Loan Payment Calculator
Calculate the payment, total interest and total cost of an amortising loan.
Result
Payment: $973.50
No fees, insurance or origination costs are included. A loan with fees costs more than this and its APR is higher than the rate entered.
- Total interest
- $3,046.10
- Total paid
- $35,046.10
- Final payment
- $973.60
- The last payment absorbs the rounding, so it differs slightly from the others.
- Number of payments
- 36
- Interest share of total paid
- 8.69%
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Results are arithmetic estimates based on the values you enter. Rates, fees and terms are set by your lender or provider, and your actual agreement controls what you pay or receive. Confirm important figures with them or with a qualified adviser. Read the full disclaimer
How to use the Loan Payment Calculator
- Enter the amount borrowed, not the price of what you are buying.
- Enter the annual rate the lender quoted and choose how often you pay.
- Set the term in years or months, whichever the offer states.
What a level payment is made of
A fully amortising loan is repaid by a series of identical payments. Each one covers the interest that accrued since the last payment, and whatever is left reduces the balance. Because the balance falls, the interest portion shrinks every period and the principal portion grows, even though the payment itself never changes.
payment = amount × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−n)r = annual rate ÷ payments per yearn = number of paymentsThat is the present value of an ordinary annuity rearranged to solve for the payment. It assumes every payment arrives on time, that the rate never changes, and that nothing is added to the balance.
The rate per period is a division, not a root
A lender quoting 6% on a monthly loan charges 0.5% a month. The annual figure is divided by twelve, not converted by taking a twelfth root. This is the nominal convention used for disclosed rates, and it is why twelve monthly periods at 0.5% come to slightly more than 6% over a year once compounding is counted.
Entering an effective annual rate here would understate the payment. If a lender has quoted an effective or equivalent annual rate, ask for the nominal rate before comparing offers.
Totals you can reconcile against a statement
Interest is calculated on the balance and rounded to the cent every period, which is what a lender does. The totals come from running that schedule rather than from multiplying the payment by the number of periods, so they match what you would see on a real account.
A consequence is that the total interest here can differ by a few cents from a textbook figure calculated with an unrounded payment. The figure shown is the one that reconciles.
What is not included
Fees change the cost of borrowing but not the payment arithmetic. Origination fees, broker fees, insurance sold alongside the loan and any charge deducted from the advance all make the true cost higher than the result here. A loan with fees has an APR above its interest rate, and comparing two offers on rate alone will pick the wrong one when their fees differ.
Late payment charges, payment holidays, variable rates and early repayment penalties are all outside this calculation. Where a loan has any of those, the schedule shown is a starting point rather than a forecast.
With your numbers
- Rate per period = 6% ÷ 12 = 0.5%
- Payment = $32,000.00 × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−36) = $973.50
- Total paid = $35,046.10, of which $3,046.10 is interest
Quick reference
No fees, insurance or origination costs are included. A loan with fees costs more than this and its APR is higher than the rate entered.
| Example | Payment |
|---|---|
| USD 32,000 at 6% over 3 years | $973.50 |
| USD 10,000 at 9.5% over 36 months | $320.33 |
| USD 25,000 at 7.25% over 5 years | $497.98 |
| USD 5,000 personal loan at 12% over 2 years | $235.37 |
| USD 40,000 at 5.9% paid biweekly over 5 years | $355.65 |
| EUR 15,000 at 4.5% over 4 years | €342.05 |
| EUR 60,000 at 3.75% over 10 years | €600.37 |
| EUR 8,000 interest free over 24 months | €333.33 |
Common questions about the Loan Payment Calculator
- Why is my final payment different from the others?
- The level payment is rounded to the cent, so a whole term of identical payments does not land exactly on zero. The last payment absorbs the difference. Real lenders do the same thing.
- Is the rate I enter the same as the APR?
- Not usually. APR includes fees and is calculated under a regulated method. This calculator uses only the interest rate you enter, so a loan with origination or broker fees costs more than the result shown.
- Why does paying biweekly change the total interest?
- Paying every two weeks means 26 payments a year rather than 12, so the balance falls faster and less interest accrues. Check whether the lender actually applies biweekly payments on receipt.
- Does this work for an interest-free loan?
- Yes. Enter 0 as the rate and the payment becomes the amount divided by the number of payments, with no interest at all.