Credit Card Payoff Calculator
See how long a fixed monthly payment takes to clear a credit card balance, and the total interest it costs.
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Currency: Amounts are calculated in the currency you select; this site does not convert between currencies and does not use live exchange rates.
What this tool does
Credit card statements show a minimum payment designed to keep the balance alive for years. This calculator answers the better question: if you fix a monthly amount and pay it every month — no new charges — how many months until the card is at zero, and how much interest does the bank collect along the way? It simulates the card month by month exactly the way issuers accrue interest on the balance, and prints the full payoff table so you can see the balance bend downward faster as the interest slice shrinks. The gap between this fixed-payment plan and minimum-only payments is usually thousands of dollars, which the Credit Card Minimum Payment Calculator in this cluster makes explicit.
How to use the Credit Card Payoff Calculator
- Enter the current card balance.
- Enter the card's APR from your statement.
- Enter the fixed amount you can pay every month — not the minimum.
- Read the months to debt-free and total interest; raise the payment to see how sharply both fall.
- Follow the payoff table to watch the balance decline month by month.
Formula
Each month: Interest = Balance × APR ÷ 1200; Balance = Balance + Interest − Payment, repeated until Balance = 0
- Balance
- Outstanding card balance at the start of the month
- APR
- Annual percentage rate on purchases
- Payment
- Your fixed monthly payment (the final month pays only what remains)
Assumes no new purchases, fees or penalty APR, and interest accrued monthly on the balance. Issuers actually use an average-daily-balance method, so statement figures differ by a few dollars — the Credit Card Interest Calculator models that method.
Worked example
A $5,000 balance at 24% APR paid at $150 a month: the first month's interest alone is $100, leaving only $50 of principal. The card clears in 56 months with about $3,322 of interest — roughly two-thirds on top of the original balance. Raising the payment to $250 clears it in 26 months and cuts the interest to about $1,449.
Inputs
- Card balance$5000
- Card APR (%)24 %
- Fixed monthly payment$150
Result
- Months to pay off56
- Debt-free dateJune 2031
- Total interest paid$3,322.09
- Total paid$8,322.09
- First month's interest$100.00
Results explained
- Months to pay off
- Payments needed at the fixed amount before the balance reaches zero.
- Debt-free date
- The calendar month of the final payment, counting from next month.
- Total interest paid
- Every dollar of interest across the payoff — the true cost of carrying the balance.
- Total paid
- Original balance plus total interest.
- First month's interest
- Balance × APR ÷ 1200 — the hurdle your payment must clear before principal falls at all.
Frequently asked questions
At $150 a month, 56 months, with about $3,322 of interest. The payment must exceed the $100 first month's interest or the balance never falls.
Minimums are usually a percentage of the balance, so they shrink as the balance falls and stretch the payoff over many years. A fixed payment stays at full size, so the principal slice grows every month and the payoff accelerates.
On the $5,000 at 24% example, moving from $150 to $200 a month cuts the payoff from 56 to 36 months and saves roughly $1,322 of interest. Small increases matter most at high APRs.
The balance grows even though you are paying — negative amortization. This calculator refuses that case and tells you the payment has to rise above the first month's interest charge.
Mathematically the highest APR first (the avalanche method) always costs the least interest. Compare strategies directly with the Debt Snowball and Debt Avalanche calculators in this cluster.
No. It assumes the card is frozen. If you keep spending, add the new charges to the balance figure or use the multi-debt payoff tools with your full budget.