Credit Card Payoff Calculator
Credit card interest compounds fast. See how many months your payment takes to clear the balance — and how much a bigger payment saves.
How it's calculated
Each month the calculator adds interest of balance × APR ÷ 12, then subtracts your payment, repeating until the balance reaches zero. Card issuers actually compute interest daily on your average daily balance, so your statement may differ by a few dollars. It assumes no new purchases. The "pay off in N months" lines use the fixed-payment loan formula.
Questions & answers
Why does paying only the minimum take so long?
Minimum payments are often little more than the month's interest, so the balance barely falls. Try entering your minimum payment above and then a higher amount to see the difference in months and interest.
Does a balance transfer help?
A 0% intro APR balance transfer can save interest if you pay the balance off before the promo ends, but most charge a transfer fee (often 3%–5%). Set APR to 0 here to model the promo period.
Avalanche or snowball?
With several cards, the avalanche method (extra money to the highest APR first) saves the most interest; the snowball method (smallest balance first) gives quicker wins. Both work if you keep paying more than the minimum.
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