Personal Loan Calculator
Estimate your monthly personal loan payment and total cost.
- Author
- CentCompass
- Last Updated
- Reading Time
- 4 min read
Monthly payment
$491.08
Total interest
$2,678.91
Total repayment
$17,678.91
What is the Personal Loan Calculator?
A personal loan calculator estimates the monthly payment, total interest, and total repayment for a fixed-rate installment loan. Personal loans are typically unsecured, meaning no collateral backs them, so the rate you are offered depends heavily on your credit profile rather than on an asset the lender can repossess.
How the calculation works
The loan amount is amortized over the term at your interest rate, producing a level monthly payment that repays the debt exactly by the final month. Interest is charged on the declining balance, so early payments contain more interest and later ones more principal. Total repayment is simply the payment multiplied by the number of months, and the difference between that and the amount borrowed is what the loan cost you.
The formula
M = P · [r(1+r)^n] / [(1+r)^n − 1], where P is the amount borrowed, r the monthly rate, and n the number of monthly payments. Total repayment is M × n and total interest is M × n − P. If the lender charges an origination fee deducted from the proceeds, the cash you actually receive is P minus that fee, which raises your effective borrowing cost above the stated interest rate — this is precisely the gap that APR is designed to capture.
Worked example
A $15,000 loan at 11% over 36 months carries a payment of about $491. Total repayment is roughly $17,680, meaning the loan itself cost about $2,680 in interest. If the lender also charged a 5% origination fee, $750 would be deducted and you would receive $14,250 while still repaying the full $15,000 plus interest — pushing the true annual cost well above the quoted 11%.
Tips
- A shorter term means a higher payment but noticeably less interest.
- Ask whether an origination fee is deducted from the proceeds or added to the balance.
- Pre-qualify with several lenders using soft credit checks before formally applying.
- Compare a personal loan against a 0% balance-transfer card for short-run debt consolidation.
- Confirm there is no prepayment penalty if you intend to pay ahead of schedule.
Common mistakes
- Comparing interest rates instead of APRs and missing the effect of origination fees.
- Consolidating credit card debt and then running the cards back up.
- Choosing the longest available term for the low payment and paying far more overall.
- Applying formally to many lenders at once instead of pre-qualifying with soft checks.
- Overlooking the funded amount — what you receive can be less than what you borrow.
Limitations
The estimate assumes a fixed rate, a fixed term, and no fees. It does not model origination fees, late charges, insurance add-ons, or variable rates, and it cannot tell you what rate you will actually be offered, since that depends on credit history, income, and each lender's own criteria.
Frequently asked questions
What is APR?
The Annual Percentage Rate expresses the yearly cost of borrowing including certain fees, not just the interest rate. For a loan with an origination fee the APR is higher than the interest rate, which is why APR is the fair basis for comparing offers.
Personal loan vs credit card?
A personal loan has a fixed rate, a fixed payment, and a definite end date, which makes payoff predictable. Credit cards carry variable rates that are usually higher and minimum payments that can extend the debt almost indefinitely.
What is an origination fee?
It is a one-time charge for processing the loan, commonly 1–8% of the amount borrowed. It is often deducted from the funds you receive, so you repay the full loan amount while getting less than that in hand.
Can I pay it off early?
Usually yes, and doing so reduces total interest because interest accrues on the outstanding balance. Check your agreement for a prepayment penalty first, and confirm the lender applies extra payments to principal.
How is the monthly payment set?
It is the level amount that fully repays the principal and all interest across the chosen term. It is determined entirely by the amount borrowed, the rate, and the number of months — change any one and the payment moves.
What is a secured versus unsecured personal loan?
An unsecured loan is backed only by your promise to repay, so pricing rests on your creditworthiness. A secured loan is backed by collateral such as a savings account or vehicle, which usually lowers the rate but puts that asset at risk if you default.
How does my credit score affect the rate?
It is the dominant factor. Borrowers with excellent credit are offered substantially lower rates than those with fair or poor credit, and on a multi-year loan that difference can amount to thousands of dollars in additional interest.
Can I pre-qualify without hurting my credit?
Most lenders offer pre-qualification using a soft credit inquiry, which does not affect your score and gives you an indicative rate. Only the formal application triggers a hard inquiry, so pre-qualify widely and apply narrowly.
Is a personal loan good for debt consolidation?
It can be, if the new rate is meaningfully lower than what you are paying and you avoid re-accumulating the original balances. Compare the total cost including any origination fee against simply paying the existing debts down aggressively.
How much can I borrow?
Lenders weigh your income, existing debt load, and credit history rather than applying a single formula. Borrowing the maximum offered is rarely wise — the sustainable amount is the one whose payment fits your budget alongside your other commitments.
Related calculators
Related guides
Sources
- FTC — Credit, Loans, and Debt
- Consumer.gov (FTC) — Credit, Loans, and Debt
- Federal Reserve — G.19 Consumer Credit
How this page is produced
Editorial process. CentCompass is maintained independently, and this page is written and checked against the official publications listed above before it goes live. There is no separate editorial reviewer. This page was last checked on . See our editorial policy.
How the calculations work. Every result comes from a small, unit-tested calculation engine rather than a spreadsheet or a hardcoded table. Loans use the standard amortization formula, growth uses compound-interest math, income tax applies the federal progressive brackets, and payroll applies Social Security and Medicare rules. Our methodology sets out each one.
Where the figures come from. Tax brackets, standard deductions, FICA parameters, and contribution limits are stored once in a dated registry and read directly by the calculators — the same values appear in the text above, so the two can never drift apart. Each figure records its source, effective tax year, and review status on our data sources page.
Update policy. Regulatory figures are checked against their primary source when the IRS, SSA, or another authority publishes new values — typically each autumn for the following tax year — and again at the scheduled review date recorded for each dataset. Figures that have not been checked yet are marked as draft on the data sources page until that check is complete.
Educational purposes only — not financial, tax, or investment advice (disclaimer).