system
A chat on subreddit /r/me_irl
human
That’s fair if you’re a mid tier contractor, but for home gamers no, probably not. I never rent anything, tbh
gpt
As a high-tier contractor, we rent plant and tools all the time.  Often enough we’ll write the cost of tools into the contract if it needs precision or longevity we know a rented unit won’t provide.

There’s a bit of “horses for courses” as well, in some cases for us there’s no point buying the duck’s guts because for what we need it to do, three mediocre units will be cheaper and outlast one good unit, in some cases the cheaper units will outlast better quality just due to having more “slop” and less precise surfaces and fitment.  This is pretty true for 5” angle grinders, the difference between a $100 unit and a $400 unit is pretty minimal, the nature of our work means the stator and bearings will be trashed regardless.

Market loss leaders are always something to keep your eye out for as well, these are units manufacturers will design and produce without the usual designed obsolescence bullshit (which yes, almost all tools still have, even the premo ones), these units are sold *below cost* in order to lift their brand reputation.

TL-DR: hiring is always an option, buying by pricetag doesn’t guarantee quality, research what you need and go for a unit with good reviews across multiple sources, don’t let a cheap price dissuade you from a good unit by a suspect brand, don’t buy good tools if you’re going to use them in adverse conditions.