Loan Calculator

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Calculate your monthly loan payment, see the real APR, and find out how much you save by paying off early

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Enter your loan details to see results

What is a loan calculator?

A loan calculator helps you find the monthly payment for any installment loan — personal loans, car loans, student loans, or business financing. Enter the loan amount, interest rate, and term, and the calculator instantly shows your payment, total interest paid, and full amortization schedule. Knowing these numbers before you sign protects you from surprises later.

Monthly payments follow the standard amortization formula, where each payment covers the month’s interest first, with the remainder applied to the principal balance. Early in the loan, most of your payment goes to interest. By the final months, nearly all of it reduces principal — that’s the amortization curve.

Monthly paymentP × [r(1+r)ⁿ] / [(1+r)ⁿ − 1]
PLoan principal (amount borrowed)
rMonthly interest rate (annual rate ÷ 12)
nTotal number of payments (loan term in years × 12)

For example, a $15,000 car loan at 7.5% annual interest over 48 months gives a monthly rate of 0.625%. The result: $362.68/month. Over 48 months you pay $2,408.81 in interest on top of the $15,000 principal.

How to use this calculator

Standard mode. Enter your loan amount, annual interest rate, and loan term in years or months. The calculator instantly shows your monthly payment, total interest, and total cost of the loan.

By budget mode. Switch to “By Budget” if you already know the monthly payment you can afford. Enter your target payment, rate, and term — the calculator works backwards and shows the maximum loan amount you qualify for.

Early Payoff Simulator. Use the extra payment slider below the results to add any amount to your monthly payment. The Debt Freedom card updates in real time, showing exactly how many months you cut from the loan and how much interest you save.

Advanced options. Expand “Advanced” to add upfront fees (origination fee, points) as a dollar amount or percentage, and a recurring monthly maintenance fee. When fees are present, the calculator shows the approximate real APR — the true annual cost that accounts for all charges, not just the stated rate.

Amortization schedule. Expand “Show Amortization Schedule” at the bottom to see a full month-by-month breakdown of principal, interest, and remaining balance. If you are comparing two loan offers, this table shows where each dollar goes.

If you are financing a business purchase and want to know whether the returns justify the borrowing cost, use our ROI Calculator alongside this tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a loan calculator?
A loan calculator computes your monthly payment, total interest, and payoff date based on the loan amount, interest rate, and term. It uses the standard amortization formula so each result reflects the exact schedule a lender would use. Enter your numbers and the calculator shows the full cost of the loan before you commit.
How do you calculate a monthly loan payment?
The formula is P × [r(1+r)^n] / [(1+r)^n − 1], where P is the principal, r is the monthly rate (annual rate ÷ 12), and n is the total number of payments. For a $10,000 loan at 6% over 36 months, the monthly rate is 0.5% and the payment comes out to $304.22. The calculator handles all of this automatically.
What is the difference between interest rate and APR?
The interest rate is the cost of borrowing the principal. APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is the total annual cost including fees — origination charges, points, and other lender costs spread over the loan term. APR is always equal to or higher than the stated rate. When comparing loan offers, use APR, not the interest rate alone.
How can I pay off my loan faster?
The most effective method is adding a fixed extra amount to each monthly payment. Because extra payments go directly to principal, they reduce the balance that generates interest every month — cutting both the total interest and the payoff date. Use the Early Payoff Simulator slider in this calculator to see the exact time and interest savings for any extra payment amount.
How much do I save by making extra payments on a loan?
It depends on your balance, rate, and how much extra you pay. On a $20,000 loan at 8% over 60 months, adding just $100/month to the standard $405 payment saves roughly $1,100 in interest and cuts the term by about 11 months. The higher the rate and the earlier you start, the bigger the savings — compounding works against you when borrowing, so paying down principal early has an outsized effect.