For most veterans, no; VA is hard to beat, with a typically lower rate than conventional and no monthly mortgage insurance. Conventional with less than 20% down adds monthly MI. VA's cost is the one-time funding fee, and even with it VA usually comes out ahead. The funding fee is a percentage of the loan that varies with your down payment and whether you have used the benefit before: a first use costs less than a subsequent use, and putting 5% or more down lowers the fee meaningfully. VA sets and updates the exact figures, so confirm the current ones with us for your scenario. And any veteran who is exempt from the funding fee because they receive service-connected disability compensation should essentially always use the VA benefit, since the program's main cost is waived. The narrow cases where conventional can make sense are things like a large VA cash-out refinance, where the funding fee reaches its top tier and adds real dollars on a big balance, or wanting to preserve VA entitlement for a future purchase. Even with a down payment in hand, VA usually still wins, because that money can simply go toward a smaller loan on either program. And if you need zero down, VA is generally still the move. The right call comes from running both loans side by side on your actual numbers, which is exactly what the free Roadmap conversation is for.