Best Financial Comparison Sites for Renters Insurance

If you’re a renter, you might assume that when it comes to insurance, health, auto, and life are all you really need. Besides, insurance premiums are costly. It’s only natural that you’d want to spend as little as possible on insurance policies so you can splurge on items and experiences that are important to you. However, going without insurance is risky. What may at first seem like a money-saving opportunity could quickly turn into a financial disaster. 

One type of insurance that many tenants overlook is renters insurance, which isn’t legally mandated. However, some landlords do require it, and even if yours doesn’t, it’s still a smart idea to get coverage. Purchasing renters insurance can be a confusing process, and it can be hard to know how much coverage you should get. 

There are several websites that can help you in the decision-making process. In this article, we’ll first take a look at the basics of renters insurance before exploring the ins and outs of each site. 

What to Know About Renters Insurance

Renters insurance covers against multiple types of events, such as fire, theft, and vandalism. 

• What it covers: Renters insurance can help you replace your belongings, pay liability costs, and pay for additional living expenses. Liability costs could come into play if you’re responsible for property damage or injuries that occur on your property. Additional living expenses are costs you’ll pay if, due to an event, you end up having to temporarily live elsewhere. Common additional living expenses include hotels and meals. 

• What it doesn’t cover: For certain events, like floods and earthquakes, you’ll need additional insurance policies. 

• Actual cash value vs. replacement cost: You’ll have to decide if you want your policy to cover the actual cash value or the replacement cost of your possessions. These are two very different types of coverage. Actual cash value covers the actual value of your possessions, which includes depreciation. Conversely, replacement cost covers the full amount of your belongings and doesn’t deduct depreciation. Actual cash value policies are generally cheaper than replacement cost policies, but the payouts can be far lower. 

• Riders: For certain items, you’ll need to purchase additional coverage. Adding a rider can be a good way to obtain coverage for certain high-value belongings, such as jewelry, artwork, and firearms. 

BestMoney.com

BestMoney.com is one of the top sites out there for researching a variety of financial products, including insurance, loans, online banking, and credit cards. You can use their site to learn more about renters insurance and connect with an insurance company. 

Pros

• Several insurance partners available: BestMoney gives you several options to pick from when purchasing renters insurance. For my zip code, it provided links to eight different insurance companies. 
• Rankings and reviews: BestMoney ranks each insurance company, assigning a score out of 10 possible points. The ranking combines factors like popularity, brand reputation, and features and benefits. Additionally, the site publishes detailed reviews of insurance companies. This helps you get an idea of what you’d be looking at as far as the application process, safety, and customer support.
• Zip code filtering: To present you with insurance options that are available in your area, BestMoney lets you filter based on your location, helping to narrow down your choices. 

Cons

• Some insurance companies not rated: While the site has rated several insurance companies, there are many others that are unrated, leaving you on your own to do your research. For instance, when presented with a list of insurance companies based on my zip code, four of the eight had no score. 
• No renters insurance calculator: Some sites have an interactive calculator that gives you an idea of what your rate will be depending on how much coverage you need. BestMoney doesn’t have a calculator, so you’ll have to rely on other sites for this feature. 

Forbes Advisor

While Forbes.com is best known as a finance and business news source, it also provides valuable information helping consumers make informed decisions regarding insurance, credit cards, banking, and other financial products. The site has a detailed section on renters insurance. 

Pros

• Location, age, military, and credit filters: To get a curated list of insurance companies that could work for you based on your situation, Forbes Advisor lets you filter based on your zip code, your age, whether you’ve served in the military, and whether you have good credit. 
• Ratings and reviews: Forbes Advisor has in-depth reviews of many of the insurance companies that sell renters insurance. It breaks down pertinent information on cost, coverage, discounts, and filing a claim. The site also gives each company a score out of five, factoring in rates, coverage options, and discounts. 
• Average monthly cost information: Forbes Advisor shows the average monthly cost of renters insurance for some of the top companies: State Farm, USAA, Country Financial, Auto-Owners, Westfield, and American Family. Although it’s not a personalized quote, it can help you get an idea of the cost you’d be facing. 

Cons

• Heavily promotes Lemonade: While all these sites partner with insurance companies and receive commissions, Forbes Advisor pushes its partnership with Lemonade disproportionately more than its other options. For example, on the site’s “Best Renters Insurance Companies of 2026” page, it has a pop-up featuring Lemonade at the top, but Lemonade isn’t ranked in their list. This could mislead visitors into thinking Lemonade is the top-ranked company, when this isn’t the case. 
• No renters insurance calculator: Forbes Advisor doesn’t have a renters insurance calculator to help you estimate your cost based on your location and coverage needs. 

Insurance.com

Insurance.com is another financial comparison site, but this one specializes exclusively in insurance, renters insurance included.

Pros

• Renters insurance calculator: Insurance.com has an interactive renters insurance calculator you can use to get a quick estimate of your monthly rate. You’ll enter in your zip code, deductible, liability, and personal property coverage to see the lowest, average, and highest rates for your situation. The calculator also shows you the most and least expensive zip codes for renters insurance based on your state. 
• Insurance company rankings: The site has rankings and reviews of various renters insurance companies, giving each one an overall rating out of five. The overall rating is based on average rates, customer complaints, and financial stability. 
• Average cost information: Insurance.com provides the average yearly cost for each insurance company. Keep in mind that the actual amount will depend on your coverage requirements. 

Cons

• Limited insurance company partners: For my zip code, I was given just one company to look at for renters insurance. Compare this with a site like BestMoney, which gave me eight. 
• No reviews specific to renters insurance: While Insurance.com has homeowners insurance reviews by company, they don’t have any reviews specific to renters insurance. 

ValuePenguin.com

Like Insurance.com, ValuePenguin.com focuses solely on providing insurance information to consumers — the site doesn’t cover any other financial products. Aside from renters insurance, some of the other insurance types they can help with include auto, home, and health. 

Pros

• Centralized online form: The site has one online form for you to fill out so you can see quotes from multiple insurance companies, asking questions about your location, property type, personal property cost, gender, marital status, and age. This saves you the hassle of having to visit each individual company’s site and submit your details multiple times to get quotes.
• Insurance company reviews: ValuePenguin has in-depth reviews of some of the most popular renters insurance companies, including Lemonade, State Farm, Amica, and Nationwide. The reviews provide information on pricing, discounts, and coverage options. 
• Average cost information: ValuePenguin provides data on the average cost of renters insurance, which can give you an idea of what you’d be paying before getting a personalized quote. You can filter to see the average monthly cost by state, city, and insurance company. 

Cons

• No renters insurance calculator: Unlike some competing sites, ValuePenguin doesn’t have a calculator that you can use to get a quick estimate of how much you’d pay in renters insurance premiums. 
• No insurance company rankings: While ValuePenguin publishes reviews of insurance companies, it doesn’t have a master list showing how they stack up against each other. 

The Zebra

TheZebra.com’s main specialty is auto insurance, but the site has valuable resources on other insurance types as well. In addition to auto insurance and renters insurance, The Zebra covers home, life, and pet insurance, just to name a few. 

Pros

• Average cost information: The Zebra shows the average yearly and monthly rates for ten different insurance providers. It also presents state-specific rate information, including average rates for some of the top cities in each state. 
• Insurance agents available: In addition to the educational information presented on their site, The Zebra also has insurance agents available for you to speak to through The Zebra Insurance Agency.
• Helpful articles: The Zebra has many articles on their site that can help you learn more about how renters insurance works and the types of policies that are available. 

Cons

• Only one insurance company for quotes: The only insurance provider’s site they link to for renters insurance is Liberty Mutual, so your options are limited if you want to go through The Zebra to find a policy.
• No ratings and reviews: While the site has detailed auto insurance reviews, The Zebra doesn’t have any ratings or reviews specific to rental insurance.
  

Which Site is Best for Renters Insurance? 

Purchasing a renters insurance policy can be confusing. Fortunately, there are several financial comparison sites available to help you make an informed decision. All these sites get the job done — they can help you learn more about renters insurance and get a quote. Some of them have advantages over others. For instance, Insurance.com is the only site with a renters insurance calculator, while BestMoney leads the way when it comes to the sheer number of renters insurance providers available. 

Overall, my top pick is BestMoney. It gave me eight insurance companies to look at based on my zip code, while some other sites only showed me one. This lets you explore your options more and get an idea of what’s out there. Also, BestMoney has thorough reviews and rankings, helping you do your research and make an informed decision before buying. However, I’d recommend visiting multiple sites before deciding on a policy. Gathering information from multiple sources can help ensure that you have all the details you need.