Credit Card Payoff Calculator
Months to pay off a credit card at a fixed monthly payment, or the payment that clears it in a set number of months, with total interest and total paid. How it works
Use the Credit Card Payoff Calculator
About the Credit Card Payoff Calculator
$5,000 at 18.9% APR paid at $200 a month is cleared in 33 months (2 years 9 months), with $1,405.04 of interest and $6,405.04 paid in all. Each month the credit card payoff calculator adds interest of balance × APR ÷ 12 and takes the payment off. If the payment is not more than the first month’s interest, to the cent, it says the card is never paid off at that payment. Switch Work out to the monthly payment to go the other way: $5,000 at 18.9% cleared in 24 months takes $251.81 a month.
Payoff time by monthly payment: $5,000 at 18.9% APR
| Monthly payment | Time to payoff | Total interest | Total paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100 | 8 years 4 months | $4,911.05 | $9,911.05 |
| $150 | 4 years | $2,145.87 | $7,145.87 |
| $200 | 2 years 9 months | $1,405.04 | $6,405.04 |
| $300 | 1 year 8 months | $845.93 | $5,845.93 |
| $500 | 11 months | $483.55 | $5,483.55 |
Fixed APR, the same payment every month, no new charges. The last payment is whatever clears the balance.
Payoff time by APR: $5,000 paid at $200 a month
| APR | Time to payoff | Total interest | Total paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | 2 years 1 month | $0.00 | $5,000.00 |
| 12% | 2 years 5 months | $782.44 | $5,782.44 |
| 18.9% | 2 years 9 months | $1,405.04 | $6,405.04 |
| 24% | 3 years | $2,000.56 | $7,000.56 |
| 29.99% | 3 years 4 months | $2,942.93 | $7,942.93 |
Interest each month is balance × APR ÷ 12.
How to use this tool
- Enter the current balance, the APR in percent and the monthly payment.
- Read the time to payoff, the total interest and the total paid.
- Change the payment to see how the time and the interest move.
- To find the payment for a deadline, set Work out to Monthly payment, from a number of months, and enter the months.
Frequently asked questions
- How long will it take to pay off $5,000 on a credit card?
- At 18.9% APR it takes 33 months at $200 a month, 20 months at $300 and 11 months at $500. At $100 a month it takes 8 years 4 months and costs $4,911.05 in interest. To clear it by a deadline instead, set Work out to Monthly payment, from a number of months: 24 months takes $251.81 a month with $1,043.16 of interest, and 12 months $460.55. That payment is B × i ÷ (1 − (1 + i)^−n) with i = APR ÷ 12, rounded up to the cent.
- What does “Never at this payment” mean?
- The payment is not more than the interest added in the first month, to the cent, so the balance does not fall. On $5,000 at 18.9% that interest is $78.75: a $78 payment never pays it off, while $78.76 takes 575 months (47 years 11 months) and $40,216.01 of interest.
- How much does paying more each month save?
- On $5,000 at 18.9%, raising the payment from $200 to $300 cuts the time from 33 months to 20 and the interest from $1,405.04 to $845.93, a saving of $559.11.
- Does it work out interest daily like my card issuer?
- No. It uses APR ÷ 12 once a month. The CFPB says some issuers apply a daily periodic rate, usually the APR divided by 360 or 365, so interest compounds daily. A statement can therefore differ a little from this result.
- What if the card has a 0% APR?
- Interest is $0.00, the total paid equals the balance and the months are the balance ÷ the payment, rounded up. $5,000 at $300 a month takes 17 months, the last payment being the remainder.
- How long does paying only the minimum take?
- The tool cannot say exactly, because a minimum payment is recalculated from the balance each month and this calculator uses one fixed payment. Enter this month’s minimum as the payment to get a lower bound: the real minimum falls as the balance falls, so paying only the minimum takes longer and costs more interest than the result shows. New purchases, fees and late payments are not added either.
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