Loan Payment Calculator
Before you sign for a loan, it helps to see the whole price, not just the monthly payment. This estimates the payment on a fixed-rate loan, the total interest you'd pay over its life, and how much sooner you'd be done if you paid a little extra each month.
Estimated monthly payment
- Total paid over the loan
- Total interest
Enter your numbers above to see an estimate.
With your extra payment
- Paid off in
- Interest saved
- Time saved
How this works
A fixed-rate loan spreads the balance and all its interest into one level payment that stays the same every month. Early on, most of that payment is interest. As the balance shrinks, more of each payment goes to the principal. The calculator uses the standard amortization math to find that level payment, then adds up the interest across the full term. (At 0% it just divides the balance evenly across the months.)
When you add an extra monthly payment, it walks the payoff month by month. Every extra dollar goes straight at the principal, so the tool can show your real payoff date, the interest you'd avoid, and the time you'd save.
What this does not include
Real loans often carry costs this doesn't model: origination or closing fees, taxes, required insurance, PMI, or a variable rate that moves over time. Those can meaningfully change the true cost.
It assumes a fixed-rate and on time payments. For a mortgage specifically, a dedicated mortgage calculator (with taxes and insurance) is coming soon.
A quick example, and how to read it
With the numbers loaded here, $25,000 at 6.5% over 5 years, the monthly payment is the headline. But the figure worth staring at is total interest. That's the real price of borrowing, sitting on top of whatever you actually bought.
Now type a small amount into the extra monthly payment field, even $50, and a second panel appears showing the interest you'd skip and how many months sooner you'd be free of it. The higher the rate, the more that extra matters, which is exactly why a credit card balance is worth attacking before almost anything else.
Already carrying the loan? The early loan payoff calculator starts from your current balance and payment instead. And if you're weighing whether to pay a loan down faster or invest the difference, that tradeoff, and the order to tackle debt in, is covered in personal finance basics.