Credit Card Payoff Calculator
Enter your credit card balance, APR and the amount you plan to pay each month to see how many months it will take to reach zero, and how much interest you'll pay along the way. Works with any currency.
How this calculation works
Your APR is converted to a monthly periodic rate by dividing by 12 (a 19.99% APR becomes about 1.666% per month). Each month, interest is charged on the current balance, then your payment is subtracted — the balance carries forward to the next month.
The calculator repeats this month by month until the balance reaches zero, adding up every month's interest charge to get your total interest. Total paid is simply your starting balance plus that total interest.
If your monthly payment is less than or equal to the first month's interest charge, the balance can never shrink — it grows or stays flat forever, so the calculator flags this as unpayable rather than showing a false payoff date.
Worked example
The minimum-payment trap
Card issuers calculate minimum payments to keep you in debt as long as legally possible while still looking manageable — typically 1–3% of the balance, or a small flat amount, whichever is greater. At a high APR, that minimum can barely outpace the interest, so the balance crawls down for years while the issuer collects interest the whole time.
The table below shows the same 5,000 balance at 20% APR at three payment levels. Notice how much both the time and the total interest cost shrink as the payment rises — this is the single biggest lever you control.
| Monthly payment | Months to payoff | Total interest |
|---|---|---|
| 100 (near-minimum) | 109 months (≈9.1 yrs) | ≈ 5,840 |
| 150 | 50 months (≈4.2 yrs) | ≈ 2,359 |
| 250 | 25 months (≈2.1 yrs) | ≈ 1,133 |
Snowball vs. avalanche strategies
- Avalanche: pay minimums on every card, put all extra money toward the highest-APR balance first, then roll that payment into the next-highest once it's cleared. This minimizes total interest paid across all your debts.
- Snowball: pay minimums on every card, put all extra money toward the smallest balance first regardless of its rate, then roll that payment forward. This usually costs a little more interest but the fast early wins keep many people motivated to finish.
- Both methods work if you stick with them — the best one is the one you'll actually follow through on.
Why APR matters more on cards than loans
Credit card APRs are usually far higher than mortgage or auto loan rates, and interest compounds monthly against a balance that can grow if you keep spending. Carrying even a moderate balance at 20%+ APR for years can mean paying more in interest than the original purchases were worth.
If you're paying high-APR card interest, moving the balance to a lower-rate option — a 0% balance-transfer offer, a personal loan, or a credit union card — can be worth exploring before committing to years of high-interest payments.
Tips to pay off a card faster
- Pay more than the minimum every single month, even if it's a modest fixed amount above it.
- Stop new charges on the card you're paying down so every payment actually reduces the balance.
- Put windfalls — tax refunds, bonuses, cash gifts — directly toward the balance instead of spending them.
- Check whether a balance-transfer or lower-rate consolidation loan would cut your effective APR.
- Automate the payment so it never slips, since missed payments can trigger penalty APRs.