Live
Credit Card Payoff & Interest Calculator
See your debt-free date and the true interest cost under a percentage minimum versus a fixed monthly payment.
- Debt-free date
- Interest saved
- Month-by-month payoff
Independent US loan math · No sign-up
Know the real cost before you commit.
A low monthly payment can hide a very expensive loan. RatesAndAmort shows the number that actually matters: total interest, time to debt freedom and every principal payment along the way.
- Data collected
- None
- Account required
- No
- Calculations
- In-browser
Payoff snapshot
$10,000 credit card balance
24.99% APR · $500 fixed monthly payment
Payoff time
27 mo
Interest
$3,069
Total paid
$13,069
Principal vs. interest 76.52% / 23.48%
Generated by the same dependency-free engine used by every calculator on this site. No fees, no new charges, end-of-month payments.
The calculators
Three questions. Clear answers.
Each tool is built around a complete payoff model, not a single monthly payment estimate. You will see the interest curve, the debt-free date and the full schedule before you make a decision.
Live
Debt Snowball vs. Avalanche Calculator
Put every debt on one timeline and compare the fastest and cheapest payoff order side by side.
- Payoff order
- Total interest
- Strategy savings
Live
Personal Loan & Mortgage Amortization Calculator
Calculate the monthly payment, principal-and-interest split, extra-payment savings and full amortization table.
- Monthly payment
- Interest breakdown
- Full schedule
Why this site exists
Most calculators stop too early.
A monthly payment is a starting point. The useful answer is how much of your money goes to interest, how long the balance lives, and what changes when you pay more.
Exact to the cent
Payments are rounded to whole cents each month. Schedules close to a zero balance instead of drifting by pennies.
Nothing leaves your browser
The calculators are static files running local JavaScript. Your balances, rates and payment amounts are never sent to a server.
Every assumption is visible
No hidden fees, no vague “estimated savings.” The model and its limits are stated on the page so you can audit the result.
Fast by design
Static HTML, system fonts and zero client-side framework overhead. The tool loads before you finish reaching for your statement.
Methodology
Compound interest, without the black box.
Every installment result starts with the standard fixed-rate amortization formula. It solves for the payment that retires a loan over a set number of months while charging interest on the remaining balance each period.
Monthly payment
M = P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−n)
- P
- Principal
- r
- Monthly rate
- n
- Months
A 6.00% APR becomes a monthly rate of 0.005. At that rate, a $300,000 mortgage over 360 months has a principal-and-interest payment of $1,798.65 .
01 / Inputs
Your balance, rate and payment
Rates are annual percentages. Credit card minimums are modeled as the greater of a percentage of the balance or a dollar floor, then recalculated every month.
02 / Engine
Interest first, principal second
Each month adds interest to the opening balance, applies the payment, and carries the remainder forward. Extra principal is applied after the scheduled payment.
03 / Output
The full path to zero
You get totals, a payoff date, an interest curve and a month-by-month schedule. Change one input and every output updates together.
What the model deliberately leaves out
No origination fees, late fees, annual fees, introductory APR periods, variable-rate changes, new purchases or skipped payments. Credit card issuers may use a daily periodic rate and average daily balance, so a real statement can differ by a few dollars. Treat every result as a planning estimate and confirm the exact payoff figure with your lender.
Straight answers
Before you run the numbers
Is RatesAndAmort free?
Yes. Every calculator and guide is free to use without an account. Advertising may support the site in the future; it never changes the calculation or the order of results.
Do you store my balances or payment amounts?
No. The calculators are static pages and the math runs in your browser. Your inputs are not transmitted to RatesAndAmort. Standard web-server and advertising logs may still record anonymous request data, as described in the site’s privacy policy when advertising is enabled.
Why is my lender’s payoff number different?
Payment timing, daily interest accrual, fees, promotional rates, rounding rules and the exact payoff quote date all matter. This model uses end-of-month payments, a fixed APR and no new charges. Use it to compare scenarios, then request a formal payoff quote from your lender.
Snowball or avalanche — which one wins?
Avalanche usually pays less interest because it targets the highest APR first. Snowball clears the smallest balances first, which can make progress feel more visible. The right choice depends on both the math and the behavior that keeps you consistent.
Start with the full picture
Your next payment should be a decision, not a guess.
Compare the minimum, the fixed payment and the extra-principal path. The right answer is the one that fits your budget and actually reaches zero.