Credit Card Payoff Calculator
How long a balance takes to clear, what the interest costs you, and how much sooner it ends if you pay more.
The address carries whatever you changed, so anyone opening it sees these numbers. Nothing is saved on our side.
Time to clear the balance
4 years 6 months
Paying $150 a month against $5,000 at 22.9% APR.
- The balance62%$5,000
- Interest38%$3,022
- Total paid$8,022
- $3,022
- on top of the balance
- $8,022
- 38%
- of everything you pay
- $95.42
What paying more would do
Interest on a card compounds against you every month, so the effect of a larger payment is far bigger than the extra money you put in.
| Monthly payment | You pay | Total interest | vs yours |
|---|---|---|---|
| $150yours4 years 6 months | $150 | — | |
| $2252 years 6 months | $225 | −$1,454 less in total | |
| $3001 year 9 months | $300 | −$1,946 less in total | |
| $4501 year 1 month | $450 | −$2,348 less in total |
How this calculator works
A card has no fixed schedule, so there is no formula to solve — it is simulated month by month.
interest = balance × (APR ÷ 12)
balance = balance + interest − payment
Repeated until the balance reaches zero. Because you choose the payment rather than being assigned one, the balance depends on every previous decision, and there is no closed form that skips to the answer.
If the payment does not exceed the interest, the balance grows and no number of months clears it. That case is reported as what it is rather than as a very large number.
Where this simplifies
- Interest is applied monthly. Issuers apply it daily, which costs marginally more.
- The payment is assumed constant. A minimum that falls with the balance stretches the payoff much further.
- No new spending on the card. Adding to the balance while paying it down changes the answer completely.
A worked example
Five thousand dollars at 22.9%, paying $150 a month.
| Starting balance | $5,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Monthly rate | 0.0190833 |
| First month's interest | $95.42 |
| First month's progress | $54.58 |
| Months to clear | 54 |
| Total interest | $3,021.93 |
| Total paid | $8,021.93 |
| Interest as a share of what you pay | 38% |
Drop the payment to $100 and it takes 164 months and costs $11,308 in interest — more than twice the original balance. Pay $95 and it never clears at all, because the interest alone is $95.42.
Questions people ask
Because most of it is interest. A typical minimum is set near the interest charge plus a small percentage of the balance, so the amount actually reducing what you owe is tiny. Paying the minimum on a card at 22.9% can take well over a decade and cost more in interest than the original balance.
The balance grows. Every month the interest charged is larger than the payment, so what you owe goes up even though you are paying. The calculator says so explicitly rather than showing a very large number of months, because that is the single most important thing to know.
Not quite. Most issuers compute interest daily on an average daily balance, which costs slightly more than the monthly approximation used here. The difference is small next to the decision this calculator informs, but your statement will run a little higher than the figure shown.
It can, substantially, if you clear the balance within the promotional period. Transfers usually carry a fee of 3–5% of the amount moved, and the promotional rate ends on a fixed date regardless of your progress. Model it by setting the rate to zero for the promotional months and check whether the balance actually reaches zero in time.
A card at 20% or more is one of the most expensive liabilities most people can hold, and clearing it is a guaranteed return no investment reliably matches. The usual exception is keeping a small emergency buffer first, so an unexpected bill does not put the balance straight back on the card.
Getting out of debt
Debt PayoffAvalanche versus snowball payoff orderRelated calculators
An estimate for planning. Issuers compute interest daily and set minimums by their own formula, so your statement will differ slightly.