Credit Card Payoff Calculator
How long your card takes to pay off and what it costs, or the payment that clears it by your date.
Interest adds 35% to your balance. Paying only the minimum would take 230 months and cost $6,350 more in interest.
Your statement's warning box
- Only the minimum: time
- 230 months
- Only the minimum: total paid
- $13,099.76
- To pay off in 36 months
- $190.96 a month
- 36 months: total paid
- $6,874.14
- Savings with 36 months
- $6,225.62
The rule. Your card statement must show these figures for your balance, using the issuer's minimum formula (here 1% of the balance plus interest, at least $25). The 36-month lines are not required when minimum-only repayment takes three years or less. Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.7(b)(12).
Balance month by month
Drag the handle to any monthYour plan reaches zero after 34 months with $1,750 of interest. Minimum only reaches zero after 230 months with $8,100. In month 1 you pay $200.00, of which $91.67 is interest, and $4,891.67 is left.
Month 1, step by step
- 1Monthly rate: 22% APR divided by 12i = 0.2212
- 2Interest for month 1, rounded to the cent$5,000.00 × i = $91.67
- 3Principal: this month's payment (a fixed amount) minus the interest$200.00 − $91.67 = $108.33
- 4Check: the balance carried into next month$5,000.00 − $108.33 = $4,891.67
Against minimum only
Your plan finishes 16 years 4 months sooner and saves $6,350 in interest.
If you paid a little more
| Payment | Time | Interest | Saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| $200.00 (yours) | 2 yr 10 mo | $1,750 | – |
| $225.00 | 2 yr 5 mo | $1,481 | $269 |
| $250.00 | 2 yr 2 mo | $1,286 | $464 |
| $300.00 | 1 yr 9 mo | $1,022 | $728 |
| $400.00 | 1 yr 3 mo | $732 | $1,018 |
Same balance and APR, no new purchases.
Month-by-month schedule
| Still owed | Interest | Principal | Payment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,891.67 | $91.67 | $108.33 | $200.00 |
| 2 | $4,781.35 | $89.68 | $110.32 | $200.00 |
| 3 | $4,669.01 | $87.66 | $112.34 | $200.00 |
| 4 | $4,554.61 | $85.60 | $114.40 | $200.00 |
| 5 | $4,438.11 | $83.50 | $116.50 | $200.00 |
| 6 | $4,319.48 | $81.37 | $118.63 | $200.00 |
| 7 | $4,198.67 | $79.19 | $120.81 | $200.00 |
| 8 | $4,075.65 | $76.98 | $123.02 | $200.00 |
| 9 | $3,950.37 | $74.72 | $125.28 | $200.00 |
| 10 | $3,822.79 | $72.42 | $127.58 | $200.00 |
| 11 | $3,692.87 | $70.08 | $129.92 | $200.00 |
| 12 | $3,560.57 | $67.70 | $132.30 | $200.00 |
Before you rely on this result. This is an estimate for planning. Banks, lenders and other providers apply their own rules, fees and rounding, so confirm figures with them before you commit to a financial decision. Sources used on this page.
How it's worked out
The tool walks through your card one month at a time. Each month, interest is charged on the balance you carry in, at the APR divided by 12, and rounded to the cent as a statement would show it:
Your payment pays that interest first. What is left comes off the balance. The tool repeats this until the balance reaches zero, so the last payment is usually smaller than the rest. A fixed payment stays the same each month. A minimum payment is worked out again each month from your issuer's formula, such as 1% of the balance plus interest, with a floor such as $25, and rounded to the cent.
To find the payment for a deadline of months, the tool uses the level-payment formula, with the APR divided by 12, and rounds up to the next cent:
If a payment does not cover the month's interest, the balance never falls. The tool tells you the smallest payment that makes progress.
Worked examples
Jess stops using her card
Jess owes $5,000 at 22% APR and can pay $200 a month. She is debt-free after 34 payments, about 2 years 10 months, and pays $1,749.90 in interest. Open this example in the tool
Her card's minimum is 1% of the balance plus interest, at least $25. It starts at $141.67, but it shrinks as the balance falls. Paying only the minimum takes 230 months, about 19 years 2 months, and costs $8,099.76 in interest. Open this example in the tool
Jess adds 50 a month
Raising the payment to $250 clears the card in 26 payments, with $1,285.71 of interest. That is $464.19 less than at $200, for $50 more a month. Open this example in the tool
Omar sets a deadline
Omar owes $8,000 at 24% and wants it gone in two years. He needs to pay $422.97 a month. Over the 24 months he pays $2,151.24 in interest. Open this example in the tool
Reading your result
The answer assumes you stop using the card and the APR stays the same. New purchases or a rate rise push the date back, so run the numbers again when either changes.
Your statement has a warning box with the same kind of figures. Under Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.7(b)(12), it must show how long minimum-only repayment takes, what it costs in total, and the monthly payment that clears the balance in 36 months. For Jess, that 36-month payment is $190.96, for $6,874.14 in total. The 36-month lines may be left off when minimum-only repayment takes three years or less.
A fixed payment beats a shrinking minimum by a wide margin. If Jess kept paying her first minimum of $141.67 every month, she would be done in 58 months instead of 230.
APR matters too. The Federal Reserve's G.19 release put the average rate on card accounts that pay interest at 22.36% in August 2026. If your rate is well above that, a lower-rate card or loan may be worth a look.
Common mistakes
- Entering the minimum as a fixed payment. The minimum on this month's statement will drop next month. Choose Card minimum to model that, or enter the amount as fixed only if you will keep paying it.
- Leaving out a transfer fee. A balance transfer usually costs 3% to 5% of the amount moved. Add it to the balance you enter.
- Using the wrong APR. Cash advances and expired promotions often carry a higher rate than purchases. Use the rate on the part of the balance you are paying down.
- Expecting the exact cents of a statement. Issuers charge a daily rate on the average daily balance, and months have different lengths. Your statement may differ from these figures by a little each month.
- Pausing payments to save up. Interest keeps building while you wait. Paying something every month, even a little above the minimum, costs less than a large payment later.
Questions people ask
Sources
Maintained by Anil ShahUpdated October 28, 2026Checked against 8 reference values