See what your card balance costs this month, how long a fixed payment takes to clear it, and how much interest you pay along the way. Enter balance, APR, and monthly payment. Free, no sign-up.
Take a $6,500 balance at 22.15% APR. Interest this month is about $120. Pay $200 a month and you finish in about 51 months with roughly $3,500 in interest. Pay $350 and you finish in about 23 months with roughly $1,500 in interest.
A payment that does not beat interest keeps the quiet tax running forever. Clearing the card means paying clearly more than the monthly interest charge.
Interest this month is your balance times APR divided by 12. A $6,500 balance at 22.15% APR costs about $120 before you pay anything down.
Each month the calculator adds that month’s interest, then subtracts your payment. It repeats until the balance hits zero, or flags that your payment never beats the interest.
Total interest is every month’s charge added up. Raising the payment shortens the timeline and usually cuts that total the most.
Multiply the balance by the APR as a decimal, then divide by 12. $6,500 × 0.2215 ÷ 12 is about $120. Issuers may use daily compounding, so your statement can differ slightly.
No. The minimum is built to keep the account current while interest keeps accruing. Paying more than interest each month is what reduces principal.
Use the purchase APR you are actually being charged on the balance. Penalty rates apply after serious late payments and are much higher.
Run each card here to see its monthly tax, then compare payoff order with the debt snowball vs avalanche calculator. More in Snowball or avalanche for my debts?.
Related reading: Credit card interest is a tax, Which debt to pay first. More free calculators at theflan.app/tools.