Payment Calculator
Enter the total amount you are borrowing
Enter the annual interest rate (APR) quoted by the lender
years
months (0–11)
Optional — any additional amount paid toward principal each period beyond the required payment
Enter Your Loan Details
Enter your loan amount, interest rate, and term to calculate your payment amount, total interest, and full amortization schedule.
How to Use the Payment Calculator
Select Your Loan Type and Calculation Mode
Click one of the loan type buttons (Mortgage, Auto, Personal, Student) to pre-fill typical term and rate values as a starting point. Choose Fixed Term mode to calculate your required payment for a given loan term, or Fixed Payment mode to enter an amount you can afford and find out your payoff date and total interest.
Enter Your Loan Details
Enter the loan amount in dollars, the annual interest rate (APR as quoted by your lender), and the loan term in years and months. For Fixed Payment mode, enter your desired payment amount instead of a term. Choose your payment frequency — monthly is standard, but biweekly and weekly options are available and can significantly reduce total interest on longer loans.
Add an Extra Payment to Model Prepayment
In Fixed Term mode, enter an extra payment amount in the Extra Principal Payment field to see how much interest you save and how much sooner you pay off the loan by making additional principal payments each period. This is shown as a separate callout with total interest saved and months saved compared to the standard schedule.
Review the Amortization Schedule
Click Show Schedule to expand the full amortization table, which shows every payment's principal and interest components and remaining balance. Toggle between the by-period detail view and the annual summary view. Use Export CSV to download the complete schedule for use in a spreadsheet, or Print to create a printable record of your loan analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a monthly loan payment calculated?
Monthly loan payments are calculated using the standard amortization formula: Payment = P × [r(1+r)^n] / [(1+r)^n - 1], where P is the principal balance, r is the monthly interest rate (annual rate divided by 12), and n is the total number of monthly payments (term in years × 12). This formula calculates the fixed payment amount that, if made every month for n months, will exactly pay off the principal plus all accumulated interest. A zero-interest loan simply divides the principal by the number of payments. In the early months of a loan, most of each payment covers interest. As the principal reduces, a larger portion covers principal each month.
What is an amortization schedule?
An amortization schedule is a complete table showing every payment in a loan, broken down into how much goes toward interest and how much goes toward principal, along with the remaining balance after each payment. In a fully amortizing fixed-rate loan, every payment is the same amount, but the split between principal and interest changes with every payment. Early in the loan, most of each payment goes toward interest because the balance is large; in the later years, most of each payment reduces principal. Reviewing an amortization schedule is the most direct way to understand the true cost of a loan over its life and to see how much of each payment is actually reducing what you owe.
How do biweekly payments save money?
Biweekly payments save money by making the equivalent of 13 monthly payments per year instead of 12. When you pay biweekly, you make 26 payments per year (52 weeks ÷ 2). Since each biweekly payment is half the monthly payment amount, 26 × (monthly ÷ 2) = 13 monthly payments per year. This one extra payment per year reduces the principal faster, which reduces the interest that accrues on the remaining balance, which shortens the overall term. On a 30-year $300,000 mortgage at 7%, switching to biweekly payments typically reduces the term by roughly 4 to 5 years and saves approximately $50,000 to $75,000 in total interest. Not all lenders offer true biweekly billing — some collect biweekly but only apply payments monthly.
How much extra should I pay on my loan to save significantly on interest?
Even modest extra principal payments produce significant long-term savings due to compounding interest reduction. On a 30-year $300,000 mortgage at 7%: an extra $100/month saves approximately $43,000 in interest and pays off 6 years early; an extra $200/month saves approximately $72,000 and pays off 8 years early; an extra $500/month saves approximately $124,000 and pays off 12 years early. The key insight is that extra payments made early in the loan term have the greatest impact because they reduce the balance from which future interest accrues. Use this calculator's extra payment field to model specific scenarios for your loan. The interest saved consistently exceeds the extra payments made due to the compounding reduction in interest charges.
What is the difference between APR and interest rate?
The interest rate (also called the note rate or nominal rate) is the base cost of borrowing expressed as an annual percentage of the outstanding balance. The APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is a broader measure that includes the interest rate plus certain fees and costs associated with the loan — such as origination fees, mortgage broker fees, and other lender charges — expressed as an annual percentage. For comparing loan offers, the APR is more informative because it captures the full cost of borrowing, not just the stated interest rate. However, APR calculations can vary by lender as to which fees are included. This calculator uses the rate you enter as the nominal interest rate for payment calculations — if you have only been given an APR that includes fees, the actual payment calculation should use the note rate.
What is Fixed Payment mode used for?
Fixed Payment mode is used when you have a specific payment amount you can afford and want to understand the borrowing capacity or payoff timeline that payment creates. Instead of asking 'what is my payment for this loan?', Fixed Payment mode asks 'given this payment amount, how long will this loan take to pay off and how much total interest will I pay?' This is useful for budgeting-driven borrowing decisions, for modeling different payoff speeds on an existing loan, and for understanding the relationship between payment amount and loan cost. The calculator also shows the maximum loan amount that a given payment could service over a standard 30-year term — useful as a rough affordability check before discussing specific loan amounts with a lender.