Credit Card Payoff Calculator
Each month your card charges interest on whatever is left, then your payment is applied. Enter the balance, the APR, and what you can pay every month to see the payoff date and the true cost of carrying the debt.
- Accurate
- Real-time
- Easy to use
- 100% free
Time to pay off
2 years 2 months
Total paid
$6,358.22
Details
Updates as you typeMust exceed the first month of interest, or the balance never falls.
Summary
2 to 3 yearsTime to pay off
2 years 2 months
Total paid
$6,358.22
- Principal$5,000.0079%
- Interest$1,358.2221%
- Total interest
- $1,358.22
- Total paid
- $6,358.22
- Number of payments
- 26
- Interest as a share of the balance
- 27.2%
- Final payment
- $108.22
- This assumes a fixed payment every month and no new purchases on the card. Adding spending restarts the arithmetic.
- Card issuers compound daily in practice, so a real statement may differ by a few dollars from this monthly model.
How this is calculated
- Starting balance
- $5,000.00
- APR
- 22.90%
- Monthly periodic rate
- 1.9083%
- First month interest
- $95.42
- First month principal
- $154.58
- Months to clear
- 26
- Years to clear
- 2.2
- Total interest
- $1,358.22
- Total paid
- $6,358.22
Months
Compare scenarios
See how one change moves the result
- CurrentYour inputs as they stand2 years 2 monthsCurrent
- Card balance$ 6,3002 years 11 months
- Annual interest rate (APR)% 28.62 years 4 months
- Monthly payment$ 3101 year 8 months
For informational purposes only. This is not financial advice — confirm major decisions with a licensed advisor.
Frequently asked questions
How is credit card interest calculated?
The card applies a monthly periodic rate — your APR divided by twelve — to the balance that is still outstanding, then subtracts your payment. Because the interest is charged before the payment lands, paying only a little means most of the money never touches the debt itself.
Why does paying the minimum take so long?
A typical minimum payment is around 1 to 2 percent of the balance plus interest, so it shrinks as the balance shrinks. That design keeps the debt alive for decades and can cost more in interest than the original purchases.
Does paying twice a month help?
Slightly, because most issuers accrue interest daily on the average balance, so money that arrives earlier in the cycle accrues less. The far bigger lever is the total amount you pay each month, not how you split it.
Should I pay the highest rate or the smallest balance first?
Paying the highest APR first — the avalanche method — always costs less in total interest. Paying the smallest balance first, the snowball method, clears individual cards sooner and some people find that motivation is worth the extra cost.