Which care option costs YOUR family the least — and fits best?
We compare home care, assisted living, nursing home, and family-provided care on true 5-year cost and quality of life.
The Parkers, mom 82 needing 4 hrs/day — home care wins on quality at ~$197k over 5 years; family care is cheapest at ~$19k but scores lowest on family burden.
How to use
- Guide me (default): answer 5 plain-English questions — we fill in the technical stuff and show our work.
- Check the summary, tap any value to adjust it, or flip to “I know my numbers” for full control.
- Green highlights the lowest 5-year cost and the best quality score. Estimates are always labeled.
+ New here? The 30-second version
Every option gets boiled down to two numbers: its true 5-year cost (with yearly price increases) and a quality-of-life score based on what your family values. Cost alone rarely decides — this shows both.
Answer 5 questions and we’ll do the math. National medians are used as starting estimates; replace them with your real quotes.
Your inputs
Yellow fields are yours. National medians pre-filled as estimates.
Quality-of-life scorecard
Weight each criterion 1–5 (5 = must-have), then score each option 1–5 (5 = best).
Your results
5-year total = yearly cost grown by your yearly increase %, plus one-time costs. Score = weighted average out of 5.