Personal Loan Calculator
Monthly payment and total interest for a personal loan — plus the number lenders hope you won't compute: the effective APR once the origination fee is included, which is what makes competing offers genuinely comparable.
Personal loan payment & true APR
Example: $15,000 at 11% for 5 years ≈ $326.14/mo; a 5% fee lifts the APR to 13.26%.
What the fee really does
In the worked example — $15,000 at 11% over 5 years — the payment is $326.14 a month with $4,568 of interest. Add a 5% origination fee ($750) and nothing about the payment changes, but you only receive $14,250 — so the effective cost of the money you actually got rises to 13.26% APR. That gap between quoted rate and effective APR is exactly what this calculator surfaces, using the same tested engine that computed every number in this paragraph.
Comparing offers the right way
Line up offers on three numbers: the effective APR (fee included), the monthly payment, and the total repaid. Lenders are required to disclose an APR, but computing it yourself confirms the disclosure and lets you test scenarios they didn't quote — a shorter term, a different fee tier, a bigger loan. When two offers are close, the shorter term almost always wins on total cost.
Frequently asked questions
What is an origination fee, and who charges it?
A one-time fee (commonly 1–8% of the loan) that many personal-loan lenders deduct from the amount they send you — you repay the full loan but receive less. It is the main reason two loans with the same quoted rate can cost very different amounts.
Why does the effective APR matter more than the quoted rate?
The APR folds the fee into the cost of borrowing, putting every offer on one scale. A 10% loan with a 6% fee is genuinely more expensive than an 11.5% loan with no fee for shorter terms — comparing quoted rates alone gets that backwards.
What are typical personal-loan rates?
They vary enormously with credit: strong-credit borrowers may see high single digits, while weaker credit can reach 30%+. Personal loans are unsecured, so rates run well above mortgages and car loans, but usually far below credit cards.
Is a personal loan good for consolidating credit-card debt?
Often, if the APR (fee included) is meaningfully below your cards’ rates and you stop adding new card debt. Run your card balance through the Credit Card Payoff Calculator and compare the total interest each path costs.
Not financial advice: a general educational estimate. Actual rates and fees depend on your credit and the lender. Values are processed locally in your browser and never transmitted. See the methodology page.