Loan Calculator
Finance & MoneyCalculate monthly payment, total interest, and a full amortization schedule for mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and personal loans.. Free, private — all processing in your browser.
Every loan has the same two numbers hiding inside it — what leaves your account each month, and how much you'll have paid by the end. This calculator answers both, for mortgages, auto loans, student loans, personal loans, anything priced as a fixed-rate amortizing loan. Type the amount you're borrowing, the rate, the term in years, and the result is the real monthly payment with no asterisks.
Everything runs in your browser. The loan you're pricing, the scenario you're worried about, the side-by-side comparison of two offers — none of it leaves your device. There's no signup, no affiliate redirect the moment you tap "calculate," no "email your results" upsell. The math is the whole product.
Four things set this calculator apart from the ones on Bankrate, NerdWallet, or Credit Karma. First, the presets (Starter Home, Average Home, Auto Loan, Student Loan) load realistic scenarios in one click, so you can pressure-test the common cases before touching the inputs. Second, the result card shows monthly payment, total interest, and total payment side by side — not a single headline number that hides the other two. Third, the breakdown bar shows the principal-to-interest split as a visual, because that split is the actual answer to "is this loan worth it." Fourth, the effective cost row tells you that a $250,000 mortgage at 6.5% for 30 years costs 228% of the loan amount — the kind of number lenders don't lead with.
Two things this tool won't do: it's not a mortgage-specific calculator and it doesn't print an amortization schedule. If you need property tax, homeowners insurance, PMI handling, and a month-by-month schedule with CSV export, use our mortgage calculator instead — it was built specifically for home loans. This one is the generalist: fast, honest, good for the "what's my payment on a $35,000 auto loan at 5.5% over 5 years" question, and good for side-by-side comparisons where you just need the three numbers.
Loan Calculator — key features
Three inputs, three answers
Loan amount, rate, and term. The result card shows monthly payment, total interest, and total payment side by side — not a single number that hides the other two. The three together are what tell you whether a loan is reasonable.
Four realistic presets
Starter Home ($200K at 6.5% for 30 years), Average Home ($400K at 6.5% for 30), Auto Loan ($35K at 5.5% for 5), and Student Loan ($50K at 4.5% for 10). Tap any of them to load the common case, then tweak the inputs that don't match your situation.
Principal-vs-interest breakdown bar
A visual split showing how much of your total payment is the money you borrowed versus the money you're paying for the privilege. On a 30-year mortgage at 6.5%, roughly 56% of your total payments is interest — the bar makes that concrete in a way a number alone doesn't.
Effective cost row
Shows the total payment as a percentage of the loan amount. A $250,000 mortgage at 6.5% for 30 years pays back 228% of what you borrowed. That's the number lenders never lead with, and the one that tells you what shortening the term is actually worth.
Works for any fixed-rate loan
Mortgages, auto loans, federal and private student loans, personal loans, installment loans. Anything that borrows a fixed amount at a fixed rate and pays it off in equal monthly payments. For specialized cases like mortgages with PMI and taxes, we point you to the purpose-built tool.
No signup, no redirects, no affiliate pitch
The calculator doesn't ask for your email, doesn't show you 'best personal loans' affiliate cards, and doesn't hand you off to a lender the moment you tap 'calculate.' If you want a lender quote, we'll happily recommend you get one — just not here and not in exchange for the number.
Runs in your browser
Every keystroke stays on your device. The loan amount you're pricing, the rate you're worried about, the scenario you're comparing — no server sees any of it. Refresh the page and it's gone.
Fast enough for side-by-side comparison
Open the tool in two tabs, punch in Loan A and Loan B, and look at the three output numbers side by side. The one with the lower total interest isn't always the one with the lower monthly payment, and this is the quickest way to find out.
How to use the Loan Calculator
- 1
Pick a preset or start fresh
The four preset buttons cover the most common loan scenarios. Tap Starter Home, Average Home, Auto Loan, or Student Loan to load realistic defaults, then tweak from there. If your loan doesn't match any preset, just type your own numbers and skip this step.
- 2
Enter the loan amount you're actually borrowing
This is the number that hits your account after any fees or origination costs come out, not the face value on the paperwork. For mortgages, it's the home price minus the down payment. For auto loans, the negotiated price minus your trade-in and down payment. For personal loans with a 5% origination fee on a $20,000 loan, you're receiving $19,000 but borrowing $20,000 — type $20,000 here because that's what you're paying interest on.
- 3
Type the interest rate your lender quoted
Use the nominal interest rate — the percentage in the rate sheet or loan estimate — not APR. APR bundles in closing costs and will give you a higher monthly payment than the rate would. For comparing offers with different fees, compare APR to APR; for calculating your actual monthly payment, use the rate.
- 4
Set the term in years
Mortgages are usually 15 or 30 years. Auto loans are commonly 3 to 6 years. Personal loans are 2 to 7 years. Federal student loans default to 10 years on the standard plan but can stretch to 20-25 with income-driven plans. Type a custom number if none of the standards match your loan.
- 5
Read all three result numbers, not just the monthly payment
The monthly payment is what you feel. The total payment is what you'll actually pay over the life of the loan. The total interest is the premium you're paying for borrowing instead of saving up. Lenders advertise the monthly payment because it's the smallest and most digestible; the total interest is often the most surprising number and usually the one that decides whether the loan is worth it.
- 6
Check the breakdown bar and effective cost
If the interest share of the bar is above 50%, you're paying more in interest than principal. That's normal for a 30-year mortgage but a red flag on a 3-year auto loan. The effective cost row tells you what percentage of the loan amount you'll pay back total — under 120% is a short, low-rate loan; 150-200% is a typical mortgage; above 250% is a long term, a high rate, or both.
Common use cases for the Loan Calculator
Pricing a specific loan offer you've received
- →Sanity-check a lender's quote: The lender handed you a monthly payment. Punch the loan amount, rate, and term into this calculator and see if the monthly matches. If theirs is higher by $50+/month, ask what's bundled in — taxes, insurance, PMI, fees — because the rate alone doesn't produce a higher number than the formula. For a conventional mortgage, the difference is usually escrow (taxes + insurance), not a math error.
- →Compare a dealer's auto loan to a credit union's: Dealer financing often has a rate markup over what your credit union or bank would offer on the same car. Run both through the calculator and look at the total interest row. On a $35,000 auto loan over 5 years, a 2% rate difference (5.5% vs 7.5%) is about $1,900 in total interest — real money, worth the 15 minutes to apply with the credit union before signing at the dealership.
- →See what a personal loan's origination fee actually costs: Personal loans commonly have 1-8% origination fees that come out of the disbursement. If you apply for a $20,000 loan with a 5% origination fee, you receive $19,000 but owe $20,000. Run the loan with $20,000 as the amount and the quoted rate — that's your true cost. Then compare against a 0-fee loan at a slightly higher rate; sometimes the no-fee loan wins.
Planning before you take on the debt
- →Compare 15-year and 30-year mortgage terms: Run the same loan amount at 15-year and 30-year terms with the lender's rates for each (15-year rates are usually 0.5-0.75% lower). The 15-year payment is roughly $1,000/month higher on a $400K loan but saves around $283,000 in total interest. The tradeoff is cashflow flexibility versus lifetime cost — the calculator makes both numbers concrete so you can decide which you'd rather have.
- →Figure out what loan you can afford at a target payment: Work backwards: fix the monthly payment at what fits your budget, then try different loan amounts and terms until the output matches. If $400/month is your ceiling for a car payment, you can probably afford a $20,000 car on a 5-year loan at 6% — or a $28,000 car on a 7-year loan at the same rate, at the cost of paying interest two years longer.
- →Pressure-test a student loan before signing: Private student loans don't have the repayment flexibility of federal loans. Before signing, run the loan at the quoted rate and the 10-year standard term, then look at the total interest. If the interest feels disproportionate to the degree's expected earnings bump, that's information the loan officer won't volunteer — but the calculator will.
Talking to someone else about loans
- →Walk a first-time borrower through what they're signing: Open the calculator on your phone, plug in their loan, and walk them through the three numbers. Most first-time borrowers have never seen the total interest figure; seeing it makes the 'is this a lot' question answerable. The breakdown bar makes the principal-interest split visual in a way that loan estimates don't.
- →Make the case for paying cash: If someone's torn between a 5-year $30,000 auto loan at 7% (total interest about $5,600) and draining $30,000 from a savings account earning 4.5% (lost interest of about $7,400 over the same period), the calculator plus a compound-interest run tells you which is actually the worse move. Often it's the cash drain, even though it feels more responsible.
- →Show a family member why a longer term isn't 'cheaper': A 30-year auto loan doesn't exist, but 7- and 8-year auto loans have become common. The monthly payment on an 8-year $35,000 auto loan at 5.5% is about $120/month lower than the 5-year version — but you'll pay roughly $4,200 more in total interest and still owe money on the car three years after it stops being cool. The calculator surfaces both numbers so the tradeoff isn't hidden.
Loan Calculator — examples
Starter home mortgage — $200,000 at 6.5% for 30 years
Loan amount: $200,000 Interest rate: 6.5% Term: 30 years
Monthly payment: $1,264.14 Total interest: $255,089 Total payment: $455,089 Effective cost: 228% of loan amount Interest share: 56% of total paid
Average US home mortgage — $400,000 at 6.5% for 30 years
Loan amount: $400,000 Interest rate: 6.5% Term: 30 years
Monthly payment: $2,528.27 Total interest: $510,178 Total payment: $910,178 Effective cost: 228% of loan amount Interest share: 56% of total paid
Same $400,000 loan as a 15-year term at 5.75%
Loan amount: $400,000 Interest rate: 5.75% Term: 15 years (15-year rates are typically 0.5-0.75% lower than 30-year rates at the same lender)
Monthly payment: $3,322.23 Total interest: $197,999 Total payment: $597,999 Effective cost: 149% of loan amount Interest saved versus the 30-year: about $312,000
Auto loan — $35,000 at 5.5% for 5 years
Loan amount: $35,000 Interest rate: 5.5% Term: 5 years
Monthly payment: $668.78 Total interest: $5,127 Total payment: $40,127 Effective cost: 115% of loan amount Interest share: 13% of total paid — short-term auto debt is comparatively cheap
Student loan — $50,000 at 4.5% for 10 years
Loan amount: $50,000 Interest rate: 4.5% Term: 10 years
Monthly payment: $518.19 Total interest: $12,183 Total payment: $62,183 Effective cost: 124% of loan amount Interest share: 20% of total paid
Technical details
A fixed-rate amortizing loan follows one formula. Given loan amount P, monthly rate r = annualRate / 12, and total months n = years × 12, the monthly payment is:
``
monthlyPayment = P × (r × (1 + r)^n) / ((1 + r)^n − 1)
Every payment is split between interest (the remaining balance times the monthly rate) and principal (whatever's left). Early in the loan the balance is large, so interest dominates. Late in the loan the balance is small, so almost every dollar goes to principal. This is why the first year of a 30-year mortgage feels like you're not making progress — at 6.5% roughly 72% of an early payment is interest. By year 15 the split is closer to 50/50. By year 25 it flips to about 72% principal. The formula is correct; it's the math that's counterintuitive.
Interest rate versus APR. The rate this calculator uses is the nominal interest rate — the number your lender quotes in their rate sheet. APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is a separate number that folds in certain closing costs amortized over the loan term, which is why it's always higher than the nominal rate. Lenders are required by Regulation Z to disclose APR so borrowers can compare loan offers on a level footing. For "what's my monthly payment," use the interest rate (what this tool does). For "am I being overcharged on fees," compare APRs between offers. They're different numbers answering different questions.
What shortening the term actually buys you. The monthly payment goes up roughly linearly with the inverse of the term, but the total interest drops non-linearly. On a $400,000 loan at 6.5%, 30 years costs about $2,528/month and $510,000 in total interest. The same loan at 15 years costs about $3,484/month ($956 more) but only $227,000 in total interest — $283,000 saved. The 15-year rate is also typically 0.5-0.75% lower than the 30-year rate at the same lender because shorter terms are less risky for them. Run both and look at both numbers; the monthly delta is what you feel, the total-interest delta is what you keep.
The "extra payment" question, answered without a simulator. This calculator doesn't yet have an extra-payment simulator (tracked as Task #050 in our backlog). The quick way to approximate: an extra $100/month on a $300,000 mortgage at 6.5% for 30 years saves roughly $80,000 in total interest and pays the loan off about 5 years early. An extra $200/month saves about $130,000 and takes 8 years off. The savings come from the extra principal reducing the balance that interest accrues against, which compounds every month. For a dollar-exact answer you'd run a proper amortization schedule — our mortgage calculator does that for home loans, and we'll extend this tool when enough people need it for non-mortgage debt.
Loans this calculator models well. Conventional mortgages, auto loans, student loans (federal fixed-rate and private fixed-rate), personal loans, and installment loans. Anything where you borrow an amount, pay a fixed rate, and make equal monthly payments until the balance hits zero.
Loans this calculator doesn't model. Variable-rate loans (HELOCs, 5/1 ARMs), interest-only loans (the first few years of an I/O mortgage), loans with balloon payments at the end, loans with origination fees or points rolled into the balance differently from the advertised rate, and credit-card revolving debt (which isn't amortizing in the same way). For any of those, the monthly payment the calculator shows is a reasonable ballpark but not the exact number the lender will quote.
Rounding in the output. The monthly payment shows two decimals because that's what banks charge to the penny. The total interest and total payment round to whole dollars because at that scale the cents don't add information. If you need sub-dollar precision for audit purposes, the formula above is what the calculator runs — it just rounds on display.
Common problems and solutions
⚠Comparing monthly payments instead of total interest
A 7-year auto loan has a lower monthly payment than a 5-year loan on the same car, but you'll pay thousands more in total interest and still be making payments on a car that's no longer new. Always look at all three output numbers. The monthly payment is what you feel; the total interest is what you actually pay for the loan.
⚠Using APR in the rate field instead of the nominal interest rate
APR and the nominal interest rate are different numbers. APR includes certain closing costs amortized over the term, so it's always higher than the rate. If you type the APR here, the monthly payment will be slightly inflated. For 'what's my monthly payment,' use the rate. For comparing offers with different fee structures, compare APR to APR separately.
⚠Forgetting that personal loans often have origination fees
A $20,000 personal loan with a 5% origination fee puts $19,000 in your account but charges you interest on $20,000. Type $20,000 as the loan amount to get an accurate monthly payment and total interest. The effective cost of the loan is higher than the calculator's 'effective cost' row suggests because you received less than the face value.
⚠Assuming the rate you see in an ad is the rate you'll get
Advertised rates are the best rates the lender offers to borrowers with top-tier credit and ideal debt-to-income ratios. Your actual rate can be 1-4% higher depending on credit score, loan-to-value ratio, and the specific product. Run the calculator at the rate you're actually being quoted, not the rate on the banner ad.
⚠Using this calculator for a variable-rate loan
HELOCs, 5/1 ARMs, and some private student loans have rates that change after an initial period. This calculator assumes a fixed rate for the whole term. For variable-rate loans, it gives you the starting monthly payment only — the real payment will move with rate resets. Stress-test by running the calculator again at 2-3% above the starting rate to see the worst-case monthly payment.
⚠Ignoring that interest compounds differently on revolving credit
Credit cards aren't amortizing loans. They compound daily or monthly on whatever balance you carry, with no fixed payoff schedule. Punching a credit card balance and APR into this calculator will produce a number, but it won't match what your credit card statement says — because the credit card doesn't force a principal payment, so the balance doesn't go down unless you pay above the minimum.
⚠Treating the 'total payment' number as what you'll actually pay
For mortgages, the total payment from this calculator is principal plus interest only. The real total over 30 years adds property tax, homeowners insurance, and (if your down payment is under 20%) PMI — typically another $300-$800/month bundled into the lender's escrow. If you're evaluating a mortgage, use our purpose-built mortgage calculator, which handles PITI natively.
Loan Calculator — comparisons and alternatives
The loan calculator field is crowded. Most options fall into three camps: lender-and-bank calculators, personal-finance media calculators, and independent utility sites. Each camp has a characteristic tradeoff.
Lender and bank calculators — Wells Fargo, Chase, Bank of America, Rocket Mortgage, SoFi, Discover — compute correctly but are built as lead-generation fronts. You get the number, and then you get a "get pre-qualified in 60 seconds" banner chasing you across the viewport. If you already bank with one of them, the calculator is fine for a quick check. Treat the rates shown next to the calculator as marketing, not quotes.
Personal-finance media calculators — Bankrate, NerdWallet, Credit Karma, Forbes Advisor — are feature-complete and usually correct. Bankrate's calculator is probably the most full-featured free one on the open web, with amortization schedules, extra-payment simulators, and APR-to-rate conversions. The downside is the same as their mortgage and credit-card calculators: the result is surrounded by affiliate offers for "best personal loans" and "best refinance rates," and the amortization schedule is gated behind a light signup in some flows. If you can tune out the ads, the math is good.
Independent utility sites — Calculator.net, The Calculator Site, Omni Calculator — are thorough and don't push affiliate products. Calculator.net has separate pages for mortgage, auto, student, personal, and general-purpose loan calculators, each with its own set of fields. That's either a feature or a friction point depending on whether you wanted one calculator or five.
Our version is the generalist. Three inputs, three outputs, visual breakdown, detail rows, four presets. The specialization goes in the other direction — when you want full mortgage handling with PMI, taxes, insurance, and an amortization schedule, you use our mortgage calculator, which is purpose-built. When you want compound-interest modeling for savings instead of debt, you use our compound interest calculator. When you want a fast answer on an auto loan, student loan, or personal loan without navigating a page designed to capture your email, this tool is it.
The tradeoffs, stated honestly:
- No amortization schedule yet. For month-by-month tracking, use the mortgage calculator (home loans only) or Calculator.net (general-purpose). We're adding CSV export and a schedule view to this tool as part of Task #050 in our backlog.
- No APR-to-rate conversion. If you're comparing offers with different fee structures, you'll need to convert APR back to rate manually (or just compare APR to APR).
- No fee or origination field. Personal loans often have 1-8% origination fees that get deducted from your disbursement. The loan amount you type should be what actually hits your account, not what the loan paperwork says you're borrowing, or your payment calculation will be off.
- No variable-rate modeling. This is a fixed-rate calculator. HELOCs and ARMs need a different tool with stress-testing for rate shocks.
For the default case — what's my monthly payment, what's the total interest, is this loan reasonable — this is the shortest path to an honest answer. For everything beyond that, we'll happily point you at the specialist tool that handles your edge case.
Frequently asked questions about the Loan Calculator
▶Why is my lender's monthly payment higher than this calculator's?
Almost always because the lender includes escrow items this calculator doesn't — property tax, homeowners insurance, and PMI if your down payment is under 20%. On a typical mortgage, that escrow bundle adds $300-$800/month to the principal-and-interest figure. If you're comparing a lender's quote to this calculator, you're comparing PITI to P&I, which are different things. Use our mortgage calculator for a true apples-to-apples comparison on home loans.
▶Can I use this for an auto loan or a personal loan?
Yes. The math is identical for any fixed-rate amortizing loan — mortgage, auto, student, personal, installment. The presets include auto loan and student loan starting points. The one adjustment for personal loans: if your loan has an origination fee that comes out of the disbursement, type the face value of the loan as the amount (not what hit your account), because interest accrues on the face value.
▶Does this include taxes and insurance?
No. This is a pure principal-and-interest calculator. For mortgages specifically, property tax and homeowners insurance can add $400-$900/month to the real payment, and PMI adds another $100-$300/month if your down payment is under 20%. For anything more involved than a vanilla loan amount, rate, and term, use our mortgage calculator.
▶What's the difference between the interest rate and APR?
Interest rate is the percentage charged on the outstanding loan balance. APR includes certain closing costs (origination fees, discount points, certain insurance) spread over the life of the loan, so it's always higher than the rate. Regulation Z requires lenders to disclose APR so you can compare offers with different fee structures. For monthly payment calculations, use the rate; for comparing offers, compare APR to APR.
▶Why doesn't the calculator show an amortization schedule?
It doesn't yet — that's Task #050 in our backlog. For home loans, use our mortgage calculator which has a full month-by-month schedule with principal, interest, PMI drop-off, and CSV export. For non-mortgage loans, Calculator.net has a general-purpose amortization tool that works for auto, student, and personal loans.
▶How do I figure out if refinancing is worth it?
Run the current loan (remaining balance, current rate, months remaining) to get the monthly payment you have today. Then run the refinance offer (same balance, new rate, new term) for the new monthly payment. The monthly savings is the difference. To cover the refinance closing costs (typically 2-5% of the loan), divide the closing costs by the monthly savings — that's how many months you have to keep the loan before the refi pays for itself. If you'll own the home longer than that, it's probably worth it.
▶What's a reasonable rate in 2026?
Rates depend on loan type, term, credit score, and market conditions. As of early 2026, typical ranges are 6-7% for 30-year fixed mortgages, 5.5-6.5% for 15-year mortgages, 5-9% for auto loans depending on credit and whether the car is new or used, 4-8% for federal student loans depending on the program, and 8-20% for personal loans depending on credit. Shop at least three lenders for any meaningful loan; rates vary by 0.5-1.5% across lenders on the same product for the same borrower.
▶Is there a math difference between 'monthly compounding' and 'daily compounding' on a loan?
For amortizing loans quoted with a monthly payment, the effective difference is negligible for the borrower. Lenders who accrue interest daily still collect the same monthly payment; the difference only shows up in how they calculate a payoff balance mid-month if you prepay. Credit cards are a different story — they genuinely compound daily or monthly on carried balances, which is why this calculator doesn't model them.
Additional resources
- CFPB — Shopping for a loan — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's unbiased guides for auto, mortgage, personal, and student loans. No affiliate bias, no lender marketing, practical checklists for comparing offers.
- Investopedia — Amortization Formula Explained — A thorough walkthrough of the amortization formula and why early payments go mostly to interest. Useful if you want to understand the math behind the number the calculator shows.
- Federal Student Aid — Repayment Plans — Official federal student loan repayment options, including income-driven plans. A fixed 10-year calculation is a starting point, but income-driven plans change both the term and the effective interest paid.
- Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) — The federal regulation that requires lenders to disclose APR and other loan terms in a standardized format. Worth a bookmark when you want to know what a lender is legally required to tell you.
- FRED — Consumer Loan Interest Rates — St. Louis Fed data on average interest rates for 48-month new-car loans, 24-month personal loans, and similar products over time. Useful for checking whether the rate a lender is quoting is competitive.
Related tools
All Finance & MoneyAuto Loan Calculator
Car loan calculator with trade-in, negative-equity handling, 50-state sales tax, and honest 36/48/60/72/84-month term comparison. 2026 APR defaults, no signup.
Compound Interest Calculator
Calculate compound interest on investments with configurable rate, frequency, duration, and optional monthly contributions.
Credit Card Payoff Calculator
Credit card payoff calculator with the minimum-payment trap always visible, plus avalanche vs snowball for multi-card debt and balance-transfer scenario modeling. Runs in your browser.
Discount Calculator
Calculate sale price, discount amount, and total savings with support for percentage-off, dollar-off, and stacked discount scenarios.
Mortgage Calculator
Free mortgage calculator with PMI auto-removal at 80% LTV, full amortization schedule, extra payments, and biweekly comparison. No signup.
Percentage Calculator
Calculate percentages, percentage change, increase or decrease, and reverse percentages with step-by-step working shown.
Learn more
Explore more tools
200+ free tools that run in your browser.
Browse all tools →