Debt Payoff Calculator
Last updated: August 5, 2026
Enter every debt you carry, pick a strategy, and get a month by month schedule to a zero balance: your debt-free date, total interest, and the order your debts disappear in. Free, no signup, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
How to use this calculator
Add a row for every debt you are tracking, with its current balance, APR, and minimum payment exactly as they appear on your statement. Pick a strategy: snowball if you want the smallest balance to disappear first, avalanche if you want the least total interest, custom order if you have a reason to prioritize a specific debt regardless of balance or rate, or minimum-only to see the baseline you are comparing against. Everything beyond the minimums, whether entered as a recurring monthly extra, a one-time lump sum, or a switch to biweekly payments, changes only how fast the schedule moves, not which debt gets targeted first. The results include a chart of your combined balance declining to zero and a full month by month schedule you can expand.
Worked example
Three debts: Card A with $2,400 at 26.99% APR and a $60 minimum, Card B with $850 at 22.15% APR and a $35 minimum, and a personal loan of $5,000 at 11.86% APR with a $150 minimum, plus $200 extra per month. The 22.15% and 11.86% figures are the Federal Reserve's published May 2026 averages for card accounts assessed interest and 24-month personal loans; Card A's 26.99% is a hypothetical above-average rate.
| Strategy | Debt free in | Total interest | Payoff order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snowball | 22 months | $1,244.21 | Card B, then Card A, then Personal loan |
| Avalanche | 22 months | $1,210.14 | Card A, then Card B, then Personal loan |
| Minimums only | 104 months | $5,186.33 | Card B, then Personal loan, then Card A |
The strategy choice moves $34.07 between snowball and avalanche here. The far bigger lever is the extra payment itself: dropping it costs $3,976.19 more interest and adds 82 months. If you have several credit cards specifically, the same engine drives the side by side comparison, and single-card questions are quicker on the credit card payoff calculator.
One-time payments and biweekly schedules
Two features beyond the standard monthly schedule are built into the tool above. A one-time extra payment field lets you drop a tax refund or bonus into a specific month without changing your regular budget. A payment-frequency toggle switches the whole schedule to biweekly, half your normal payment every two weeks, which is 26 payments a year rather than 12 monthly ones.
On the same three-debt example under the avalanche, adding a single $1,000.00 payment in month 6 saves $218.20 in interest and 3 months. Switching the whole schedule to biweekly instead saves $142.16 and 3 months. Both are shown against the same $1,210.14, 22-month avalanche baseline from the table above, so the two levers are directly comparable.
The biweekly math, made checkable. Interest accrues at your APR divided by 26 each period, not 24, because 26 is the real number of two-week periods in a year. On a single zero-interest $1,300 balance with a $100 monthly minimum, the ordinary monthly schedule takes 13 months. The biweekly schedule pays it off in 26 periods, the equivalent of 12 months, because 26 half-payments of $50 equal exactly $1,300. No interest is involved in that comparison on purpose: it isolates the timing effect from the rate effect so the arithmetic is verifiable by hand.
Custom order: when the math isn't the only thing that matters
Sometimes you have a reason to pay off a specific debt first that has nothing to do with balance or interest rate: a loan from a family member, an account with a cosigner you want off the hook, or a card you simply want gone. Custom order lets you set a priority number on each debt and attacks them in that order, using the exact same rolling-payment mechanic as snowball and avalanche. It costs something to do this, and the calculator says so rather than hiding it. In the worked example below, prioritizing the personal loan first, ahead of two higher-rate cards, costs $474.87 more in interest than the avalanche order. That may still be the right call for reasons a spreadsheet cannot see; the point of showing the number is so it is a choice, not a surprise.
Keeping the freed-up payment instead of rolling it forward
By default, when a debt is paid off, its minimum payment gets redirected to whichever debt your strategy is targeting next. That is what makes both the snowball and the avalanche accelerate over time, and it is the fastest, cheapest path to zero. Unchecking the rollover box below the extra payment field keeps that freed-up money out of the payoff plan instead, as if you wanted it back in your monthly budget the moment an account closes. On the three-debt avalanche example, turning rollover off costs $53.76 more in interest and adds 2 months, which is the real price of keeping that cash rather than redirecting it. Neither choice is wrong; this just makes the tradeoff a number instead of a guess.
Chart and full schedule
Every result includes a line chart of your combined balance falling to zero, and a "Show full month by month schedule" link beneath the summary table that expands into every period for every debt: starting balance, interest charged, payment applied, and ending balance. The chart is a visual summary; the expandable table underneath it is the exact numbers behind it, generated by the same run of the calculator rather than a separate estimate.
Considering rolling several balances into one new loan instead? The debt consolidation calculator compares that option against continuing with these same debts at a matching monthly budget.
The interest assumption, stated plainly
This calculator applies a monthly periodic rate, your annual rate divided by twelve, to each balance at the start of each month. Many card issuers instead apply a daily periodic rate, the APR divided by 365 or 360, to an average daily balance, which compounds daily. Your real statement will therefore differ from these results. Treat everything here as a planning estimate, not a payoff quote, and confirm figures with your lender. The full method and its sources are documented on the About page. Every figure on this page is generated by a Python engine, independently cross-checked against a JavaScript version before publishing, so the arithmetic itself has been verified even though it cannot capture your lender's exact billing cycle.
Frequently asked questions
How does this debt payoff calculator work?
It runs a month by month simulation. Each month, every debt accrues interest at its annual rate divided by twelve, minimum payments are applied, and any extra money goes to one target debt chosen by your strategy. When a debt is paid off, its minimum payment rolls into the next target, so the payment attacking your remaining debts grows over time.
Which strategy should I pick, snowball or avalanche?
The avalanche always pays the same or less total interest, because it clears the most expensive debt first. In the worked example on this page it saves $34.07 against the snowball. The snowball clears whole accounts sooner, and published research on consumer debt management found that closing accounts predicted actually finishing a payoff plan. Run your own numbers both ways and pick the one you will stick with.
What happens if I only pay the minimums?
Usually the schedule stretches dramatically. In the worked example, minimum payments alone take 8 years and 8 months (104 months) and cost $5,186.33 in interest, against 1 year and 10 months (22 months) and $1,210.14 with a $200 extra payment under the avalanche. That is $3,976.19 more interest and 82 extra months.
Does a one-time extra payment actually make a difference?
Yes, and you do not need to wait for a windfall to see it. Adding a single $1,000.00 payment in month 6 to the worked example on this page, on top of the regular $200 monthly extra, cuts total interest by $218.20 and finishes the payoff 3 months sooner. A tax refund or bonus applied once does more than the same amount spread thin.
How does biweekly payment actually save money?
Two ways at once. Twenty-six biweekly half-payments a year add up to thirteen full monthly-equivalent payments instead of twelve, and paying more often also shrinks the balance interest is charged on sooner. On a single zero-interest debt this calculator confirms the effect exactly: a $1,300 balance with a $100 monthly minimum pays off in 13 months on the usual schedule and 12 months-equivalent, 26 payments, on the biweekly schedule, with the timing difference alone accounting for the gap since there is no interest involved. On the three-debt worked example under the avalanche, switching to biweekly saves $142.16 in interest and finishes 3 months sooner.
What does the rollover checkbox actually change?
Whether a paid-off debt's minimum payment keeps working for you or goes back into your regular budget. Checked, the default, it gets redirected to your next targeted debt, which is what makes both the snowball and avalanche speed up over time. Unchecked, your total monthly payment shrinks as each debt clears instead. On the worked example, unchecking it costs $53.76 more interest and 2 extra months. Both are legitimate choices; this just puts a real number on the difference.
What is custom order, and when should I use it?
It lets you set your own priority on each debt instead of letting balance or interest rate decide. Useful when a debt has a reason to go first that the math cannot see, like a cosigner you want released or a loan from family. It uses the same engine as snowball and avalanche, just a different sort order, so the schedule, chart and full breakdown all work identically. It is not free: in the worked example, prioritizing the personal loan first instead of following the avalanche order costs $474.87 more in interest for these same debts and payments.
Can I see the full month by month schedule, not just the totals?
Yes. Every result includes a chart of your combined balance declining to zero, and a collapsed table beneath it labeled to show the full schedule. Opening it lists every period for every debt: starting balance, interest charged, the payment applied, and the ending balance, generated from the same calculation as the summary above it rather than a separate estimate.
Why does my lender's number differ from this calculator?
This tool compounds monthly for clarity, while most card issuers compound daily on an average daily balance, and real accounts add fees, rate changes and new charges the simulation does not know about. Treat results as planning estimates and confirm exact figures with your lender.
Is anything I type stored or sent anywhere?
No. The calculator is plain JavaScript running in your browser. Balances, rates and payments are never transmitted, logged or stored, and there is no signup.
Sources
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Consumer Credit G.19, current release. Release date July 8, 2026, covering May 2026: 22.15% average on card accounts assessed interest, 11.86% average on 24-month personal loans. Checked 2026-08-03.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How does my credit card company calculate the amount of interest I owe? Checked 2026-08-03.
This tool provides estimates for general information only and is not financial advice. See the Terms of Service and full disclaimer.