Loan Calculator – Monthly Payment, Interest and Total Cost
Loan Calculator
Results summary
- Loan principal58.2%$250,000
- Interest cost41.8%$179,673.77
About this loan calculator
This loan calculator estimates your scheduled monthly payment, total interest, payoff time and overall cost of borrowing. It uses the standard amortization formula for fixed-rate loans and lets you include financed fees as one-time, yearly or monthly charges so you can see how they affect the lifetime cost of the loan.
How financed and recurring fees change the cost
We convert your annual interest rate to a monthly rate and apply the standard amortizing loan formula. With a 0% rate, the payment is simply the loan amount divided by the number of months.
Borrowing basics & how to use this tool
How the monthly payment works
A typical fixed-rate loan is repaid with a constant scheduled monthly payment. Each payment is split into:
- Interest – the cost of borrowing, based on the remaining balance.
- Principal – the part that reduces your outstanding balance.
Early on, a larger share of each payment goes to interest. As the balance falls, the interest portion shrinks and more of each payment goes to principal. This pay-down process is called amortization.
Formula used by this calculator
For a loan with amount P, annual interest rate R and a term of n months, the monthly rate is:
r = R / 12
The scheduled monthly payment is then:
Payment = P × r × (1 + r)n / ((1 + r)n − 1)
When the interest rate is 0%, the monthly payment is simply P ÷ n.
Financed and recurring fees
Many lenders charge an origination fee or other upfront fees. In this calculator those fees are treated as financed fees: they are added to the starting balance and repaid with interest, like the rest of the loan. You can also model other fees as one-time, yearly or monthly amounts.
- Financed fees increase your scheduled monthly payment and the total interest cost.
- Recurring fees increase the total cost; monthly fees also increase your monthly outlay.
- Percentage-based origination fees are applied to the financed amount.
- If your fees are paid out of pocket and not financed, set the fee fields to 0 and track those costs separately.
Borrowing basics
When you take out a loan, you trade future payments for money today. The loan amount is the cash you receive, the interest rate is the price of that money and the term is how long you repay it. Longer terms reduce the scheduled monthly payment but usually increase the total cost.
To compare offers, it helps to look beyond the headline rate. This calculator shows the scheduled monthly payment, total interest cost, total fees financed and the total cost of the loan so you can compare options on a like-for-like basis.
How to use this calculator
- Compare different term lengths, such as a 15-year vs 30-year mortgage.
- Estimate how origination and other fees (monthly, yearly or one-time) affect your total cost.
- Check whether the scheduled monthly payment fits comfortably in your budget before you borrow.