Personal Loan Calculator
For example, borrow $10,000 at 12% for 36 months with a 5% fee taken out, and $9,500 reaches you. You pay $332.14 a month, and the APR is 15.61%.
Last reviewed
What this loan costs you
Monthly payment
$332.14
APR
15.61%
Total cost of borrowing
$2,457.18
Your payment is $332.14 a month for 35 months, with a last payment of $332.28, and $9,500.00 reaches you after the $500.00 fee.
You repay $11,957.18 in all, so the loan costs $2,457.18: $1,957.18 of interest and the fee.
The fee lifts the APR to 15.61%, 3.61 percentage points above the 12.00% rate, and half the loan is repaid after payment 20.
Paid off after 12 payments, the same loan would have an APR of 18.32%, because the fee is not refunded.
Your loan offer
- fee = 5.00% × $10,000.00 = $500.00; you receive $9,500.00
- r = 12.00% ÷ 12 = 0.01, n = 36, (1 + r)n ≈ 1.430769
- M ≈ $10,000.00 × 0.01 × 1.430769 ÷ 0.430769 ≈ $332.1431 → $332.14
- last payment = $328.99 + $3.29 interest = $332.28
- total 35 × $332.14 + $332.28 = $11,957.18; cost $11,957.18 − $9,500.00 = $2,457.18
- APR: i ≈ 1.30043% a month repays $9,500.00; 12 × 1.30043% = 15.60516% → 15.61%
The APR you pay if you pay the loan off early
The APR at each origination fee
Your payment schedule by year
| Year | Payments | Paid | Interest | Principal | Balance at year end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | $3,985.68 | $1,041.56 | $2,944.12 | $7,055.88 |
| 2 | 12 | $3,985.68 | $668.18 | $3,317.50 | $3,738.38 |
| 3 | 12 | $3,985.82 | $247.44 | $3,738.38 | $0.00 |
Year 1 pays $1,041.56 of interest, year 2 $668.18 and year 3 $247.44. The last payment, $332.28, is $0.14 more than the others because each one is rounded to the cent.
Every monthly payment
Show every monthly payment
| Payment no. | Payment | Interest | Principal | Balance |
|---|
Payment 1 is $100.00 of interest and $232.14 of principal; payment 36 is $3.29 and $328.99.
Your loan in Truth in Lending terms
| Box | Your loan | Counts as accurate |
|---|---|---|
| Annual percentage rate | 15.61% | 15.49% to 15.73% at two decimals |
| Finance charge | $2,457.18 | $2,447.18 to $2,467.18 |
| Amount financed | $9,500.00 | — |
| Total of payments | $11,957.18 | — |
| Payment schedule | 35 monthly payments of $332.14, then 1 of $332.28 | — |
The fee is part of the finance charge, so the amount financed is the $9,500.00 you receive, not the $10,000.00 loan.
How the term changes what the fee costs
| Term | Monthly payment | Total cost | APR | APR above the rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 months | $888.49 | $1,161.86 | 21.86% | 9.86 points |
| 24 months | $470.73 | $1,797.65 | 17.23% | 5.23 points |
| 36 months (yours) | $332.14 | $2,457.18 | 15.61% | 3.61 points |
| 48 months | $263.34 | $3,140.24 | 14.78% | 2.78 points |
| 60 months | $222.44 | $3,846.77 | 14.28% | 2.28 points |
| 84 months | $176.53 | $5,328.18 | 13.71% | 1.71 points |
| 120 months | $143.47 | $7,716.61 | 13.29% | 1.29 points |
From 12 to 120 months the APR falls from 21.86% to 13.29%, because the fee is spread over more payments, but the total cost rises from $1,161.86 to $7,716.61.
If you pay the loan off early
| Paid off with payment | Payoff amount | Interest paid | Interest saved | APR you end up paying |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | $8,904.01 | $564.71 | $1,392.47 | 23.34% |
| 12 | $7,388.02 | $1,041.56 | $915.62 | 18.32% |
| 18 | $5,778.77 | $1,425.15 | $532.03 | 16.73% |
| 24 | $4,070.52 | $1,709.74 | $247.44 | 16.03% |
| 30 | $2,257.18 | $1,889.24 | $67.94 | 15.71% |
| 36 (on schedule) | $332.28 | $1,957.18 | $0.00 | 15.61% |
The fee is not refunded, so paying early raises the APR: 18.32% if paid off after 12 payments, against 15.61% on schedule.
The APR at each origination fee
| Fee | In dollars | APR, taken out | APR, added |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00% | $0.00 | 12.00% | 12.00% |
| 1.00% | $100.00 | 12.70% | 12.69% |
| 2.00% | $200.00 | 13.41% | 13.38% |
| 3.00% | $300.00 | 14.13% | 14.07% |
| 4.00% | $400.00 | 14.86% | 14.75% |
| 5.00%yours | $500.00 | 15.61% | 15.43% |
| 6.00% | $600.00 | 16.36% | 16.10% |
| 7.00% | $700.00 | 17.12% | 16.77% |
| 8.00% | $800.00 | 17.90% | 17.44% |
| 9.00% | $900.00 | 18.69% | 18.10% |
| 10.00% | $1,000.00 | 19.49% | 18.76% |
| 12.00% | $1,200.00 | 21.13% | 20.07% |
| 15.00% | $1,500.00 | 23.70% | 22.01% |
| 20.00% | $2,000.00 | 28.29% | 25.18% |
| 25.00% | $2,500.00 | 33.31% | 28.29% |
Taken out, each point of fee from 0.00% to 10.00% adds 0.70 to 0.80 points of APR at this rate and term; your 5.00% gives 15.61% taken out and 15.43% added to the loan.
How a personal loan's cost adds up
A personal loan pays you a lump sum, and you repay it in equal monthly payments. The CFPB's answer on personal installment loans says "the lender gives you all of the money at the beginning." Each month the lender charges interest on what you still owe, at a twelfth of the yearly rate. The rest of the payment pays down the loan. At 12%, the first month's interest on $10,000 is $100.00, so $232.14 of the first payment goes to the loan.
The origination fee is a charge for making the loan, and lenders take it in one of two ways. Taken out, it comes off the money they send: you owe $10,000 but get $9,500. Added, it goes onto what you owe: you get $10,000 but repay $10,500. Your loan offer says which. The CFPB's answer on fees tells you to "check the loan disclosure from the lender to understand any fees you may be responsible for."
The interest rate leaves the fee out, and the annual percentage rate (APR) puts it in. Regulation Z, the federal truth-in-lending rule in 12 CFR 1026.22(a)(1), calls the APR "a measure of the cost of credit, expressed as a yearly rate." In plain terms, it is the yearly rate at which your payments repay the money you actually received. The CFPB's answer on rates and APRs puts it this way: "The APR is the interest rate plus any additional fees charged by the lender." So compare offers by APR, because two loans at the same rate can carry very different fees.
Why a fee weighs more on a short loan
A fee weighs more on a short loan because it is spread over fewer payments. With the same 12% rate and 5% fee, the APR is 21.86% over 12 months and 14.28% over 60 months. A longer term still costs more in dollars: $3,846.77 over 60 months against $2,457.18 over 36. With the fee taken out, across rates from 6% to 30% and terms of 12 to 60 months, each point of fee from 0% to 10% adds 0.42 to 2.30 percentage points to the APR, the most on short loans.
Why taking the fee out costs more
Say you need $10,000 in your account. With the fee taken out, you must borrow $10,526.32, so the fee grows to $526.32 and the payment is $349.62. With the fee added, you borrow $10,500.00 instead. Over 36 months the taken-out loan costs $31.51 more for the same money in hand, because its 5% is charged on a larger amount.
Video walkthrough
A 3-minute walkthrough of a personal loan offer: the payment, the cash you receive, why the APR is higher than the rate, the disclosure boxes, how the term changes the cost, and what paying off early does.
Read the transcript
What the loan costs
0:00 What does a personal loan really cost once the fee is counted?
0:04 Take $10,000 at 12% over 36 months, with a 5% fee.
0:09 The real yearly cost is about 16%.
0:12 Enter those amounts and the page shows your payment: about $330 a month.
0:18 But only $9,500 reaches you, because the fee comes out first.
0:23 You repay more than you borrowed, so the loan costs about $2,500: interest plus the fee.
Why the APR is higher
0:30 The CFPB's answer on rates and APRs says the APR is the interest rate plus any additional fees charged by the lender.
0:39 Interest runs on the full loan, but only part of it reaches you.
0:43 Spread over 36 months, that fee lifts the yearly cost from 12% to about 16%.
0:49 The worked sheet shows each step with these numbers.
0:52 The payments add up to the total.
0:54 The APR is the rate that makes them repay the cash you received.
The disclosure boxes
0:59 Before you sign, the lender must give you a Truth in Lending disclosure.
1:03 It opens with 4 boxes: the annual percentage rate, the finance charge, the amount financed and the total of payments.
1:11 The finance charge counts loan fees as well as interest, so it includes the fee.
1:16 The amount financed is the loan less any fee paid at the start: $9,500.
1:22 Regulation Z says a disclosed APR counts as accurate if it is not more than one eighth of a percentage point above or below the exact one.
1:32 On this loan, that means 15.49% to 15.73%.
Term and total cost
1:38 A shorter loan spreads the same fee over fewer payments.
1:42 Over 12 months, the APR is about 22%, but the loan costs only about $1,200.
1:50 Stretch it to 60 months and the APR falls to about 14%, but the loan costs about $3,800.
1:58 So a lower APR does not mean a cheaper loan.
2:01 Compare the total cost too.
Paying off early
2:03 What if you pay it off early?
2:05 This page assumes the fee is not refunded, so the yearly cost rises.
2:10 Paid off after 12 payments, the APR is about 18%, up from about 16%.
2:16 The Federal Reserve reports that card accounts charged interest averaged about 22% in August 2026.
2:24 Those card rates are APRs too, so they compare fairly with yours.
2:28 From payment 7 on, even an early payoff costs less.
Try your own fee
2:33 The fee matters most.
2:34 Now try a bigger one: type 8% into the fee field, then press Calculate.
2:39 Your payment stays at about $330, but the APR jumps to about 18%.
2:45 A bigger fee leaves the payment alone and raises the real cost.
2:50 So remember: count the fee in the APR, check the disclosure boxes, and compare total cost as well as the rate.
2:57 Try your own offer at fastcalc.us.
Personal loan formulas
fee = loan amount × fee %, or the dollar fee on your offer taken out: you owe the loan amount and receive it less the fee added: you owe the loan amount plus the fee and receive the loan amount r = interest rate ÷ 12 n = term in months M = P × r × (1 + r)^n ÷ ((1 + r)^n − 1), rounded to the cent; M = P ÷ n when r = 0 interest each month = balance × r, rounded to the cent; the last payment is the balance plus its interest amount financed = money you receive; finance charge = total of payments − amount financed APR = 12 × i, where the payments discounted at i a month add up to the amount financed P amount you owe · M payment · n months · r monthly rate · i the monthly rate the APR is built on
Worked examples
The fee added to the loan. Take the same $10,000 at 12% for 36 months, but with the $500 fee added. You owe $10,500.00 and pay $348.75 a month, all 36 payments the same. The loan costs $2,555.00, and the APR is 15.43%.
A fee given in dollars. Say an offer of $8,000 at 14% for 48 months has a $399 fee taken out. Choose dollars for the fee and enter 399. You receive $7,601.00, pay $218.61 a month, and the APR is 16.82%.
Regulation Z's own APR example. Appendix J works out the APR of $5,000 repaid with 24 monthly payments of $230 as 9.69%. The APR method on this page gives the same 9.69% for those payments. To find the rate behind a payment you already know, use the loan interest rate calculator.
Check your Truth in Lending disclosure
Before you sign, the lender must give you a Truth in Lending disclosure (12 CFR 1026.17(b)). Regulation Z lists what goes in it (12 CFR 1026.18). Four boxes sit at the top: the annual percentage rate, the finance charge, the amount financed and the total of payments. The table of Truth in Lending terms above fills in all four for your loan, with the payment schedule under them. A single-payment loan need not show the total of payments (12 CFR 1026.18(h)). A loan whose finance charge is $7.50 or less, or $5 or less on $75 or less financed, need not show the APR (12 CFR 1026.18(e)).
The amount financed is "the amount of credit provided to you or on your behalf" (12 CFR 1026.18(b)). It is the loan less any fee paid at the start. For a fee taken out of the money you get, Regulation Z's commentary says "The same rules apply when the creditor does not increase the face amount of the note by the amount of the charge but collects the charge by withholding it from the amount advanced to the consumer" (comment 18(b)(3)-1). So on the default loan it is $9,500.00, and with the fee added it is still the $10,000.00 you receive. The finance charge counts "loan fees" as well as interest (12 CFR 1026.4(b)(3)), so here it is $2,457.18.
The total of payments is every scheduled payment added up: $11,957.18 here, 35 payments of $332.14 and a last one of $332.28. The last payment is a few cents off because payments are made in whole cents. Regulation Z's commentary notes that "the amount of the last payment may require adjustment to account for the rounding of the other payments to whole cents" (comment 17(c)(3)-1). This page rounds the payment and each month's interest to the cent, half up, the way a lender's schedule works.
Your lender's figures can differ a little and still be right. Under 12 CFR 1026.22(a)(2), a disclosed APR counts as accurate if it is not more than "1/8 of 1 percentage point above or below" the exact one, so an APR shown to two decimals passes here from 15.49% to 15.73%. Under 12 CFR 1026.18(d)(2), when the amount financed is more than $1,000, the finance charge may be off by up to $10, so $2,447.18 to $2,467.18 passes. To test a figure you were given, use the Truth in Lending tolerance calculator.
Regulation Z prints sample disclosures you can check this page against. Its Sample H-11, an installment loan, is $5,000 at a 12% simple interest rate over 2 years. The form shows 23 payments of $235.36 after a first payment of $262.03, which carries $26.67 of interest for 16 extra days. The formula gives $235.3674, which rounds to $235.37, so the sample's payment is a cent lower. Its printed 12% APR works out to 11.99% from its own payments, inside the 1/8-point tolerance.
Sample H-12 is a refinancing with an amount financed of $5,177.73 at 15% simple interest over 3 years. It shows 35 payments of $179.53, a last payment of $179.24 and a finance charge of $1,285.06. Counting interest each day at 15% ÷ 365, on the dates the sample gives, reproduces that last payment and finance charge to the cent. This page counts interest by the month and gets $1,283.80, which is $1.26 lower and inside the $10 tolerance.
When your loan works differently
If you pay it off early
Paying early saves the interest still to come, but not the fee. Paid off after 12 payments, the default loan's interest is $1,041.56, which is $915.62 less than on schedule. Measured on the $9,500 you received, the cost still works out to an APR of 18.32%. Paid off within 6 payments, the loan costs more than the 22.36% card average in the next section; from payment 7 it costs less. Regulation Z's commentary says "A prepaid finance charge is not considered a prepayment penalty" (comment 18(k)-3), so the fee you paid at the start does not show up as one. Check your contract for any other charge for paying early.
If you are paying down a credit card
Compare the same monthly payment. $9,500 on a card at 22.36%, the Federal Reserve's August 2026 average for card accounts charged interest, takes 42 payments, the last of $79.75, and $4,197.49 of interest, each month's interest rounded to the cent. The loan ends 6 months sooner and costs $1,740.31 less, fee included. The Federal Reserve's G.19 release notes that its rates "are annual percentage rates (APR)," so compare them with your APR, not your rate. The credit card payoff calculator runs the numbers for your own card; it does not round each month's interest, so it shows $4,197.45.
If your lender counts interest by the day
Some lenders charge interest for each day, not each month. Regulation Z lets a disclosure ignore "That months have different numbers of days" (12 CFR 1026.17(c)(3)(iii)), but your statement may not. At 12% on $10,000, a 31-day month charges $101.92 of interest and a 30-day month $98.63, against a flat $100.00 a month here. The daily interest calculator works out interest by the day.
If your rate is 0%
A 0% loan can still cost money when it has a fee. $10,000 over 36 months with a $500 fee taken out is $277.78 a month and a last payment of $277.70. You repay $10,000 for the $9,500 you receive, so the APR is 3.36%.
Assumptions and limits
- The rate is fixed, payments are monthly, and the first one is due a month after you get the money.
- Interest is a twelfth of the yearly rate each month, not figured by the day; the section on daily interest shows the difference.
- Amounts are rounded to the cent as the section on your disclosure explains, so the last payment can differ from the others by a few cents.
- The origination fee is the only charge at the start. If your lender charges another fee you must pay to get the loan, add it to the fee. Optional credit insurance and late fees are left out.
- Loan amounts run from $100 to $1,000,000, rates from 0% to 100% with up to three decimals, terms from 1 to 120 months and fees up to 25%.
- The $10,000, 12% and 5% defaults are examples, not quotes. The Federal Reserve's average for 24-month personal loans at commercial banks was 11.90% in August 2026.
- For your own loan, go by your Truth in Lending disclosure and your contract.
These figures are estimates for learning and planning, not financial, tax, legal or investment advice. Terms of use.
What to do with your result
Compare offers by APR, not by rate. A 12% loan with a 5% fee taken out has an APR of 15.61% over 36 months, while a 13.5% loan with no fee has an APR of 13.50%. For the same $9,500 in hand over 36 months, the no-fee loan costs $2,105.84, which is $351.34 less. Check a second offer with the APR calculator, or line up several with the loan comparison calculator.
Check the four boxes on your disclosure against the Truth in Lending table above. On the default loan they should read 15.61%, $2,457.18, $9,500.00 and $11,957.18. If the APR, shown to two decimals, is outside 15.49% to 15.73%, ask the lender why.
If the fee is taken out, borrow enough to cover it. To have $10,000 in hand with a 5% fee you need $10,526.32. If the money is for paying off cards, run your balances through the debt consolidation calculator first.
Before you pay the loan off early, weigh the interest you save against the fee you already paid: after 24 payments the default loan saves $247.44 of interest. The loan extra payment calculator shows what paying a little more each month does instead.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the monthly payment on a $10,000 personal loan?
At 12% over 36 months it is $332.14, with a last payment of $332.28. Over 60 months it falls to $222.44, but the interest rises to $3,346.77. A fee taken out does not change the payment, only the money you receive.
How do I figure the APR on a personal loan with an origination fee?
Find the monthly rate at which your payments repay the money you actually receive, and multiply it by 12. For $10,000 at 12% over 36 months with a 5% fee taken out, the payments repay $9,500 at 1.30043% a month. Twelve times that is 15.60516%, which rounds to 15.61%. That is 3.61 percentage points above the rate.
Is the origination fee taken out of the loan?
It can be, or it can be added to the balance; your loan offer says which. Taken out, you get less than you borrow. Added, you receive the full amount and owe the fee on top. On the default loan, adding it makes the APR 15.43% rather than 15.61%, so your offer's wording matters.
What is a good interest rate on a personal loan?
Commercial banks charged 11.90% on 24-month personal loans in August 2026, on the Federal Reserve's figures. That figure is an APR, so compare it with your APR, not your rate. At 11.90% with no fee, $10,000 over 24 months is $470.27 a month.
Does paying off a personal loan early save money?
Yes, it saves the interest you would still owe, but the fee stays paid. Paying off the default loan after 18 payments saves $532.03 of interest. The APR you end up paying is then 16.73%.
Why is my APR higher than my interest rate?
Because the APR counts the fee and the rate does not. On $10,000 at 12% with a 5% fee taken out, the gap is 3.61 percentage points over 36 months and 9.86 points over 12 months. With no fee, the APR is the rate, give or take the rounding to the cent.
Is a personal loan cheaper than a credit card?
It is when its APR is lower than the card's. At the 21.19% average rate on all card accounts in August 2026, $9,500 at $332.14 a month takes 41 months and $3,846.22 of interest, each month's interest rounded to the cent. At 12% for 36 months, a fee taken out would have to reach 12.07% before the loan's APR matched that rate.
Sources
- Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.18, content of disclosures (CFPB text) (current version)
- Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.22, determination of annual percentage rate (CFPB text) (current version)
- Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.17, general disclosure requirements (CFPB text) (current version)
- Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.4, finance charge (CFPB text) (current version)
- Regulation Z, Appendix J to Part 1026, annual percentage rate computations for closed-end credit (CFPB text) (current version)
- Regulation Z, Appendix H to Part 1026, closed-end model forms and clauses (CFPB text) (current version)
- CFPB, What is the difference between a loan interest rate and the APR? (page reviewed Aug 28, 2026)
- CFPB, What is a personal installment loan? (page reviewed Aug 30, 2024)
- CFPB, Do personal installment loans have fees? (page reviewed Aug 30, 2024)
- Federal Reserve, G.19 Consumer Credit, August 2026 (page modified Oct 7, 2026)
More in Loan Calculators and Finance Calculators.