Payment Calculator
Any loan, any lender, one honest number. Enter the amount, the annual interest rate, and the term to see exactly what leaves your pocket each month — plus a full amortization schedule, your payoff date, and a fee-true APR view.
Your loan details
Advanced options — extra payments, start date & fees
Extra payments, the start date and financed fees are already included in the result at their current values — change them here, then press Calculate. Extra payments apply when solving for the payment or the amount; when solving for the payoff term, the payment you enter is already the full payment.
🔒 All calculations happen in your browser — no data leaves your device.
Your payment plan
- $20,000 at 6% over 5 years costs $386.66 a month — $23,199.36 paid in all, of which $3,199.36 is interest.
- The first payment splits $100.00 to interest and $286.66 to principal; the split improves every month, because interest is charged on the shrinking balance.
- Extra payments early in a loan save far more interest than the same amount paid late — every dollar of principal you retire early stops earning interest for the lender.
Where every dollar goes
Each payment is part principal, part interest. Early on, interest takes the bigger bite — then the balance tilts in your favor.
Your first payment, split
Interest for a payment equals balance × the rate for the period. As the balance falls, the interest slice shrinks and the principal slice grows — same payment, better split.
Your amortization schedule
Every payment in order — how much is principal, how much is interest, and what is left to pay. Dates count from your start date (today if you did not set one), and any extra payments or financed fees you entered are already in the split.
Keep exploring
Three companion tools for borrowing smarter.
How it works
Three steps from loan offer to honest monthly number.
Enter the real amount
The sum you actually borrow — subtract any down payment from the sticker price first.
Add rate and term
Your annual rate (APR) and how long you repay. Flip the toggle between years and months.
Read your payoff plan
Monthly payment up front, total interest, and a plain-English summary of the whole journey.
The math behind your payment
A fixed-rate loan is an amortizing loan: every payment covers that month’s interest first, then chips the balance. The payment stays level because the formula balances both jobs at once.
where P is the loan amount, r is the monthly rate (annual ÷ 12), and n is the number of payments. With a 0% rate the formula simplifies to P ÷ n.
Worked example — $20,000 at 6% for 5 years:
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly rate | 0.06 ÷ 12 | 0.005 |
| Payments | 5 × 12 | 60 |
| Monthly payment | 20000 × 0.005 × 1.00560 ÷ (1.00560 − 1) | $386.66 |
| Total paid | $386.66 × 60 | $23,199.36 |
| Total interest | $23,199.36 − $20,000 | $3,199.36 |
Go deeper
The details that separate a rough guess from a number you can plan around.
Because interest is charged on the outstanding balance, and the balance is largest at the start. On a $20,000 loan at 6%, month one charges $20,000 × 0.005 = $100 in interest, leaving $286.66 for principal. Next month the balance is $19,713.34, so interest drops to $98.57 and principal rises to $288.09 — the payment never changes, but the split keeps improving in your favor until the last dollar is principal-heavy.
This is why extra payments early in a loan save far more interest than the same extra amount paid later: every dollar of principal you retire early stops earning interest for the lender for the rest of the term.
For the same rate, yes — a longer term always means more total interest, because you carry a balance for more months. Take $20,000 at 6%:
- 3 years: $608.44/mo, total interest $1,903.79
- 5 years: $386.66/mo, total interest $3,199.36
- 7 years: $292.17/mo, total interest $4,542.37
The 7-year term feels $316/mo lighter than the 3-year term but costs an extra $2,639 in interest. Choose the shortest term whose payment still fits your budget with room to breathe — and check the total interest, not just the monthly number, before you sign.
Car loans and student loans on this calculator
This calculator only knows one kind of loan: a fixed-rate loan repaid in equal payments. That is why the same tool answers a car payment, a student loan payment, and a personal loan payment — you just enter a different amount, rate, and term. What changes between them is how you work out the amount to enter.
Car payments: subtract first, then enter the rest
The calculator has no separate boxes for a down payment or a trade-in, so subtract them before you type anything. Amount borrowed equals price minus down payment minus trade-in value. A $28,000 car with a $4,000 down payment means $24,000 borrowed: at 6.5% over 60 months that is $469.59 a month, $28,175.25 in total, of which $4,175.25 is interest. A $15,000 used car with nothing down at 7.5% over 48 months is $362.68 a month, $17,408.81 in total, of which $2,408.81 is interest. And a $22,000 car with a $3,000 trade-in and a $2,000 down payment means $17,000 borrowed: at 7% over 60 months that is $336.62 a month, $20,197.22 in total, of which $3,197.22 is interest.
| Car example | Amount borrowed | Rate and term | Monthly payment | Total interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New car, $4,000 down | $24,000 | 6.5%, 60 months | $469.59 | $4,175.25 |
| Used car, nothing down | $15,000 | 7.5%, 48 months | $362.68 | $2,408.81 |
| Trade-in plus down payment | $17,000 | 7.0%, 60 months | $336.62 | $3,197.22 |
Two cautions. First, if tax or dealer fees are rolled into the loan, add them to the amount borrowed, or enter them as financed fees in Advanced options — otherwise the payment you see is smaller than the payment you will actually make. Second, this number is the loan payment only: insurance and registration sit on top of it in real life, and this calculator does not fetch or quote interest rates, so enter the rate from your own offer.
Student loans: the standard schedule, then the early-payoff test
A $30,000 student loan at 5.5% over the standard 10 years is $325.58 a month, $39,069.46 in total, of which $9,069.46 is interest. That is the baseline to beat. Add $100 a month in the extra-payment box and the same loan clears in 86 months instead of 120, with $6,316.14 of interest — a saving of $2,753.32 and 34 months. Add $50 a month and it clears in 100 months with $7,441.47 of interest, saving $1,627.99. A single $2,000 lump sum with the first payment clears it in 110 months with $7,696.56 of interest, saving $1,372.90. Extra money early beats the same money late, because every dollar of principal retired early stops earning interest for the rest of the term.
What this math does not cover: income-driven repayment plans, interest subsidies, and forgiveness programs change the rules in ways a plain amortization schedule cannot model. Use this calculator for the standard-schedule arithmetic, and check your servicer for anything plan-specific.
Solve for the payment, the amount, or the term
The “Solve for” control at the top of the form runs the same formula backwards. Solving for the payoff term answers “how long if I pay this much”: $500 a month on a $20,000 loan at 6% clears it in about 45 months. Solving for the amount answers “how much can I borrow if I can pay this much”: $400 a month at 6% over 60 months supports $20,690.22. And the term trap is worth seeing in numbers: $25,000 at 7% costs $495.03 a month over 60 months with $4,701.80 of interest, but $377.32 a month over 84 months with $6,694.63 of interest — the longer term feels $117.71 a month lighter and costs $1,992.83 more.
Mortgage payments in context: what the calculator covers and what sits on top
This calculator prices principal and interest. A real mortgage payment usually carries three more passengers: taxes, insurance, and sometimes mortgage insurance.
The calculator answer is the principal-and-interest payment, usually shortened to P and I. The payment a homeowner actually makes each month is PITI: principal, interest, property taxes and homeowners insurance, with private mortgage insurance added where it applies. Taxes and insurance are usually collected monthly into an escrow account and paid by the servicer when due, so they feel like part of the payment even though they are not part of the loan. The worked guide linked below runs one house all the way through — price, down payment, loan, taxes and insurance — so the gap between the calculator figure and the monthly outlay is a counted number, not a surprise. The down payment sets the loan amount, and the loan amount sets everything else: a smaller down payment means a larger loan, a larger payment and, below 20% down, usually mortgage insurance on top.
Two features of mortgage payments deserve a plain statement. First, the early years are interest-heavy by arithmetic, not by lender choice: interest is charged on the balance owed, and the balance is largest at the start, so the first year of a large loan can be mostly interest even with a perfectly ordinary payment. Second, the payment itself is fixed on a fixed-rate loan, but the total monthly outlay is not: property taxes and insurance premiums change, and escrow adjusts the collection to match. A payment that rises a little each year is usually taxes or insurance moving, not the loan changing.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about loan payments.
How do I calculate my monthly loan payment?
Use the calculator above: enter the loan amount, annual interest rate, and term. The math behind it is the amortization formula — payment = P × r × (1+r)n ÷ ((1+r)n − 1), where P is the amount borrowed, r is the monthly rate, and n is the number of payments. With a 0% rate it is simply the amount divided by the number of months.
What is the difference between APR and interest rate?
The interest rate is what the lender charges on your balance; the APR (annual percentage rate) folds in most fees and charges, so it reflects the true yearly cost of borrowing. Two loans can share an interest rate but have different APRs. When comparing offers, compare APRs — and when estimating a payment, enter the APR if you want the number to include fee costs. Or enter the fee amount in the Advanced options above — the calculator then works out the fee-inclusive payment and solves the true APR for you.
Will paying extra each month save me money?
Yes, as long as the extra goes to principal and the loan has no prepayment penalty. Extra principal shrinks the balance faster, which shrinks every future interest charge and shortens the term. Even $50 extra a month on a $20,000, 6%, 5-year loan saves hundreds in interest and ends the loan months early. Try it above — the extra-payment and lump-sum fields in Advanced options feed straight into the amortization schedule, which shows the exact saving.
How does a 0% interest loan payment work?
With no interest, every payment is pure principal: payment = loan amount ÷ number of months. A $10,000 0% loan over 24 months is exactly $416.67 a month. Try it above — set the rate to 0 and watch total interest drop to $0. Just confirm the 0% offer has no deferred-interest trap or origination fee hiding the real cost.
Can I use this for car loans, personal loans, and mortgages?
Yes. Any fixed-rate loan with equal monthly payments — auto, personal, student, or mortgage — uses the same amortization math. Mortgages and auto loans sometimes add tax, insurance, or fees on top of the base payment, so treat this number as the loan payment itself and add those extras separately for your full monthly cost.
Why is my actual payment different from the calculated one?
Common reasons: the lender uses your APR while you entered the base rate (or vice versa), fees were rolled into the financed amount, your first period was longer or shorter than a full month, or the payment includes extras like insurance or escrow. Check your loan disclosure for the financed amount and the exact rate basis, then re-run the numbers.
How do I work out a car payment with a down payment?
Subtract the down payment and any trade-in value from the price first, and enter the remainder as the loan amount. A $28,000 car with a $4,000 down payment means $24,000 borrowed, which at 6.5% over 60 months is $469.59 a month. If tax or dealer fees are rolled into the loan, add them to the amount or enter them as financed fees in Advanced options, or the payment shown will be smaller than the real one.
Can I use this calculator to plan paying off a student loan early?
Yes, for the standard-schedule arithmetic. Enter the loan amount, rate, and term, then add an extra amount per period: on a $30,000 loan at 5.5% over 10 years, $100 extra a month clears it in 86 months instead of 120 and saves $2,753.32 in interest. Income-driven plans, subsidies, and forgiveness programs are not modeled here, so check your servicer for anything plan-specific.
What does solve for payoff term do?
It runs the payment formula backwards: you enter the payment you can actually make, and the calculator returns how many months it takes to clear the loan. Paying $500 a month on a $20,000 loan at 6% clears it in about 45 months. It is the fastest way to test whether a payment you can afford also finishes in a term you can live with.
What is included in a mortgage payment besides principal and interest?
Usually property taxes and homeowners insurance, collected monthly into an escrow account, plus private mortgage insurance where the down payment is below 20 percent. The loan payment itself is principal and interest only. Taxes and insurance are not part of the loan, but they are part of the monthly outlay, and they change over time while a fixed-rate loan payment does not. Always compare a calculator principal-and-interest figure with the full PITI figure before judging affordability.
Does a bigger down payment always lower the monthly payment?
Yes, through the loan amount, and sometimes through a second channel. A bigger down payment means a smaller loan, and a smaller loan means a smaller principal-and-interest payment at the same rate and term: on a $350,000 house at 6.5 percent over 30 years, 20 percent down leaves a $280,000 loan costing $1,769.79 a month, while 10 percent down leaves a $315,000 loan costing $1,991.01. Reaching 20 percent down can also remove mortgage insurance, which lowers the total outlay by more than the loan-size effect alone. The trade-off is liquidity: money in the house is not available for emergencies.
How do biweekly mortgage payments work?
A biweekly plan pays half the monthly payment every two weeks, which adds up to 26 half-payments a year, equal to 13 monthly payments instead of 12. The extra monthly payment each year goes to principal, so the loan finishes sooner and total interest falls. The saving comes entirely from that extra payment, not from any special rate, and the same result can be achieved by adding one extra monthly payment a year to a standard monthly plan. Before signing up for a biweekly program, check for enrolment fees and confirm extra amounts are applied to principal.
Why does the first year of a mortgage feel like almost all interest?
Because interest is charged on the balance owed, and the balance is at its largest in the first year. On a $280,000 loan at 6.5 percent over 30 years, the first year payments total $21,237.49, of which $18,107.85 is interest and only $3,129.63 is principal, leaving a balance of $276,870.37 after twelve payments. The split reverses slowly as the balance falls: by the final year almost every dollar of the payment is principal. That is the normal shape of an amortizing loan, and the schedule on this page shows it payment by payment.
Related guides
Worked examples and payoff plans for this calculator.
Car Payments, Worked Through
Down payment, used vs new, and the 84-month trap, computed on this calculator.
🎓Student Loan Payoff Plan
Standard schedule, extra payments, and what the math does not cover.
⏩Pay Off a Loan Early
Per-period extra vs lump sum, early vs late, with the savings counted.
🏠Mortgage Payments, Worked Through
Principal, interest, taxes and insurance on one house.
Related calculators
More ways to plan what you borrow and pay.
Disclaimer
This calculator is for general information only and is not financial advice. Estimates assume a fixed rate and equal payments; optional fees and prepayments are included only when you enter them in the Advanced options. Actual payments depend on your lender, credit profile, fees, and loan terms. CalcFolk is an independent site and is not affiliated with any lender. For a borrowing decision, confirm the numbers with your lender’s official disclosure.