Credit card payoff calculator, your debt free date.

A credit card payoff calculator shows how long it takes to clear a balance and how much interest you pay on the way. You give it the balance, the APR and a payment. It gives back the months to pay off, the total interest and a month by month table. This one also works backwards from a payoff date to the payment you need, shows the cost of paying only the minimum, and compares the avalanche and snowball plans for several cards. It assumes no new spending and a fixed APR. A real statement can differ by a few cents, or more if your rate or fees change.

How to use the calculator

1. Pick a plan under How do you want to pay.
2. Type the Balance and the APR (% a year) from your statement.
3. For A fixed payment each month, type the Monthly payment. Open Extra payments to add a regular extra or a payment now and see the interest you save.
4. For By a payoff date, type the months or years you want, and read the payment needed.
5. For Only the minimum, type the formula from your card agreement: a percent of the balance, with or without the month's interest, and a lowest amount.
6. For Several cards, type one card per line as name, balance, APR and minimum, and the total you can pay each month.
7. Read the cards, the chart and the table. Copy result copies a summary and Download table (CSV) saves the table.

How the interest is worked out

Card issuers commonly charge interest every day on your balance, using the APR divided by the days in a year, and add it up for the billing cycle (CFPB, checked 18 Oct 2026). This page does the same by the month: interest = balance × APR ÷ 365 × the days in the month. It is added at the end of the month, then your payment comes off. Under Interest method you can switch to APR ÷ 12, or to a 360 day year if your agreement says so.

The examples below use APR ÷ 12 so you can reproduce them in any month. On 5,000 at 20% APR, the first month's interest is 5,000 × 0.20 ÷ 12 = 83.33.

Worked examples

All rows are for a 5,000 balance at 20% APR. An extra 50 a month saves 389.07 of interest and 8 months. The daily method gives nearly the same result: 200 a month with a first payment in November 2026 costs 1,521.29 in interest, and a 360 day year costs 1,551.58.

The minimum payment trap

Issuers set the minimum with a formula, often a percent of the balance plus the month's interest, with a floor. Type yours under Only the minimum. With the example formula of 1% plus interest and at least 25, a 5,000 balance at 20% starts with a minimum of 133.33. Paying only the minimum, it takes 226 months, which is 18 years and 10 months, and costs 7,316.77 in interest. Paying 133.33 every month, without letting it fall, clears the card in 60 months for 2,912.09 of interest. The page shows that second line under the result.

Avalanche or snowball

Both plans pay every minimum and put the rest of your monthly budget on one card. The avalanche targets the highest APR first, which costs the least interest. The snowball targets the smallest balance first, which clears whole cards sooner. When a card is cleared, its minimum moves to the next one. With the three example cards (800 at 29%, 3,000 at 22.5% and 1,500 at 18%, minimums 25, 75 and 45) and 400 a month, both plans take 16 months. The avalanche costs 777.85 in interest and the snowball 821.81, a difference of 43.96. Paying only the minimums takes 75 months and costs 3,946.22.

What can make your statement differ

• Your issuer may count the days differently, use the average daily balance, or compound the daily interest.
• New purchases, fees, a changed APR or a promotional rate are not in the sums.
• Payment dates matter. This page puts the payment at the end of each month.

Reading the table and the chart

The table lists each month: the interest that was added, what you paid, how much of it went to the balance and what you still owe. In the first months most of a payment goes to interest. At 5,000 and 20% with 200 a month, the first month adds 83.33 of interest, so only 116.67 of the 200 reduces the balance. The share to the balance grows as the balance falls. The chart shows the same balance over time, and the dashed line shows the plan without your extra payment, so the gap is the benefit of paying more.

Try a few payments and compare the total interest: it falls quickly as the payment rises, because each extra dollar stops interest from being charged on it for the rest of the time. This page does not suggest a rate or a card. It shows the cost of what you type.

For a loan with a fixed term, use the loan calculator. To see how savings grow, try the compound interest calculator, and for a quick share of a number, the percentage calculator.