Repair it,
or buy new?
Compare repair cost, replacement value and expected lifespan before you decide.
TopOrHop combines a repair or replace calculator, device-specific fault questions and replacement price benchmarks.
How TopOrHop works
Nine factors. One transparent answer.
Most "repair vs replace" advice stops at "more than half the new price → replace". That's a heuristic. We weigh nine factors and tell you how confident the answer is.
Live replacement prices
We pull current shopping offers, discard outliers, and use the median — not a single advertised number.
Nine-factor scoring
Cost ratio, lifespan, reliability, warranty, issue type, energy, urgency, environment, sentiment.
Confidence-aware
Thin data or unconfirmed quotes? We say so and widen the 'get a second quote' zone.
Break-even math
We compare repair cost to the value of the item's remaining useful life — not just the new price.
Safety-aware
Appliances, gas and power tools get explicit safety guidance — never DIY this stuff.
Counts environmental impact
Embodied CO₂ is a real cost. We surface it instead of pretending only the till receipt matters.
Featured guides
Should I repair or replace my…
Each guide pairs editorial advice with a live price snapshot and a calculator pre-tuned for that product.
my washing machine?
my fridge?
my laptop?
my smartphone?
my TV?
my dishwasher?
Live market data
We don't guess the new price.
Every category hub queries PricesAPI for current shopping offers, drops outliers and uses the median of in-stock reliable listings. Snapshots are stored daily so you can see the trend, not just one moment.
- Median, lowest reliable, highest reliable prices
- Number of offers checked vs. used
- Confidence rating + last-updated timestamp
- Best-value and cheapest-reliable picks called out
The benchmark question
The cheapest replacement isn't the right benchmark.
A cheap replacement may break in two years. A premium one may last twelve. We benchmark against the median of reliable offers — the price you'd actually pay for an equivalent unit — not the lowest listing on a dodgy marketplace.
We also subtract any resale value, then divide by the years of life you would actually get. That's the number a repair has to beat.
The Repair Score
One number, but never a black box.
We combine your inputs into a 0–100 Repair Score. High = repair clearly wins. Low = replacement is the better long-term call. Middle = ambiguous, get a second quote.
Repair confidently — cost ratio, lifespan and reliability all line up.
Get a second repair quote. Either decision is defensible right now.
Replacement is the lower long-term cost — usually by a wide margin.
Common questions
FAQ
Is TopOrHop free?+
Yes. The calculator and every category guide are free to use, no signup required. The site is supported by ads and may earn a small commission on some replacement offers.
Where do the replacement prices come from?+
Live shopping listings from PricesAPI. We discard outliers and use the median of reliable in-stock offers — never a single advertised price.
Does TopOrHop ever push me to buy?+
No. The repair-or-replace recommendation is calculated before any offers are loaded, so affiliate links can never bias the decision.
What if my repair quote is just an estimate?+
Mark it as unconfirmed in the calculator. We widen the 'get a second quote' zone so you don't act on shaky data.
What TopOrHop won't claim
We won't pretend live prices are exact, or that any repair is risk-free. We won't let affiliate offers influence the recommendation — it's calculated first, the offers come after. Always confirm repair quotes in writing and never DIY gas, high voltage or pressurised systems.