Personal Loan Calculator
Estimate a personal loan's monthly payment, total interest, effective APR including the origination fee, and payoff date. Enter the loan amount, APR, term, and fee to see a full amortization schedule.
Estimate Your Monthly Payment, Interest and Total Loan Cost
Personal Loan Formula
Where:
- \(P\) — loan amount (the balance being repaid)
- \(r\) — monthly interest rate: the annual rate divided by 12, expressed as a decimal, so \(r = \frac{APR}{1200}\)
- \(n\) — total number of monthly payments (loan term in months)
- \(M\) — fixed monthly payment
This is the standard amortization formula: it produces the level payment that exactly pays off the balance \(P\) with interest over \(n\) equal monthly installments, leaving a zero balance after the last payment.
Personal Loan – Calculation Example
Example: you borrow $15,000 at an APR of 11.5% for 48 months, with a 1% origination fee deducted from the funds. The monthly rate is \( r = 0.115 / 12 = 0.0095833 \).
\[ M = 15000 \times \frac{0.0095833}{1 - (1.0095833)^{-48}} = 15000 \times \frac{0.0095833}{0.3673} \approx 391.27 \]
\[ \text{Total interest} = 391.27 \times 48 - 15000 \approx 3780.96 \]
\[ \text{Fee} = 15000 \times 0.01 = 150, \quad \text{net funds received} = 15000 - 150 = 14850 \]
Result: the monthly payment is $391.27. Total interest is about $3,781, the origination fee is $150, and the total cost including the fee is roughly $18,931. Because you receive only $14,850 but repay on the full $15,000, the effective APR including the fee rises to about 12.04%, and the loan is paid off after 48 monthly payments.
How to Use the Personal Loan Calculator
- Enter the Loan amount — the principal you want to borrow.
- Enter the Interest rate (APR) your lender quoted, before any origination fee.
- Choose the Term entered in — months or years — and type the Loan term (anywhere from 12 to 84 months).
- Enter the Origination fee and set whether it is a percentage of the loan or a flat dollar amount using the Fee as selector.
- Set How the fee is charged: "Deducted from funds" if the lender keeps the fee out of the money you receive, or "Added to the balance" if the fee is financed into the loan.
- Optionally set a First payment date; leave it empty to assume the first payment one month from today.
- Add an Extra monthly payment to see how much interest you'd save and how many months earlier you'd be debt-free.
The results show the monthly payment, total interest, total cost including the fee, the net funds that actually hit your bank account, the effective APR with the fee included, and the payoff date — plus a pie chart and a year-by-year amortization schedule you can expand to see every month.
What This Calculator Tells You
A personal loan gives you a fixed amount of money that you repay in equal monthly installments over a set term. Each payment is split between interest (the lender's charge on the remaining balance) and principal (the amount that reduces what you owe). Early in the loan, most of each payment goes to interest; later on, most goes to principal. The amortization schedule shows this split for every single month.
The advertised APR is not always the full story. Most personal lenders charge an origination fee of 1%–10%, usually withheld from the funds disbursed to you: borrow $15,000 with a 5% fee and you receive $14,250, yet you repay interest on the full $15,000. The effective APR including the fee answers the natural question "what am I really paying?" by finding the rate that makes the payment stream match what you actually received. Two loans with the same APR but different fees can differ meaningfully in true cost.
Use the total cost incl. fee to compare offers: it is everything you'll pay minus what you borrowed — principal plus interest plus fees. When comparing lenders, always compare this figure or the effective APR rather than the headline rate alone. If you are weighing a loan against other debts, tools like our credit card interest calculator or the debt consolidation payment calculator can show what you currently pay and whether a loan would save money.
Loan Term, Extra Payments, and the True Cost of Interest
The trade-off in choosing a term is simple: a shorter term means higher monthly payments but far less interest; a longer term smooths the budget but costs more overall. For example, a $15,000 loan at 11.5% costs about $3,781 in interest over 48 months — stretching it to 84 months lowers the payment but adds well over $1,000 in interest. Before committing, check that the payment fits comfortably in your budget; our debt-to-income ratio calculator can help you gauge how much debt you can safely carry.
The extra monthly payment field is where real savings live. Because extra amounts go straight to principal, even $50–$100 a month on a typical loan can cut several months off the term and save hundreds of dollars in interest — the calculator quantifies exactly how much. The same principle applies to larger debts: see our mortgage payoff calculator with extra payments and the debt snowball vs. avalanche calculator for strategies across multiple debts.
Assumptions and Limitations
- The calculator assumes a fixed rate and equal monthly payments on a fully amortizing loan; it does not model variable-rate or interest-only loans.
- Interest is compounded monthly on the outstanding balance, the standard convention for personal loans.
- Only the origination fee is modeled. Late fees, prepayment penalties, or returned-payment fees are not included; many lenders charge no prepayment penalty, so extra payments usually cost nothing.
- When the fee is deducted from funds, interest accrues on the full loan amount even though you receive less — this is why the effective APR exceeds the quoted rate. When the fee is financed, it is added to the balance and amortized along with the principal.
- Personal loans typically run 12–84 months; the calculator rejects terms outside that range.
- The effective APR is calculated for the scheduled term and does not reflect the effect of extra payments.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate a personal loan payment by hand?
Use the amortization formula \( M = P \times \frac{r}{1 - (1 + r)^{-n}} \), where \( r \) is the monthly rate (APR divided by 1200) and \( n \) is the number of payments. For a $10,000 loan at 9% APR for 36 months: \( r = 0.0075 \), so \( M = 10000 \times \frac{0.0075}{1 - 1.0075^{-36}} \approx $318.00 \). A spreadsheet's PMT function does the same thing.
What is a good APR for a personal loan?
It depends heavily on your credit score. Borrowers with excellent credit often see rates in the 7%–12% range, while fair-credit borrowers may be offered 15%–25% or more, sometimes with origination fees of 1%–10% on top. Rates change with market conditions, so treat any figure as a guideline. Always compare the effective APR including fees, not just the advertised rate, across several lenders before committing.
Does paying off a personal loan early save interest?
Usually yes. Interest accrues on the remaining balance, so any extra payment reduces the principal immediately and shortens the term. On a typical 48-month loan, adding $100 a month can cut nearly a year off the payoff and save several hundred dollars. Check that your lender charges no prepayment penalty — most major personal loan lenders don't — since the calculator doesn't model that fee.
How does an origination fee affect my loan's real cost?
An origination fee raises your true cost in two ways. If it's deducted from the funds, you receive less than you borrow but repay interest on the full amount — a 5% fee on a $15,000 loan means you get $14,250 but pay interest on $15,000. The effective APR captures this: that same loan's true rate is meaningfully higher than the quoted one. Compare offers using effective APR or total cost, never the headline rate alone.
Should I choose a shorter or longer loan term?
A shorter term means a higher monthly payment but substantially less total interest; a longer term lowers the payment but costs more overall. For example, a $15,000 loan at 11.5% costs about $3,781 in interest over 48 months but well over $1,000 more if stretched to 84 months. Pick the shortest term whose payment fits comfortably in your budget — roughly 10% or less of your take-home pay on debt payments is a common guideline.
Is the interest rate the same as APR on a personal loan?
Not exactly. The interest rate is the charge for borrowing the principal; APR (annual percentage rate) is meant to express the yearly cost including certain fees. In this calculator, the APR you enter is the lender's quoted rate before the origination fee, and the effective APR result shows what the rate becomes once the fee is baked in. That's the number to use when comparing offers with different fee structures.
Why is my first payment mostly interest?
Each payment covers the interest accrued that month on the outstanding balance, and the rest goes to principal. Early on the balance is at its peak, so the interest portion is largest; as the balance shrinks, more of every payment reduces principal. On a 48-month loan the final payments are almost entirely principal. The amortization schedule in the results shows this split for every single month.