PC, console or cloud: which costs less over time?
Compare the total cost over several years: hardware, electricity, subscriptions and resale.
Your result
Cloud gaming is cheapest over 5 years, by about €11.29 against the next option.
Total cost by platform
Games are not included. Console power is an approximate published figure.
How it works
- Hardware
Purchase price minus what you can sell it for at the end.
- Electricity
Wall power while gaming × hours × days × years × your price.
- Subscriptions
Yearly online or cloud subscription × years. Enter current prices for the plans you would use.
Tips
- A gaming PC usually draws two to three times more than a console, but electricity is rarely the biggest cost.
- PC resale values hold up well; keeping the box and receipts helps.
- Cloud gaming moves the power bill to a data centre, but subscriptions add up over many years.
Questions people ask
Does a gaming PC use more electricity than a console?
Usually yes. A mid-range gaming PC with its monitor typically draws several hundred watts while gaming, while current consoles draw roughly 80–230 W. Over a year of daily play the difference is noticeable but usually smaller than subscription costs.
Is electricity a big part of the total cost?
Over five years it is usually the smallest part for consoles and a moderate part for PCs. It matters most in countries with high electricity prices and for people who play many hours a day.
Are game prices included?
No. Game prices vary too much between platforms and players, so the comparison covers hardware, electricity and subscriptions only.
Related tools
- Does a new graphics card pay for itself?See how much electricity a more efficient card saves and how long the upgrade takes to pay back.
- How much does undervolting your GPU save?Pick a power limit and see the money saved per year and the performance you keep.
- What does leaving your PC on cost?Idle, sleep or shut down: see the yearly cost of each when your PC is not in use.
Popular graphics cards
- GeForce RTX 5070
- GeForce RTX 5080
- Radeon RX 9070 XT
- GeForce RTX 4070 Super
- GeForce RTX 4090
- GeForce RTX 3080
- All graphics cards
Prices: Eurostat, nrg_pc_204, EIA, Ofgem, ElCom. Updated 31 October 2026. How we calculate.