Credit Card Payoff Calculator

How to use the credit card payoff calculator

This credit card payoff calculator answers the question every card statement raises: how long will this balance take to clear, and what will it cost? It opens with an example already filled in, a $5,000 balance at a 22.00% APR paid at $200 a month. The APR is only an illustration, not a quote or an average; type the numbers from your own statement and every result updates as you type.

1. Enter the balance. Use the new balance from your latest statement. You can type 5000, $5,000 or 5k.
2. Enter the APR. The annual percentage rate for purchases is printed on every statement. If part of the balance has a different rate, see the Multiple cards tab or treat each rate as its own card.
3. Choose what to find. Pick a fixed monthly payment to see how many months it takes, or pick a target such as 36 months to see the payment you need.
4. Add new charges if you keep using the card. Under More options, enter what you expect to charge each month, and choose the interest method: APR ÷ 12, or the daily periodic rate compounded.
5. Read the results. You get the payoff time or payment, the total interest, the total paid, a balance chart and a month-by-month or yearly payoff schedule. Copy the results, download the schedule as a CSV file or print it.

Three more tabs cover the other questions people bring to a debt payoff calculator. Minimum payment is a credit card minimum payment calculator: it shows what paying only the minimum costs next to a fixed payment and the 36-month payment printed on your statement. Multiple cards compares the debt avalanche and the debt snowball for up to eight cards and one monthly budget. Balance transfer is a balance transfer calculator: it weighs the transfer fee and the promotional APR against keeping the card you have.

How credit card interest is calculated

The APR is a yearly rate, but card interest is charged in smaller steps. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains that "many credit card companies calculate the interest you owe daily, based on your average daily account balance" (CFPB). The daily rate is called the daily periodic rate: the APR divided by 365, or by 360 at some issuers. Each day's interest is added to the balance, so it compounds daily.

daily periodic rate    = APR ÷ 365
monthly periodic rate  = APR ÷ 12
interest this month    ≈ balance × APR ÷ 12
daily, compounded      = (1 + APR ÷ 365)^(365 ÷ 12) − 1   per 30.4-day month

At a 22.00% APR the daily periodic rate is 0.0603%, and one month of interest on a $5,000 balance is about $91.67. That is money the payment has to cover before it reduces the debt at all, which is why a small payment barely moves a large balance.

The calculator applies one rate per month. Federal rules let card issuers do the same when they work out the payoff estimates on your statement: Appendix M1 to Regulation Z says "a monthly or daily periodic rate may be assumed" and that "all months are the same length" (12 CFR 1026, Appendix M1). The table shows how close the two methods are.

Daily compounding costs a little more: its monthly rate is under 1% higher, which adds about $23 of interest to Example 1 below. Your real statement can differ a bit more than that, because billing cycles vary in length, the balance changes during the month as you pay and spend, and fees or a penalty APR may apply. Treat every result here as a close estimate, not the exact figure on your next bill.

If you pay the full statement balance by the due date, you usually pay no interest on purchases at all, thanks to the grace period. The CFPB notes that the grace period generally applies only to new purchases and only if you weren't already carrying a balance. Once you carry a balance, interest runs on new purchases too, which is why the calculator assumes no grace period.

How long it takes to pay off a credit card

With a balance B, a monthly rate i (APR ÷ 12) and a fixed payment P, the number of months n is:

n = −ln(1 − B × i ÷ P) ÷ ln(1 + i)       rounded up to a whole month
the payment must be more than B × i, or the balance never falls

Example 1: $5,000 at 22% APR, $200 a month

The first month's interest is $91.67, so only about $108 of the first $200 payment reduces the balance. Month by month the interest shrinks and more of each payment goes to the debt. The card is paid off in 34 months (2 years 10 months), with a smaller final payment of $149.90. The interest comes to $1,749.90, so you pay $6,749.90 in all. With daily compounding it is still 34 months and $1,773.30 of interest.

The payment you choose matters far more than anything else. The same $5,000 at 22% APR, paid at different fixed amounts:

Going from $100 to $200 a month cuts the time by about three quarters and the interest by about four fifths, because at $100 most of each payment is swallowed by interest.

How much to pay to clear a card by a date

Turn the question around and the calculator works out the payment for a payoff date. It is the standard loan payment formula, the same one an amortization calculator uses:

P = B × i × (1 + i)^N ÷ ((1 + i)^N − 1)     N = months, i = APR ÷ 12
with new charges c each month: add c × (1 + i)

The result is rounded up to the cent so the balance really is gone after N payments; the last payment is a little smaller.

Example 2: $5,000 at 22% APR, paid off in 1 to 5 years

The 36-month row is the kind of figure the minimum payment box on your statement shows. Federal rules require that 36-month payment on card statements unless minimum payments alone would clear the balance in about three years or less, so you can see what clearing it in three years would take.

The minimum payment trap

A minimum payment is set by a formula in your card agreement, usually a small percentage of the balance, sometimes plus that month's interest, with a dollar floor. As the balance falls, so does the minimum, which is why paying only the minimum drags on for years. Under the Credit CARD Act of 2009, Regulation Z requires this warning on card statements (12 CFR 1026.7(b)(12)):

Minimum Payment Warning: If you make only the minimum payment each period, you will pay more in interest and it will take you longer to pay off your balance.

Next to it, the statement must show how long minimum payments would take and what they would cost in total, both "based on the assumption that only minimum payments are made and no other amounts are added to the balance," and, in most cases, the monthly payment that would clear the balance in 36 months and how much that saves. It must also give a toll-free number where you can get information about credit counseling.

Example 3: three minimum payment rules on $5,000 at 22% APR

The 2% rule looks only slightly smaller than the others, yet it takes decades: at 22% APR the card charges about 1.83% a month, so a 2% payment chips away almost nothing. With the 1% plus interest rule, paying the 36-month amount of $190.96 instead of the minimum saves $6,089.56. Paying only the minimum is never a plan for clearing a balance; it keeps the account in good standing while the debt stays.

The CFPB adds two cautions about the 36-month figure: you do not have to pay any more than the minimum shown on your statement, and the estimates "do not take into consideration any future purchases" (CFPB). Keep charging and three years won't be enough.

Debt avalanche vs. debt snowball

With several cards, you pay every minimum and send whatever is left of your monthly budget to one target card. When it is paid off, its payment rolls on to the next. The two popular orders are:

• Debt avalanche: the highest APR first. With the same budget it normally costs the least interest, because every extra dollar stops the most expensive interest first.
• Debt snowball: the smallest balance first. It usually costs a little more, but you close your first card sooner, which many people find keeps them going.

Example 4: three cards and $500 a month

The Multiple cards tab opens with these example cards: Card A, $6,000 at 20% APR with a $120 minimum; Card B, $2,500 at 27% with a $75 minimum; and Card C, $1,200 at 24% with a $35 minimum. The minimums add up to $230, so $270 a month is extra.

Both plans are debt-free in 24 months. The avalanche saves $28.78, while the snowball clears its first card in month 5 instead of month 8. Paying only the minimums would take 9 years 1 month. The real lesson is in the last row: the order matters far less than paying more than the minimums.

The same highest-rate-first rule applies inside a single card by law. When one card carries balances at different APRs, such as purchases and a balance transfer, the issuer must apply any amount you pay above the minimum "first to the balance with the highest annual percentage rate" (12 CFR 1026.53), with an exception for deferred-interest balances in the two billing cycles before the promotion ends. How the minimum itself is split is up to the issuer.

Is a balance transfer worth it?

A balance transfer moves debt to a card with a low promotional APR, often 0%, for a set number of months. Two costs decide whether it pays off: the transfer fee, which the CFPB describes as usually a percentage of the amount transferred or a fixed amount, whichever is more, and which can be charged even on a 0% offer (CFPB); and the APR after the promotion on whatever is still owed. A promotional rate must last at least six months, and the card must tell you in advance how long it lasts and what rate applies afterward (12 CFR 1026.55(b)(1)).

fee            = max(fee % × balance, minimum fee)      added to the new balance
transfer cost  = fee + interest after the promo
savings        = interest on the current card − transfer cost

Example 5: $6,000 at 24%, moved to a 0% offer for 15 months

Keeping the card at $300 a month takes 2 years 2 months and costs $1,739.23 of interest. A transfer with a 3% fee adds $180.00 to the balance. At the same $300 a month, nothing accrues for 15 months, which leaves $1,680.00 when the 25% APR starts; that costs $124.95 of interest, for a total cost of $304.95. The transfer saves about $1,434.28 and clears the debt in 1 year 10 months. Paying $412.00 a month would clear it before the promotion ends, with no interest at all.

• Deferred interest is different. A "no interest if paid in full within 12 months" offer is not a 0% APR. If any of the balance is left when the period ends, the CFPB says that "usually, the interest is calculated based on the balance you owed in each month since you first made the purchase" (CFPB). This calculator does not model deferred interest.
• New purchases on the transfer card usually get no grace period until the whole balance, transfer included, is paid, so they accrue interest from the day you buy (CFPB on consolidating card debt).
• Paying late can cost you the promotional rate. Federal rules let an issuer raise the rate on an existing balance once a minimum payment is more than 60 days late, after giving notice (12 CFR 1026.55(b)(4)). Read the offer's terms before you move a balance.

If you keep using the card

Paying $300 a month while charging $100 a month is not the same as paying $200 with the card put away. The calculator adds each month's charges to the balance at the start of the month, where they start accruing interest. On the $5,000 example the card is clear in 35 months with $1,837.81 of interest, compared with 34 months and $1,749.90 for $200 a month and no new charges. If the payment does not cover the interest plus the new charges, the balance never falls, and the calculator says so instead of printing a payoff date.

Ways to pay off credit card debt faster

• Pay more than the minimum, by a fixed amount. A fixed payment does not shrink as the balance falls, which is what makes minimum payments so slow.
• Stop adding new charges to the card you are paying down, or pay them in full each month on top of the plan.
• Target the highest APR first when you have several cards, or the smallest balance if quick wins keep you motivated.
• Ask your card issuer for a lower APR. Every percentage point less lowers the interest.
• Compare a balance transfer or consolidation offer with the Balance transfer tab, fee included.
• Get help if the numbers don't work. The toll-free number in the minimum payment box on your statement is required to give you information about credit counseling.

Card issuers' published rates change over time; the Federal Reserve's G.19 Consumer Credit release reports the interest rate on credit card plans across commercial banks. Your own APR is the one on your statement.

How we calculate

Every figure on this page and in the tool comes from the same code, and the examples above are checked against it automatically. These are the assumptions behind it, chosen to match the ones Regulation Z lets card issuers use for the payoff estimates on statements (Appendix M1):

• One rate per month. The monthly periodic rate is APR ÷ 12, or, if you pick the daily method, (1 + APR ÷ 365)^{365 ÷ 12} − 1, the daily periodic rate compounded over a 30.4-day month. All months are the same length.
• Order within a month. New charges are added at the start of the month, interest is charged on that balance, and the payment is credited at the end of the month. The final payment pays the balance in full.
• Cents. Each month's interest is rounded to the cent, as Appendix M1 allows, and so is every payment.
• No grace period, fees or rate changes. You carry a balance, so purchases have no grace period. Annual fees, late fees, penalty APRs and variable-rate changes are not included.
• Minimum payments are the greater of the dollar floor and the percentage of the statement balance (plus that month's interest, if ticked), and never more than the balance.
• Multiple cards. Every card gets its minimum; the rest of the budget goes to the target card. The avalanche ranks cards by APR, the snowball by starting balance. A paid-off card's minimum rolls to the next target.
• A 100-year limit. A plan that is not finished after 1,200 months is reported as not paid off.

A real card computes interest on the average daily balance over billing cycles of different lengths, so the cents and sometimes a month can differ from your statement. For your exact numbers, use your card agreement and statement, or ask your card issuer.

Your numbers stay on your device

Every calculation on this page runs as JavaScript in your own browser tab. There is no server doing the math and no account to create.

• Nothing is uploaded. The tool has no code that sends data anywhere, and the page's Content-Security-Policy only allows connections back to this site. Open your browser's developer tools, choose the Network tab and change a few numbers: no request appears.
• It keeps working offline. Once the page has loaded, you can disconnect and keep calculating.
• No cookies. The tool remembers your last inputs and tab in your browser's local storage, on your device only.

Sources

• 12 CFR 1026.7(b)(12): minimum payment warning and repayment disclosures, Regulation Z (Truth in Lending), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
• Appendix M1 to 12 CFR 1026: repayment disclosures, the assumptions behind the statement's payoff estimates.
• 12 CFR 1026.53: allocation of payments.
• 12 CFR 1026.55: limitations on increasing annual percentage rates, including promotional rates and the 60-day delinquency exception.
• 12 CFR Part 1026 on eCFR, the official text of Regulation Z.
• CFPB: How does my credit card company calculate the amount of interest I owe?
• CFPB: The three-year payment box on a credit card bill.
• CFPB: What is a balance transfer fee?
• CFPB: How "no interest if paid in full" offers work.
• CFPB: What do I need to know about consolidating my credit card debt?
• Federal Reserve: G.19 Consumer Credit, including interest rates on credit card plans.

Reviewed by microplugins · Last updated October 12, 2026

This is an educational tool, not financial advice. APRs, payments and offers on this page are examples, not quotes or current rates. Your card agreement and statement decide the exact figures.