How to use the loan calculator
The page has three tools for a fixed-rate loan that is repaid in equal installments, the way personal loans, car loans and most installment debt work.
Payment is the main tool. It opens with a $20,000 personal loan at 11% over 60 months with a 3% origination fee.
- Loan amount: the amount you borrow, before any fee is deducted.
- Annual interest rate: the stated rate from the offer. If the offer only shows an APR, enter that and set the fee to 0.
- Loan term in months. The hint under the box converts it to years. 60 months is five years.
- Payment frequency: monthly, every two weeks or weekly. The term stays the same; the number of payments changes.
- Origination fee: a percentage of the loan that the lender keeps upfront. Leave it at 0 if there is none.
- First payment month, used to date the schedule and the final payment.
The chart tracks the remaining balance against the principal and interest you have paid. Below it, the schedule lists every payment; open the full table to see all of them.
How much can I borrow reverses the question: enter the payment you can afford and see the loan it repays. Payoff time takes a balance and a fixed monthly payment and tells you how many months it will take.
The loan payment formula
Every payment on an amortizing loan is the same size, and it is set so that the last payment brings the balance exactly to zero:
Each period, interest is charged on what you still owe, and the rest of the payment reduces the balance. This is amortization:
Principal = P − Interest
New balance = Balance − Principal
The APR including fees is the rate that makes the payments worth exactly the cash you received:
A worked example
You borrow $20,000 at 11% for 60 months, with a 3% origination fee.
The monthly payment is $434.85, and over 60 payments you repay $26,090.91, of which $6,090.91 is interest.
The lender keeps the $600.00 fee, so $19,400.00 reaches your account. Counting the fee, the loan costs $6,690.91 in total, and the APR is 12.34%, well above the 11% headline rate.
In the first payment, $183.33 is interest and only $251.52 repays principal. Halfway through the term you still owe $11,360.25, more than half the loan, because the early payments are weighted towards interest. The last payment falls in Nov 2031.
Personal loans: what the fee really costs
Personal loans are usually unsecured installment loans, typically with terms of two to seven years. Lenders price them mainly on credit score, income and existing debt, so the same loan can carry a single-digit rate for one borrower and over 30% for another. Many lenders also charge an origination fee, a percentage of the loan that is taken out of the proceeds before you receive them. A few percent is common; borrowers with weaker credit are often charged more.
A fee weighs more heavily on a short loan, because it is spread over fewer years:
| Loan | Rate | APR including the fee |
|---|---|---|
| 60 months, no fee | 11% | 11.00% |
| 60 months, 3% fee | 11% | 12.34% |
| 36 months, 3% fee | 11% | 13.12% |
| 60 months, 8% fee | 11% | 14.70% |
That is why an offer with a lower rate and a large fee can cost more than one with a higher rate and no fee, especially if you plan to repay early. The APR puts both on the same scale.
How the rate and the term change the cost
For the same $20,000, without a fee:
| Loan | Monthly payment | Total interest |
|---|---|---|
| 60 months at 7% | $396.02 | $3,761.44 |
| 60 months at 11% | $434.85 | $6,090.91 |
| 60 months at 18% | $507.87 | $10,472.11 |
| 60 months at 25% | $587.03 | $15,221.59 |
| 36 months at 11% | $654.77 | $3,571.88 |
| 84 months at 11% | $342.45 | $8,765.69 |
The rate drives the cost more than anything else: at 25% the loan costs about four times the interest it does at 7%. Stretching the term from 36 to 84 months cuts the payment sharply, but total interest more than doubles. A long term is useful when the payment has to fit a tight budget; it is an expensive way to make a loan feel cheaper.
Working backwards: amount and payoff time
The How much can I borrow tool answers the question most budgets start with. At 11%, $450 a month for 60 months repays a loan of $20,696.87. Over 84 months the same payment supports $26,281.31; over 36 months, $13,745.19. The grid under the results shows the full range of terms and rates.
The Payoff time tool is for a loan you already have, or a debt you want to clear at a fixed amount each month. Paying $500 a month on $20,000 at 11% takes 51 months (4.3 years), with $5,028.23 of interest and a smaller final payment of $28.23. If the payment does not cover the first month’s interest, the balance would never shrink, and the calculator says so.
What this calculator does not include
- Variable rates. The calculation assumes a fixed rate for the whole term. Lines of credit and some private loans change rate over time.
- Exact day counts. Interest is charged per payment period. Lenders that accrue interest daily produce slightly different figures, especially when a payment is late or the first period is longer than a month.
- Late fees, insurance and add-on products, which raise the cost but are not part of the payment formula.
- Other fees. Only the origination fee is counted in the APR. Your lender’s disclosure lists every finance charge and is the authoritative figure.
Use the results to compare offers and to see where your money goes; use the lender’s disclosure for the final numbers.