Repointing vs rendering (cost mainly)

I have a victorian terraced house and the rear of the house is in bad need of repointing.
I would not do this myself, I'd get it done professionally.

However I am wondering if it would be cheaper to render the rear of the house instead of repointing it.
I don't really care about the appearance of the rear as our garden is tiny and we never use it, so I am just thinking about cost really.

Can anyone offer advise on which solution is likely to be cheaper?

Thanks,

Do Not apply render under any circumstances. It will ultimately fail and cause damp brickwork. Repoint the building! In any event pointing should be significantly cheaper per square meter.

Thanks for the reply. If pointing is cheaper then thats the decision made!