Hire
To engage services for a particular task.
We need to hire a consultant to advise on the merger.
Rent
A similar payment made for the use of a facility, equipment, or service provided by another.
Hire
To make an agreement to employ or use.
She was hired on a six-month contract.
Rent
The return derived from cultivated or improved land after deduction of all production costs.
Hire
To engage the services of (a person) for a fee; employ
Hired a new clerk.
Rent
The difference between the price paid for use of a resource whose supply is inelastic and the minimum price at which that resource would still be provided. Also called economic rent.
Hire
To engage the temporary use of for a fee; rent
Hire a car for the day.
Rent
An opening made by rending; a rip.
Hire
To grant the services of or the temporary use of for a fee
Hired himself out as a cook.
Hired out the cottage for the summer.
Rent
A breach of relations between persons or groups; a rift.
Hire
To obtain work
She hired on as a deck hand. He hired out as a photographer.
Rent
To obtain occupancy or use of (another's property) in return for regular payments.
Hire
The act of hiring.
Rent
To grant temporary occupancy or use of (one's own property or a service) in return for regular payments
Rents out TV sets.
Hire
The condition or fact of being hired.
Rent
To be for rent
The cottage rents for $1,200 a month.
Hire
Payment for services; wages.
Rent
A past tense and a past participle of rend.
Hire
Payment for the use of something.
Rent
A payment made by a tenant at intervals in order to occupy a property.
I am asking £100 a week rent.
Hire
(Informal) One who is hired
Two new hires in the sales department.
Rent
A similar payment for the use of a product, equipment or a service.
Hire
Payment for the temporary use of something.
The sign offered pedalos on hire.
Rent
(economics) A profit from possession of a valuable right, as a restricted license to engage in a trade or business.
A New York city taxicab license earns more than $10,000 a year in rent.
Hire
(obsolete) Reward, payment.
Rent
An object for which rent is charged or paid.
Hire
The state of being hired, or having a job; employment.
When my grandfather retired, he had over twenty mechanics in his hire.
Rent
(obsolete) Income; revenue.
Hire
A person who has been hired, especially in a cohort.
We pair up each of our new hires with one of our original hires.
Rent
A tear or rip in some surface.
Hire
(transitive) To obtain the services of in return for fixed payment.
We hired a car for two weeks because ours had broken down.
Rent
A division or schism.
Hire
(transitive) To employ; to obtain the services of (a person) in exchange for remuneration; to give someone a job.
The company had problems when it tried to hire more skilled workers.
Rent
(transitive) To occupy premises in exchange for rent.
I rented a house from my friend's parents for a year.
Hire
(transitive) To exchange the services of for remuneration.
They hired themselves out as day laborers.
They hired out their basement for Inauguration week.
Rent
(transitive) To grant occupation in return for rent.
We rented our house to our son's friend for a year.
Hire
(transitive) To accomplish by paying for services.
After waiting two years for her husband to finish the tiling, she decided to hire it done.
Rent
(transitive) To obtain or have temporary possession of an object (e.g. a movie) in exchange for money.
Hire
(intransitive) To accept employment.
They hired out as day laborers.
Rent
(intransitive) To be leased or let for rent.
The house rents for five hundred dollars a month.
Hire
(transitive) (neologism) (in the Jobs-to-be-Done Theory) To buy something in order for it to perform a function, to do a job
They hired a milkshake.
Rent
Simple past tense and past participle of rend
Hire
The price, reward, or compensation paid, or contracted to be paid, for the temporary use of a thing or a place, for personal service, or for labor; wages; rent; pay.
The laborer is worthy of his hire.
Rent
That has been torn or rent; ripped; torn.
Hire
A bailment by which the use of a thing, or the services and labor of a person, are contracted for at a certain price or reward.
Rent
To rant.
Hire
To procure (any chattel or estate) from another person, for temporary use, for a compensation or equivalent; to purchase the use or enjoyment of for a limited time; as, to hire a farm for a year; to hire money.
Rent
To tear. See Rend.
Hire
To engage or purchase the service, labor, or interest of (any one) for a specific purpose, by payment of wages; as, to hire a servant, an agent, or an advocate.
Rent
To grant the possession and enjoyment of, for a rent; to lease; as, the owwner of an estate or house rents it.
Hire
To grant the temporary use of, for compensation; to engage to give the service of, for a price; to let; to lease; - now usually with out, and often reflexively; as, he has hired out his horse, or his time.
They . . . have hired out themselves for bread.
Rent
To take and hold under an agreement to pay rent; as, the tennant rents an estate of the owner.
Hire
Engage or hire for work;
They hired two new secretaries in the department
How many people has she employed?
Rent
To be leased, or let for rent; as, an estate rents for five hundred dollars a year.
Hire
Hold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services
Rent
An opening made by rending; a break or breach made by force; a tear.
See what a rent the envious Casca made.
Hire
Engage for service under a term of contract;
We took an apartment on a quiet street
Let's rent a car
Shall we take a guide in Rome?
Rent
Figuratively, a schism; a rupture of harmony; a separation; as, a rent in the church.
Rent
Income; revenue. See Catel.
[Bacchus] a waster was and all his rentIn wine and bordel he dispent.
So bought an annual rent or two,And liv'd, just as you see I do.
Rent
Pay; reward; share; toll.
Death, that taketh of high and low his rent.
Rent
A certain periodical profit, whether in money, provisions, chattels, or labor, issuing out of lands and tenements in payment for the use; commonly, a certain pecuniary sum agreed upon between a tenant and his landlord, paid at fixed intervals by the lessee to the lessor, for the use of land or its appendages; as, rent for a farm, a house, a park, etc.
Rent
That portion of the produce of the earth paid to the landlord for the use of the "original and indestructible powers of the soil;" the excess of the return from a given piece of cultivated land over that from land of equal area at the "margin of cultivation." Called also economic rent, or Ricardian rent. Economic rent is due partly to differences of productivity, but chiefly to advantages of location; it is equivalent to ordinary or commercial rent less interest on improvements, and nearly equivalent to ground rent.
Rent
A regular payment by a tenant to a landlord for use of some property
Rent
An opening made forcibly as by pulling apart;
There was a rip in his pants
She had snags in her stockings
Rent
The return derived from cultivated land in excess of that derived from the poorest land cultivated under similar conditions
Rent
The act of rending or ripping or splitting something;
He gave the envelope a vigorous rip
Rent
Let for money;
We rented our apartment to friends while we were abroad
Rent
Grant use or occupation of under a term of contract;
I am leasing my country estate to some foreigners
Rent
Engage for service under a term of contract;
We took an apartment on a quiet street
Let's rent a car
Shall we take a guide in Rome?
Rent
Hold under a lease or rental agreement; of goods and services
Rent
To pay for the use of property or an item.
They rent an apartment in the city.
Rent
A regular payment made by a tenant to an owner.
The rent is due on the first of every month.
Rent
To let or be let.
That property is for rent.
FAQs
What does it mean to hire someone?
It means to employ them for a job or task.
Is hiring always short-term?
Not always, but it often implies a shorter duration or specific event.
What does rent mean?
It refers to paying for the use of property or an item over a period.
Do you own something after hiring it?
No, hiring doesn't transfer ownership.
Can hire be used in terms of employment?
Yes, businesses often hire employees.
Can you rent services?
Typically, rent is associated with tangible assets, not services.
How does hire differ from lease?
Hire is generally shorter and can involve services, while a lease is a longer-term contract for tangible assets.
Can you hire objects?
Yes, you can hire objects for temporary use, like tools or equipment.
What's the typical payment mode for rent?
It's often periodic, such as monthly or weekly.
What's the opposite of hire in employment?
Fire or terminate.
Can I hire a car?
Yes, though in some contexts, people might use "rent" for cars, especially for prolonged use.
What is a rent agreement?
It's a contract between a landlord and tenant detailing the terms of property rental.
Do you become the owner when you rent something?
No, renting doesn't confer ownership.
Can a person hire out their skills?
Yes, a freelancer, for instance, can hire out their services.
Which is more permanent, hire or rent?
Rent usually implies a more prolonged period, but neither is permanent.
Is renting typically short-term or long-term?
Renting usually indicates a longer, more extended period.
Can "rent" be used as a noun?
Yes, it can refer to the payment made by a tenant to an owner.
Is there a cultural difference in using hire or rent?
Yes, in some regions like the UK, "hire" is used where Americans might use "rent," such as "car hire" vs. "car rental."
Are hire and rent interchangeable?
Not always. While they can be in some contexts, they have distinct nuances and usage patterns.
Can businesses rent services?
Typically, businesses hire services and rent tangible assets.
About Author
Written by
Janet WhiteJanet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.
Edited by
Aimie CarlsonAimie Carlson, holding a master's degree in English literature, is a fervent English language enthusiast. She lends her writing talents to Difference Wiki, a prominent website that specializes in comparisons, offering readers insightful analyses that both captivate and inform.
