Loan Payment Calculator

Enter the loan amount, the annual interest rate and the term. The calculator shows the monthly payment, the total interest over the life of the loan and how much of what you pay back is principal.

How to use the loan payment calculator

The calculator has three inputs, and each one has a slider and a box you can type into.

1. Loan amount. The amount you borrow after the down payment. For a $320,000 home with 20% down, enter $256,000. For a car, use the price minus your trade-in and down payment, plus any taxes and fees you are rolling into the loan.
2. Interest rate. The annual note rate from your loan estimate or offer. Use the note rate here, not the APR. The APR folds in fees and is there for comparing offers, while the note rate is what the lender charges on the balance.
3. Term. The number of years you will be paying. Mortgages are usually 15 or 30 years, auto loans 3 to 7 years and personal loans 2 to 5 years.

The results update as you move a slider. You get the monthly payment, the principal, the total interest and the total you will pay back. The bar under the results shows how that total splits between principal and interest.

How the monthly payment is calculated

US lenders use the same formula for nearly every fixed-rate installment loan:

M = P × r × (1 + r)^n ÷ ((1 + r)^n − 1)

P is the loan amount, r is the monthly rate (the annual rate ÷ 12 ÷ 100) and n is the number of monthly payments. The formula gives the one payment that, paid every month, brings the balance to exactly zero on the last due date.

Here it is with the default numbers: $250,000 at 6.5% for 20 years.

• Monthly rate: 6.5 ÷ 12 ÷ 100 = 0.0054167
• Number of payments: 20 × 12 = 240
• Monthly payment: $1,863.93
• Total paid over 20 years: about $447,344
• Total interest: about $197,344

In the first month, interest is $250,000 × 0.0054167 = $1,354.17. The other $509.77 of the payment goes to principal. Next month the interest is charged on a slightly smaller balance, so a little more of the same payment goes to principal. That shift continues every month, and it is why the balance falls slowly at first and quickly near the end. After five years you still owe about $222,141, so roughly 11% of the loan is gone after a quarter of the term. To see every payment, use the amortization schedule.

How the term changes the payment and the interest

The term matters as much as the rate. The table compares the same $250,000 at 6.5% over three terms.

Term	Monthly payment	Total interest	Total paid
15 years	$2,177.77	$141,998	$391,998
20 years	$1,863.93	$197,344	$447,344
30 years	$1,580.17	$318,861	$568,861

The 30-year loan saves about $598 a month compared with the 15-year one, and it costs about $177,000 more in interest. Many borrowers take the longer term for the lower required payment and then pay extra when they can. That works because extra principal cuts interest the same way a shorter term does. The extra payment calculator shows how much a fixed extra amount saves.

How the rate changes the payment

Small rate differences add up over long terms. At 7.5% instead of 6.5%, the same 20-year, $250,000 loan costs $2,013.98 a month, which is $150 more, and about $36,000 more in total interest. That is why it pays to get quotes from several lenders on the same day and compare them on the same loan amount and term. Buying discount points to lower the rate can also be worth it, if you will keep the loan long enough to earn back what you paid for them.

If you already have a loan and rates have fallen, the refinance calculator compares the payment you have now with a new one and counts how long the closing costs take to pay back.

What the payment does not include

The number here is principal and interest only. A mortgage payment usually includes more:

• Property tax, collected monthly into escrow and paid by the servicer when the bill is due.
• Homeowners insurance, also usually escrowed.
• Private mortgage insurance (PMI) on conventional loans with less than 20% down, often 0.3% to 1.5% of the loan a year. FHA loans have their own mortgage insurance premium.
• HOA dues, which you normally pay to the association yourself.

On a $250,000 loan, taxes and insurance can easily add $400 to $700 a month, depending on the county. Lenders count the full amount when they work out your debt-to-income ratio. To estimate how big a loan your income supports, try the how much can I borrow calculator.

Using it for auto and personal loans

The math is the same for any loan that has a fixed rate and equal monthly payments. A $35,000 car loan at 7% over 5 years comes to $693.04 a month, with about $6,583 in total interest. Two things are different from a mortgage:

• Dealers often quote a monthly payment first and stretch the term to reach it. Put the price, the rate and the term into the calculator and check the total interest before you agree to a 72- or 84-month loan.
• Some lenders, especially buy-here-pay-here lots and some furniture and appliance stores, quote an add-on rate instead of a simple interest rate. An add-on rate charges interest on the full original amount for the whole term, so the real cost is much higher than it looks. The add-on rate to APR calculator converts the quote so you can compare.

Credit cards and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) are not installment loans. Their minimum payment changes with the balance, so this calculator does not fit them.

Why your lender’s figure may be a few dollars different

Your loan documents may show a payment that differs from this one by a few cents or a few dollars. The usual reasons are:

• Some servicers round the monthly rate or the payment differently.
• Interest in the first month is often prorated from the closing date. That shows up as prepaid interest at closing rather than in the regular payment.
• Adjustable-rate mortgages use the formula again each time the rate resets, using the balance that remains.
• A few lenders count interest on a 365-day year by the day instead of by the month, so payments can vary slightly with the calendar.

If the difference is more than a few dollars, check that you used the note rate and the exact loan amount on your Closing Disclosure, including any financed fees.

Mistakes that skew the result

The most common one is entering the home price instead of the loan amount. On a $320,000 house with $64,000 down, the difference in payment is about $400 a month at today’s rates. The second is forgetting fees that get added to the balance, such as an FHA upfront premium or a VA funding fee, which raise both the payment and the interest. The third is mixing up the term and the time left. If you are three years into a 30-year mortgage and want your current payment, enter the original amount and 30 years. If you want to model a refinance of what you owe now, enter the current balance and 27 years.

Privacy

The calculator runs in your browser. The numbers you enter are not sent to us or to anyone else, and nothing is stored after you close the page.

Learn more

If you want the formula explained with real numbers, read how a loan payment is calculated. If your payment feels too high, how to lower your mortgage payment compares the options, from recasting to refinancing.

Frequently asked questions

Is the monthly payment the same for the whole loan?

On a fixed-rate loan, yes. The principal and interest payment stays the same from the first month to the last. What changes is the split: early payments are mostly interest, later ones mostly principal. Your total mortgage payment can still change if your property tax or insurance changes, because those are collected through escrow.

Should I use the APR or the interest rate?

Use the interest rate (the note rate) to calculate the payment. The APR adds lender fees and points to the rate so you can compare offers, but the lender charges interest on your balance at the note rate. If you enter the APR, the calculator will show a payment slightly higher than the one you will actually pay.

How much less interest do I pay on a 15-year loan than on a 30-year loan?

At 6.5% on $250,000, a 15-year loan costs about $142,000 in interest and a 30-year loan about $319,000, a difference of roughly $177,000. The 15-year payment is about $598 higher each month. Fifteen-year loans also usually come with a lower rate, which widens the gap further.

Can I use this for an interest-only loan?

No. An interest-only payment is just the balance times the monthly rate: $250,000 at 6.5% is about $1,354 a month for the interest-only period. When that period ends, the full balance is repaid over the remaining term, so the payment jumps. You can model that later payment here by entering the balance and the remaining years.

Does making biweekly payments change the result?

Paying half the monthly amount every two weeks adds up to 26 half-payments, or 13 full payments a year. That one extra payment a year goes to principal and shortens a 30-year mortgage by several years. Check that your servicer applies biweekly payments as they arrive, and ask whether there is a fee for the program.

Why is so much of my first payment interest?

Interest is charged on the balance you owe, and at the start you owe the whole loan. On $250,000 at 6.5%, the first month’s interest is $1,354.17 of a $1,863.93 payment. As the balance drops, the interest part shrinks and the principal part grows. In this example, principal overtakes interest in about year 10.