Find your monthly payment on any loan — mortgage, auto, personal, or otherwise
💡 Why This Matters A loan's advertised interest rate doesn't tell you what you'll actually pay each month. This calculator turns loan amount, rate, and term into a real monthly payment number — and shows how much of that is interest versus principal — so you can compare loans honestly before signing anything.
On a typical 30-year mortgage, you don't cross the halfway point on principal paid until roughly year 22 — for the first two decades, most of every payment is going toward interest, not the balance.
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A loan payment is calculated using an amortization formula that spreads both principal and interest evenly across every payment for the life of the loan. The formula takes your loan amount, converts your annual interest rate into a monthly rate, and factors in the total number of monthly payments (your term in years × 12). The result is a fixed monthly payment that, if paid on schedule, pays off the loan exactly on time — with interest and principal split differently each month, even though the payment itself stays flat.
The large number is your fixed monthly payment — the amount you'd budget for every month. The breakdown underneath separates total interest (the real cost of borrowing) from your total amount paid (principal plus interest combined). Comparing total interest across different rates or terms is often more revealing than comparing monthly payments alone, since a lower payment can sometimes mean paying far more interest overall.
This calculator assumes a standard fixed-rate loan with equal monthly payments — it doesn't account for variable rates, extra principal payments, balloon payments, origination fees, or loan-specific costs like PMI on a mortgage. Real lenders may also round differently or apply payments in a slightly different order. Use this as a strong estimate for comparison shopping, not as a substitute for an official loan estimate from a lender.
Use this to compare how rate and term changes affect your monthly budget and total cost before committing to a loan. A slightly higher rate over a shorter term can sometimes cost less overall than a lower rate stretched over more years — running a few scenarios side by side is the fastest way to see which tradeoff actually fits your situation.
Example: Say you borrow $25,000 at 6.5% annual interest over 5 years (60 months). Monthly rate = 6.5% ÷ 12 = 0.5417%. Using the amortization formula, your monthly payment comes out to $489.15. Over 60 months, you'd pay $4,349.22 in total interest — for a total repaid of $29,349.22.
Monthly payment is calculated using the loan amortization formula, which factors in the principal, the monthly interest rate (annual rate divided by 12), and the total number of payments (years times 12). The formula spreads interest and principal across payments so the loan is fully paid off by the end of the term.
Interest is calculated on the remaining balance each month, and the balance is highest at the start. As you pay down principal over time, more of each payment goes toward principal and less toward interest, even though the total payment stays the same.
A longer term lowers your monthly payment but increases the total interest paid over the life of the loan, since you're borrowing the money for more months. A shorter term raises the monthly payment but reduces total interest paid.