Find the monthly payment for any loan, plus the total interest you'll pay.
A loan payment calculator finds the monthly payment on any fixed-rate loan, personal, student, or otherwise, plus the total interest you'll pay. Enter the amount, rate, and term, and optionally an extra monthly payment to see how much faster you'd be debt-free.
On a fixed-rate loan every payment is the same size, but its split changes over time. Early on, most of each payment covers interest and only a little reduces the balance; as the balance falls, more goes to principal. The schedule and graph above show this shift month by month, and it's why extra payments early in a loan save the most interest.
Compare offers by APR, not just the interest rate, since APR includes certain fees. Watch for prepayment penalties (a charge for paying off early), origination fees, and whether the rate is fixed or variable. A slightly higher rate with no fees can beat a lower teaser rate that comes with costs.
Loans come in two broad types. Secured loans are backed by collateral, a house for a mortgage, a car for an auto loan, so the lender can seize the asset if you default, which lowers their risk and your rate. Unsecured loans, like most personal loans and credit cards, have no collateral, so they carry higher rates and depend more heavily on your credit. Knowing which kind you are taking on explains the rate you are offered and what is at stake if you fall behind.
The interest rate is the cost of borrowing the principal, but the APR (annual percentage rate) also folds in certain fees, so it is usually a bit higher and is the fairer basis for comparing offers. Two loans with the same interest rate can have very different APRs if one charges an origination fee. When shopping, compare APRs rather than headline rates, and read which fees are included, so a low advertised rate with high fees does not fool you into a costlier loan.
Lenders price personal loans on your credit score, income, existing debts, and the loan term. Strong credit and low debt earn the best rates; a longer term may lower the payment but often raises the rate and the total interest. Because rates vary widely between lenders, getting quotes from several, many let you check a rate with a soft credit pull that does not hurt your score, can save a meaningful amount. The calculator shows how rate and term together shape both the payment and the lifetime cost.
Paying more than the required amount sends the extra straight to principal, shortening the loan and cutting total interest, and the earlier you do it, the more you save. Before committing to a payoff plan, check for a prepayment penalty, which a few loans still carry, and confirm your servicer applies extra funds to principal rather than to future payments. Even a modest extra amount each month can trim months off the term, which the calculator's extra-payment view makes concrete.
Many personal loans charge an origination fee, often 1% to 8% of the amount borrowed, that is deducted from the funds you receive or added to the balance. That fee raises the effective cost of the loan even when the interest rate looks attractive, which is exactly why comparing APRs matters. When you borrow, focus on the total you will repay and the amount that actually lands in your account, not just the monthly payment, so the real cost is clear before you sign.
The loan term, how many years you take to repay, is one of the most consequential choices you make, because it pulls the payment and the total cost in opposite directions. A longer term lowers the monthly payment, which can make a loan fit a tight budget, but it stretches interest over more years and usually comes with a higher rate, so you pay considerably more overall. A shorter term costs more each month but clears the debt faster and far more cheaply. The right term balances what your budget can sustain against how much extra interest you are willing to pay for breathing room. A useful approach is to choose the shortest term whose payment you can comfortably afford, then keep the option of paying extra to shorten it further. The calculator lets you compare terms side by side so the trade-off is concrete before you commit.
Using the amortization formula, payment = P × r / (1 − (1+r)^−n). Each payment covers that month's interest first, with the rest reducing principal.
Extra payments go straight to principal, cutting both the payoff time and total interest. Add an amount above to see the effect.
The interest rate is the cost of borrowing the principal; APR also includes certain fees, so it's usually a bit higher and better for comparing offers.
The interest rate is the cost of borrowing the principal; APR also includes certain fees like origination charges, so it is usually higher and better for comparing offers on equal footing.
Yes. Extra payments go straight to principal, so you owe interest on a smaller balance every month afterward, which shortens the term and cuts total interest. Confirm there is no prepayment penalty first.
See the exact formula and a worked example on our methodology page.