Loan Calculator
Calculate monthly payments and total interest for any fixed-rate loan: auto, personal, student, or other.
Monthly payment
$594.04
Total interest
$5,642.16
Total paid
$35,642.16
Amortization schedule
| Year | Principal paid | Interest paid | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,192.94 | $1,935.49 | $24,807.06 |
| 2 | $5,568.34 | $1,560.09 | $19,238.72 |
| 3 | $5,970.87 | $1,157.56 | $13,267.85 |
| 4 | $6,402.51 | $725.92 | $6,865.34 |
| 5 | $6,865.34 | $263.09 | $0.00 |
About this calculator
This calculator works for any fixed-rate installment loan: auto, personal, student, or otherwise. Enter your loan amount, interest rate, and term to see your monthly payment, total interest paid over the life of the loan, and a full amortization schedule. You can also add an optional extra monthly payment to see how much faster you could pay off the loan.
The monthly payment is the number most people look at, but total interest is usually the more revealing one. Stretching the same loan over more years lowers the payment and raises the total interest, often by more than you'd expect, because each extra year of borrowing means another year of interest on a balance that's shrinking slowly. Try the same amount at 3 and 7 years to see the trade-off.
This is a general-purpose calculator. For car purchases, the auto loan calculator also handles sales tax, trade-ins, and dealer fees; for mortgages, the mortgage calculator adds property tax, insurance, and PMI; and for credit card debt, which has no fixed term, the credit card payoff calculator shows how long a given payment takes to clear the balance.
Frequently asked questions
- What kinds of loans can this calculator handle?
- Any fixed-rate, fixed-term installment loan with equal monthly payments: auto loans, personal loans, student loans, and similar. It assumes a standard amortization schedule with no balloon payment.
- How is the monthly payment calculated?
- Using the standard amortization formula based on your loan amount, annual interest rate, and term length in months. The payment amount stays fixed for the life of the loan, while the interest-versus-principal split shifts over time.
- Does extra payment really save money?
- Yes, any extra amount you pay each month goes entirely toward reducing your principal balance, which means less interest accrues on future payments. Even a modest extra payment can meaningfully shorten a multi-year loan and reduce total interest paid.
- Is there a penalty for paying a loan off early?
- Most auto, personal, and federal student loans in the US have no prepayment penalty, but some lenders do charge one, so check your loan agreement. Also confirm with your lender that extra payments are applied to principal rather than held toward next month's payment.
- Why is the APR I was quoted different from the interest rate?
- APR includes certain fees, such as origination fees, spread over the loan term, so it's usually a bit higher than the interest rate. For comparing offers, APR is the better number; for calculating the payment on the amount you actually borrow, the interest rate is what matters.