Enter how much you're borrowing, the annual interest rate, and how many years you'll take to pay it off — see your monthly payment, total interest, and a full year-by-year payoff schedule update instantly as you type. Add an optional extra payment to see how much interest you'd save, and compare payments on common loan amounts at a glance.
| Year | Principal paid | Interest paid | Remaining balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,768.03 | $551.90 | $8,231.97 |
| 2 | $1,877.08 | $442.86 | $6,354.89 |
| 3 | $1,992.85 | $327.08 | $4,362.03 |
| 4 | $2,115.77 | $204.17 | $2,246.27 |
| 5 | $2,246.27 | $73.67 | $0.00 |
Monthly payment at 6.00% annual interest (the rate entered above). Principal and interest only, no fees.
| Loan amount | 3 years | 5 years | 7 years | 10 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000.00 | $152.11 | $96.66 | $73.04 | $55.51 |
| $10,000.00 | $304.22 | $193.33 | $146.09 | $111.02 |
| $15,000.00 | $456.33 | $289.99 | $219.13 | $166.53 |
| $20,000.00 | $608.44 | $386.66 | $292.17 | $222.04 |
| $25,000.00 | $760.55 | $483.32 | $365.21 | $277.55 |
| $30,000.00 | $912.66 | $579.98 | $438.26 | $333.06 |
This uses the same "reducing balance" method almost every bank and lender uses for a standard loan or mortgage: each month's interest is charged only on what you still owe, so the interest portion shrinks and the principal portion grows with every payment, even though the payment itself stays the same.
With a monthly interest rate of r (the annual rate ÷ 12 ÷ 100) and n total monthly payments (years × 12), the fixed monthly payment is:
Payment = Loan amount × r × (1 + r)ⁿ ÷ [(1 + r)ⁿ − 1]
If the rate is 0%, it's simply the loan amount divided by the number of payments.
For each year, we add up 12 months of payments: the interest portion (balance still owed × monthly rate) and the principal portion (payment − interest) for each month, showing the running balance at the end of the year.
Enter an amount under “Extra monthly payment” to see what happens if you pay more than the required amount. The extra goes straight to the balance, so less interest is charged in every month after that and the loan ends sooner. The calculator shows when the loan would be paid off, how much interest you would save and how much sooner you would be debt-free, compared with paying only the required amount.
The table below the schedule shows the monthly amount for typical loans over 3, 5, 7 and 10 years at the interest rate you entered. Change the rate and the whole table updates.
Suppose you borrow $10,000 at a 6% annual interest rate for 5 years (60 monthly payments). The monthly payment works out to about $193.33. Over the full 5 years you'd pay about $1,599.68 in interest, for a total repayment of $11,599.68.
Interest is front-loaded: in year 1, about $551.90 of your payments goes to interest and $1,768.03 reduces the balance. By year 5, only $73.67 is interest and $2,246.27 goes to principal — because by then the remaining balance, and so the interest charged on it, is much smaller.
Paying an extra $100 a month on the same loan pays it off after 3 years 2 months instead of 5 years, and the total interest drops to about $991.06 — a saving of about $608.62.
We use the standard reducing-balance formula that banks use for ordinary loans and mortgages: it finds the fixed monthly amount that pays off the loan amount plus interest, charged only on the balance still owed, over the term you enter (years × 12 monthly payments). If the interest rate is 0%, the payment is simply the loan amount divided by the number of months.
Interest is calculated each month on whatever balance is still outstanding. Early on, you owe almost the full loan amount, so more of each payment goes to interest; as the balance shrinks, more of the same fixed payment goes toward principal instead.
No — this shows principal and interest only, at the rate you enter. Real loans often include extra fees, insurance, or closing costs, so check your lender's official offer for the exact amount you would pay.
At 6% a year, about $289.99 a month, with about $2,399.52 in interest and $17,399.52 repaid in total. At a different rate the figures change — enter your own rate above, or check the table of common loan amounts on this page.
Usually, yes: every extra dollar reduces the balance that interest is charged on. Borrowing $10,000 at 6% for 5 years and paying $100 a month extra pays the loan off after 3 years 2 months instead of 5 years and saves about $608.62 in interest. Some loans have a prepayment penalty, so check your loan agreement first.
Enter the interest rate for the exact monthly payment. The APR also includes required fees, such as an origination fee, so entering the APR gives a close estimate of the total cost including those fees. To compare loan offers, the APR is the better number to use.
For information only. Not financial or tax advice. How we build and check our calculators · Report an error