Find out how many months it will take to pay off a credit card or loan balance, plus the total interest you'll pay along the way.
Enter your current balance (credit card, personal loan, or any revolving debt), the annual interest rate (APR), and how much you plan to pay each month. Press "Calculate Payoff Time" to see how many months it will take to reach zero, the estimated payoff date, and the total interest you'll pay along the way.
With a monthly interest rate r = APR ÷ 100 ÷ 12, balance B, and monthly payment M, the number of months n to pay off the debt is:
n = −ln(1 − (r × B ÷ M)) ÷ ln(1 + r)
If your monthly payment is too small to ever cover the interest that accrues, the balance will never reach zero — the calculator will flag this so you know to increase your payment.
For a $5,000 balance at 19.99% APR with $200 monthly payments: the monthly rate r = 0.1999 ÷ 12 ≈ 0.01666. Plugging into the formula gives roughly 30 months to pay off the debt, with total payments of about $5,950 — meaning around $950 goes to interest. Increasing the payment to $300 a month would cut that payoff time to about 19 months and reduce total interest significantly.
Because interest compounds on whatever balance remains, even a modest increase in your monthly payment can shave months — sometimes years — off a payoff timeline and save a meaningful amount in interest. Try re-running the calculator with a slightly higher payment to see the effect for yourself.
Does this account for new purchases added to the balance? No — this assumes no new charges are added and only tracks the payoff of the existing balance with fixed monthly payments.
What if my payment doesn't even cover the interest? If your monthly payment is less than the interest accruing each month, your balance will grow instead of shrink — the calculator will warn you if this is the case.
It simulates monthly payments against your balance and interest rate, showing how many months it takes to reach zero at your chosen payment amount.
Even small increases above the minimum can meaningfully shorten payoff time and reduce total interest paid, since more of each payment goes to principal.
This depends on your debt's interest rate versus expected investment returns — generally, paying off high-interest debt first (like credit cards) offers a guaranteed "return" equal to the interest rate saved.