Loan Calculator
The general-purpose loan calculator: amount, rate and term in; monthly payment, total interest and a year-by-year balance chart out.
Three numbers in, the loan's whole character out
Every installment loan is the same creature: a principal, a rate, and a term, producing a level payment that quietly shifts from mostly-interest to mostly-principal. This calculator gives the payment, the total interest — the true price of borrowing — and the balance's path by year.
Payment = P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−n), r = annual rate ÷ 12, n = months
Example: $20,000 at 9% over 5 years: payment $415.17 a month, $4,910.04 of interest, $24,910.04 paid in total. Stretch the same loan to 7 years and the payment drops to $321.85 while the interest climbs past $7,000 — the term lever in one comparison.
Total interest is the price tag
Shoppers fixate on the payment because sellers present it first. The payment is a scheduling choice; the interest is the cost. Any two loans can be compared fairly in seconds by total interest plus fees — the loan-comparison calculator does exactly that when you have two live offers.
How this is calculated
Standard level-payment amortization: nominal annual rate ÷ 12, payments at month end, no intermediate rounding. The yearly schedule and chart come from applying the payment month by month (interest on the opening balance, remainder to principal). Fees are excluded here by design — the APR calculator exists to put them back in.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a longer term cost so much more interest?
The balance stays high for longer, and interest is charged on the balance every month. Doubling the term roughly halves the payment but can multiply the interest several times over.
Is the rate here APR or the note rate?
Enter the note (nominal) rate — the one used to compute payments. If a loan has fees, its APR is higher than its note rate; use the APR calculator to find it.
What if my loan is weekly or biweekly?
This page is monthly. The mathematics is the same shape — rate divided by periods per year — but the dedicated biweekly mortgage calculator handles the 26-period pattern for home loans.
Can I include an origination fee?
Not in the payment — fees do not change the payment on a standard loan, they change the cost. The personal-loan and APR calculators fold fees in properly.
Embed this calculator
Writing about money — a blog, a school page, a community site? Put this calculator on your page, free: copy the code below and paste it where you want the calculator to appear. It stays up to date automatically — the small credit line underneath is all we ask in return.
CalcPrincipal