Monthly payment, total interest, and total cost — for any personal loan
💡 Why This Matters Before signing for a personal loan, it helps to see the real numbers — not just the advertised rate, but what you'll actually pay every month and over the life of the loan. Compare offers side by side before committing to one.
Unlike a mortgage or auto loan, most personal loans are unsecured — meaning there's no collateral backing them. That's part of why their rates tend to run higher than secured loans of similar size.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We do our best to link products that we genuinely believe are organic, no disposable junk, sustainable, and built to last.
This calculator uses the standard loan amortization formula, which spreads the loan amount plus interest into equal monthly payments over the term. Each month's payment covers that month's interest first, with the remainder reducing the principal balance — this is the same math lenders use to generate their payment schedules.
The monthly payment is what you'll owe every month for the full term, assuming a fixed rate. Total interest is the real cost of borrowing — money paid to the lender beyond what you originally borrowed. Total cost combines both, showing the true full price of the loan from start to finish.
This assumes a fixed interest rate for the full term; variable-rate loans will produce different real payments as the rate changes. It also doesn't include origination fees, which many personal loans charge — check whether your quoted APR already factors those in, since APR is designed to be a more complete cost comparison than the bare interest rate alone.
Run the same loan amount through a few different lenders' quoted rates and terms to see how much total interest varies — even a couple percentage points can mean hundreds or thousands of dollars over a multi-year term. A shorter term usually means a higher monthly payment but meaningfully less total interest paid.
Example: A $15,000 loan at 9% APR over 4 years (48 months). Monthly payment: $373.28. Total paid over the loan: $17,917.23. Total interest: $2,917.23.
They're often the same product used differently. A personal loan can fund anything — a purchase, an expense, home repairs. When that loan is specifically used to pay off multiple existing debts, it's called consolidation. Use this calculator for any personal loan; use a dedicated debt consolidation calculator to compare against your current debts specifically.
Significantly. Personal loan APRs commonly range from around 6% for excellent credit to 30%+ for poor credit. Shop multiple lenders, since rates for the same credit profile can vary meaningfully between them.
Many personal loans charge an origination fee, typically 1-8% of the loan amount, taken out of the funds you receive or added to the balance. This calculator estimates interest-only cost — check your specific loan offer's APR, which should already fold origination fees into a single comparable rate.