Credit Card Payoff & APR Calculator

See how many months it takes to clear a credit card balance at your APR, the total interest you'll pay, and your monthly interest charge.

This payoff calculator is for anyone carrying a credit-card balance who wants to understand how long it will take to clear it and how much interest the delay will cost. It is sobering and useful for people making only the minimum payment, for those deciding how much extra to throw at a balance, and for anyone weighing whether a balance transfer or a fixed payment plan is worth it. By turning an APR into a concrete payoff timeline and a total interest figure, it replaces a vague sense of debt with a clear plan.

Credit-card interest compounds on the balance you carry, so a fixed monthly payment chips away at principal only after covering that month's interest. The calculator converts your APR to a monthly rate, checks whether your payment even exceeds the monthly interest charge, and then solves for the number of months needed to reach a zero balance. From that it estimates the total interest you will pay over the payoff period. The critical insight it surfaces is the tipping point: if your payment is below the monthly interest, the balance never falls, and the tool flags that so you know to increase the payment.

Say you owe $5,000 at a 22% APR and pay $200 a month. The monthly interest rate is about 1.83%, so the first month's interest alone is roughly $92, leaving only about $108 to reduce principal. The calculator works out that it takes around 32 months to clear the balance and that you pay well over $1,000 in interest along the way. Raising the payment to $300 a month cuts both the time and the interest dramatically — the kind of comparison that makes the cost of minimum payments obvious.

Credit-card interest mechanics are broadly similar across countries, but disclosure rules, typical APRs, and minimum-payment formulas differ. In the United States the CARD Act shapes how minimums and disclosures work; other markets have their own rules. This calculator assumes a fixed monthly payment and a constant APR, and it does not model promotional 0% periods, cash-advance rates, or new purchases. If your card has a promotional rate that later jumps, run the calculation again at the go-to rate to see the real picture.

• Paying only the minimum. Minimum payments are designed to stretch repayment for years and maximize interest.
• Adding new purchases while paying down. New spending resets your progress and is not modeled here.
• Ignoring the interest-coverage point. If your payment is below the monthly interest, the balance never shrinks.
• Forgetting promotional rates expire. A 0% offer that reverts to a high APR changes the payoff math sharply.
• Overlooking cash-advance and penalty APRs, which are often far higher than the purchase rate.

Credit-card payments are due monthly on your statement date; paying at least the minimum by the due date avoids late fees and protects your credit, while paying the full statement balance avoids interest entirely. If you are working a payoff plan, paying more than the minimum as early in the cycle as possible reduces the average daily balance and therefore the interest charged that month.

• Credit card interest (CFPB) - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (retrieved 2026-06-09)