Calculate your credit card payoff time and total interest from your balance, APR, and monthly payment, then see how extra payments or the minimum payment change the outcome.
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Financial Calculation Disclaimer
Results from this calculator are estimates based on user-supplied numbers for informational and planning purposes only. Actual interest rates, loan terms, taxes, and financial outcomes may vary depending on your institution, jurisdiction, and market conditions. This tool does not constitute professional financial, tax, or investment advice.
Credit card debt at 18-24% APR accumulates interest rapidly, and most people underestimate how long a given payment actually takes to clear a balance, how much total interest they'll pay along the way, or how much slower and more expensive it is to pay only the minimum. This calculator makes all three concrete: it builds the full month-by-month payoff schedule for your payment, automatically compares it against a modeled minimum payment, and shows the exact time and interest an extra payment would save.
If your payment doesn't even cover the monthly interest, it flags that directly instead of showing a payoff time that will never actually arrive.
This credit card payoff calculator estimates how long it will take to pay off a single card's balance, the total interest you'll pay, and the total amount repaid, from the balance, APR, and monthly payment you enter. Switch to Target Payoff Time and it works the other way around - enter how many months you want, and it calculates the fixed monthly payment that gets you there. It also models a declining minimum payment as an alternative to a fixed payment, and shows the exact time and interest an extra monthly or one-time payment would save. This is a calculation tool, not financial advice - it assumes no new purchases are added to the balance and that the APR stays constant for the full payoff period, so treat the result as an estimate rather than a guarantee.
Add your current balance, APR, and monthly payment.
See payoff time, total interest, and total amount paid instantly.
See how much longer and more expensive paying only the minimum would be.
Add an extra monthly amount and see the updated schedule, time saved, and interest saved.
Enter your Current Balance, APR, and Monthly Payment to see the estimated Payoff Time, Total Interest, Total Paid, and the full schedule.
If your Monthly Payment doesn't exceed the monthly interest charge on your balance, the calculator shows a warning instead of a payoff estimate, along with the interest amount your payment needs to clear.
The Minimum Payment vs. Your Payment section compares a modeled minimum payment against your entered payment automatically - no extra input needed beyond the formula settings in Advanced options.
Open Advanced options and enter an Extra Monthly Payment - the How Paying Extra Changes Your Payoff section compares your schedule with and without it, showing the exact months and interest saved.
Switch "Calculate by" to Target Payoff Time, enter how many months you want, and the Required Monthly Payment card shows the fixed payment that clears the balance in that time.
Open Advanced options, enter a One-Time Extra Payment, and choose when it lands - your first payment, payment #3, #6, #12, or a custom payment number. The schedule and comparison card show exactly how much time and interest it saves.
Best For
Input
Current Balance $7,000, APR 21%, Monthly Payment $200Result
Payoff Time 4 years 7 months, Total Interest $3,929.66, Total Paid $10,929.66Each month's interest is the balance × (APR ÷ 1200); it is added to the balance before that month's payment is subtracted, so it takes 55 payments to clear the card.
Input
Current Balance $7,000, APR 21%, Monthly Payment $200, Extra Monthly Payment $100Result
Payoff Time 2 years 7 months, Total Interest $2,075.76 - saving 2 years and $1,853.90 in interestThis is exactly what the calculator's 'How Paying Extra Changes Your Payoff' comparison shows automatically - the $100 extra payment is the only thing that changed from the example above.
Input
Calculate by Target Payoff Time - Current Balance $5,000, APR 24%, Target Payoff Time 24 monthsResult
Required Monthly Payment $264.36, Total Interest $1,344.50, Total Paid $6,344.50The required payment comes from the standard amortization formula and is then run through the same month-by-month schedule as the other modes, so the payoff time and interest match what the schedule shows.
Enter your actual balance, APR, and monthly payment to see the estimated payoff time and the full schedule.
If your payment doesn't cover the monthly interest, the calculator shows a warning instead of a payoff estimate, with the interest amount your payment needs to exceed.
The calculator models a declining minimum payment and automatically compares its total time and interest against your entered payment.
Enter an Extra Monthly Payment in Advanced options to see the exact months and interest it saves, calculated on your own balance and APR.
Switch to Target Payoff Time and enter a month count - useful for a goal like 'debt-free before a specific date' - to see the fixed monthly payment that gets you there.
Enter it as a One-Time Extra Payment to see how much time and interest that single payment saves, instead of guessing.
Problem
Solution
This calculator handles one balance, APR, and payment at a time - it doesn't combine multiple cards, and it doesn't implement the avalanche (highest-APR-first) or snowball (smallest-balance-first) strategies for you.
Problem
Solution
Issuers don't publish one universal minimum-payment formula. The default here (interest plus 1% of balance, $25 floor) is a common model, adjustable in Advanced options - not a lookup of your actual card's terms.
Problem
Solution
The calculation assumes no new charges are added to the balance during payoff - if you keep using the card, actual payoff will take longer than shown.
Problem
Solution
The calculator uses a single, constant APR for the entire payoff period - it doesn't model promotional rates that expire or later rate changes.
Problem
Solution
If a payment doesn't exceed the balance's monthly interest, the calculator shows a warning instead of a payoff time - the warning states the exact interest amount the payment needs to exceed.
Problem
Solution
If the balance is already projected to be paid off before the payment number you chose, the one-time payment is never reached - the calculator says so rather than inventing an extra payment or changing the schedule.
Enter an amount in Extra Monthly Payment under Advanced options - the calculator runs both schedules and shows the months and interest saved automatically.
The Minimum Payment vs. Your Payment section shows how much longer and more expensive the modeled minimum payment is for your specific balance and APR.
If your payment (plus any extra) doesn't exceed the monthly interest shown in the warning, the balance won't shrink at that payment level.
To estimate a balance transfer's effect, enter the transferred balance and the new card's APR yourself - the calculator doesn't add transfer fees or promotional-rate expirations automatically.
This is a calculation tool based on the numbers you enter, not financial advice - your card's actual terms, fees, and any rate changes can affect your real payoff timeline.
The calculator handles one balance, APR, and monthly payment at a time - it doesn't support multiple cards or combine balances.
It doesn't implement or recommend the debt avalanche (highest-APR-first) or snowball (smallest-balance-first) payoff strategies - those require comparing multiple debts, which this single-card tool doesn't do.
The minimum-payment mode uses a configurable formula (interest plus a percentage, or a percentage alone, with a dollar floor) - it is not your card issuer's actual minimum-payment calculation, which issuers don't publish.
There's no field for a balance-transfer fee or a promotional-rate expiration date - to model a transfer, you'd need to enter the transferred balance and new APR yourself, and account for any fees separately.
The calculation assumes the balance only decreases via payments (no new charges) and that the APR never changes for the full payoff period.
The month-by-month calculation stops at 600 months (50 years) - if a payment is only barely above the interest-only threshold, actual payoff could take longer than the tool models.
This is a calculation tool based on the numbers you enter - it doesn't account for your full financial situation, and the result is an estimate, not a guarantee of what your card issuer will actually charge.
Same $7,000 balance and 21% APR - only the monthly payment changes.
| $200/month | $300/month | |
|---|---|---|
| Payoff time | 4 years 7 months | 2 years 7 months |
| Total interest | $3,929.66 | $2,075.76 |
| Total paid | $10,929.66 | $9,075.76 |
Which should you use?
A $100 higher monthly payment on the same balance and APR cuts the payoff time by 2 years and saves $1,853.90 in interest in this example - the tool makes that trade-off concrete for your own numbers.
Same $7,000 balance and 21% APR - minimum payments only (interest + 1% of balance, $25 floor) versus a fixed $200/month.
| Minimum payment only | $200/month fixed | |
|---|---|---|
| Payoff time | 21 years 10 months | 4 years 7 months |
| Total interest | $11,207.79 | $3,929.66 |
Which should you use?
On this balance, paying only the modeled minimum takes over 17 years longer and costs about $7,278 more in interest than a fixed $200/month payment - the gap comes from the minimum payment shrinking every month as the balance drops, so less and less of it goes toward principal.
The most common question is why a small increase in monthly payment makes such a large difference in total interest. A higher payment reduces the principal faster, which lowers the interest charged in every following month - the effect compounds over the life of the balance, so a modest increase in monthly payment can cut both the payoff time and the total interest by a large margin. The comparisons below show that effect using your own numbers instead of a generic rule of thumb.
It runs your balance, APR, and monthly payment through a month-by-month simulation: each month's interest is your remaining balance times APR ÷ 1200, that interest is added before your payment is subtracted, and the remainder carries to the next month. It repeats that until the balance reaches zero, then totals the interest, the payments, and the time it took.
It depends on your balance, APR, and payment - there's no single answer. Enter your numbers above and the payoff time, payment schedule, and total interest are calculated for that exact combination, not a generic estimate.
Switch "Calculate by" to Target Payoff Time and enter how many months you want. The calculator solves for the fixed monthly payment that clears your balance in exactly that time at your APR, then verifies that payment against the same month-by-month schedule used everywhere else on the page - so the required payment and the schedule can't disagree.
Enter it under Advanced options as a One-Time Extra Payment, then pick when it lands: your first payment, payment #3, #6, #12, or a custom payment number you type in. It's added to that one payment only - every other month uses your regular payment. The schedule and the 'How a One-Time Extra Payment Changes Your Payoff' section reflect the exact interest and time it saves for your numbers, not an estimate. If you pick a payment number after the balance is already projected to be paid off, the calculator tells you so instead of inventing an extra payment.
Card issuers don't publish one universal minimum-payment formula, so this is modeled, not exact: by default, interest plus 1% of the balance, with a $25 floor (you can adjust the percentage, floor, and formula in Advanced options). Because it's calculated off the balance each month, the required payment drops as the balance shrinks - which is also why minimum payments take far longer and cost far more interest. The 'Minimum Payment vs. Your Payment' section below shows the actual difference for your numbers.
Yes - set APR to 0 and every payment goes entirely to principal, with no interest charged. If your card has a 0% promotional period that later reverts to a standard APR, run the calculator again with that APR once the promotion ends.
Enter an amount in Extra Monthly Payment under Advanced options and the calculator runs your schedule twice - once at your regular payment and once with the extra added - then shows the exact months and interest that extra payment saves on your specific balance and APR, instead of a general rule of thumb.
The schedule only knows the balance, APR, and payment you enter - it has no way to know about future charges or a rate change (like a promotional APR expiring). If you keep using the card or your rate changes, re-enter the new balance or APR to get an updated estimate; the original numbers will run long or short accordingly.
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