The Credit Card Payoff Calculator shows exactly how long it will take to pay off your credit card balance with a fixed monthly payment โ€” and how much interest you’ll pay along the way. You can also find the required payment to be debt-free by a specific date.

Credit Card Payoff Calculator

Find out how long it will take to pay off your credit card and how much interest you'll pay.

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How to Use This Calculator

  1. Select Fixed Monthly Payment to see how long payoff takes, or Payoff by Date to find the required payment.
  2. Enter your Current Balance and APR (Annual Percentage Rate).
  3. Enter either your Monthly Payment or the number of Months to Payoff.
  4. Click Calculate.

The Minimum Payment Trap

Credit card minimum payments are designed to keep you in debt. A $5,000 balance at 20% APR with a $100/month minimum payment would take over 9 years to pay off and cost you nearly $6,000 in interest โ€” more than the original balance. Paying $250/month instead pays it off in 2 years and costs less than $800 in interest.

The Federal Reserve requires card issuers to include a “minimum payment warning” on statements showing how long payoff takes at minimum payments. This calculator gives you the same information for any payment amount.

Strategies to Pay Off Credit Card Debt Faster

  • Avalanche method: Pay minimums on all cards, then put extra money toward the highest-APR card first. Minimizes total interest.
  • Snowball method: Pay off the smallest balance first for psychological wins. Slightly more interest but faster motivational progress.
  • Balance transfer: Move high-interest debt to a 0% intro APR card and pay aggressively during the intro period.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the calculator say my payment is too low?

If your monthly payment is less than or equal to the monthly interest charge (balance ร— APR/12), the balance will never decrease โ€” it will grow or stay flat. You must pay more than the monthly interest to reduce principal.

What is APR vs. interest rate?

For credit cards, APR and interest rate are effectively the same โ€” there are no closing costs or fees factored into credit card APR. The daily periodic rate is APR รท 365.

How it works

Credit card interest accrues daily (APR รท 365 per day) and is applied to the statement balance each billing cycle. This calculator models monthly accrual (APR รท 12) which is a close approximation. Each month, interest is added to the balance and the fixed payment is subtracted. The process repeats until the balance reaches zero.

Formula

Monthly Interest = Balance ร— (APR / 12). New Balance = Balance + Monthly Interest โˆ’ Payment. Repeat until Balance โ‰ค 0.