There is no universal winner. Your credit score, down payment, and debt-to-income ratio decide it, which is why we run both side by side during pre-approval instead of guessing. The general shape: FHA often carries a slightly lower base rate and is more forgiving on credit and DTI, so for lower-credit borrowers (roughly the low 600s and down) it frequently produces the lower monthly payment even after its mortgage insurance. The trade-off is that insurance. FHA charges an upfront mortgage insurance premium (typically financed into the loan) plus a monthly premium, and those figures change, so confirm the current ones. Conventional's private mortgage insurance is risk-based, so strong credit earns a cheap premium, and it can be removed once you build enough equity. That is why the crossover tends to land near a 680 score: - Below roughly 680: FHA is usually the better deal. - 680 and up, especially 720 to 740 with 10% or more down: conventional often edges ahead and lets you shed mortgage insurance later. - At 20% down: conventional usually wins outright because it avoids mortgage insurance entirely, unless credit is quite low. Two footnotes. FHA offers a streamline refinance with no income verification or appraisal, and Fannie and Freddie have no equivalent, since their refinance options still go through full underwriting and generally an appraisal. And some sellers view a conventional offer a bit more favorably. Confirm current program requirements either way. On the free Roadmap conversation we run your actual numbers both ways so you can decide from real payments instead of rules of thumb.