Debt Payoff Calculator
List your debts — balance, APR, and minimum payment — add what extra you can pay each month, and see the snowball and avalanche plans side by side: months to debt-free, total interest, and the order your debts fall in each strategy.
Your debts
Fill in as many rows as you have debts (up to 10); leave the rest empty.
A worked three-debt example
Take a $4,500 card at 22% APR ($110 minimum), a $1,200 card at 19% ($35 minimum), and an $8,000 loan at 9% ($180 minimum), with $150 extra a month — $475 paid in total every month. The snowball clears the small card first and is debt-free in 2 yr 11 mo at a cost of $2,777 in interest. The avalanche attacks the 22% card first: debt-free in 2 yr 11 mo with $2,716 of interest — $60 less. Every figure comes from the same tested engine as the calculator above; enter your own debts to see your gap.
How the simulation works
Each month, interest accrues on every open debt at its APR ÷ 12; every open debt then receives its minimum, and everything left in the budget — your extra, plus the minimums of debts already eliminated — goes to the current target: the smallest starting balance (snowball) or the highest APR (avalanche). Payments land at the end of the month, and the plan is capped at 100 years. For a single card, the Credit Card Payoff Calculator is the quicker tool; if a consolidation loan tempts you, check its fee-adjusted cost with the Personal Loan Calculator before folding cards into it.
Frequently asked questions
Snowball or avalanche — which should I use?
Avalanche (highest APR first) always pays the same or less total interest — that is arithmetic, not opinion, and this calculator shows the exact dollar difference for your debts. Snowball (smallest balance first) clears individual debts sooner, which many people find easier to stick with. Pick the one you will actually follow; the difference shown here is the price of the motivational boost.
Why must each minimum exceed the first month's interest?
If a payment does not cover the interest accruing that month, the balance grows instead of shrinking and the debt never amortizes. The calculator flags the exact row and the interest figure the minimum needs to beat.
What happens to a minimum payment when its debt is paid off?
It rolls forward. The total you pay each month stays constant — every minimum plus your extra — so each debt you eliminate frees its minimum to accelerate the next target. That rollover is what makes both strategies snowball over time.
How closely does this match my card statements?
It is a planning model: interest accrues monthly at APR ÷ 12 with payments at the end of each month, while card issuers typically accrue daily and set minimums that shrink with the balance. Keeping your payment fixed at today's minimum (as modeled here) rather than riding a declining minimum is exactly what makes payoff fast, so the model matches the recommended behavior, not the statement floor.
Not financial advice: a general educational estimate using monthly compounding and end-of-month payments; card issuers typically accrue daily and adjust minimums as balances fall. Values are processed locally in your browser and never transmitted. See the methodology page.