Credit Card Payoff Calculator

Find how long it takes to pay off a credit card and how much interest you will pay — or the monthly payment needed to be debt-free by a target date.

$
%
$
Time to pay off
33 months

Interest adds $2,100.76 (35% of the balance). Paying $300.00 instead would save time and interest.

Balance over time
$0$2,000$4,000$6,000051015202530Months
In years and months
2 yr 9 mo
Total interest
$2,100.76
Total paid
$8,100.76
Total of all payments
Balance: $6,000 (74.1%)Interest: $2,101 (25.9%)26%is interest
  • Balance$6,00074.1%
  • Interest$2,10125.9%
Show the working
  1. Monthly rate r = 22.9% ÷ 12 = 1.9083%; first month's interest = $114.50
  2. n = −ln(1 − B·r ÷ P) ÷ ln(1 + r) = 32.40 → 33 payments
  3. Final payment is $100.76

Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded.

Formula

Months n = −ln(1 − B·r ÷ P) ÷ ln(1 + r)Payment for n months P = B·r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−n)B = balance, r = APR ÷ 12, P = monthly payment

How it works

Credit card interest is charged every month on the balance you carry, so a high APR makes slow repayment expensive. Paying only a little above the interest means most of each payment never touches the actual debt.

Choose "Time to pay off" to see how long a fixed monthly payment takes and what it costs in interest, or "Payment needed" to work out what to pay each month to be debt-free by a deadline. Both assume you make no new purchases and the APR stays the same.

Card issuers calculate interest on the average daily balance, so real statements will differ by a few dollars from this month-by-month estimate. The big picture — how much faster a larger payment gets you out of debt — is what matters.

If you carry balances on several cards, putting extra money toward the highest-APR card first (the avalanche method) minimizes total interest. A 0% balance-transfer offer can also help if you can repay within the promotional period and the transfer fee is lower than the interest saved.

Frequently asked questions

Why does paying the minimum take so long?

Minimum payments are usually set around 1–3% of the balance plus interest, so they shrink as the balance shrinks. That keeps payments low but can stretch repayment out over decades with interest exceeding the original balance.

Is it better to pay a fixed amount or the minimum?

A fixed amount. Keeping the payment the same as the balance falls sends more and more to principal each month, which shortens the payoff dramatically.

Does paying twice a month help?

Slightly. Because interest is based on the average daily balance, paying earlier in the cycle lowers the interest charged. The bigger effect still comes from the total amount you pay.

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