Credit Card Payoff Calculator

What this calculator does

Enter your current credit card balance, its APR and a fixed monthly payment, and this calculator works out how many months it takes to pay off the balance, the total interest you'll pay along the way, and the total amount paid. Unlike a loan calculator that solves for the payment given a fixed term, a credit card runs the other direction — you decide what you can pay each month, and the calculator tells you how long that takes.

It also models the common real-world case of continuing to use the card while paying it down: an optional New Charges Added Each Month field lets you see how ongoing spending stretches out the payoff time and drives up total interest.

How it's calculated

The balance is simulated month by month, since credit card interest compounds on whatever remains after each payment — a plain formula can't capture that once new charges are added on top:

1. Interest accrues on the current balance: interest = balance x (APR / 100 / 12).
2. Any new charges for the month are added to the balance.
3. The fixed monthly payment is applied, reducing the balance (the final payment is trued up to exactly clear the remainder).
4. Repeat until the balance reaches $0.

The simulation is capped at 1,200 months (100 years) — if a payment doesn't outpace interest and new charges, the balance would never clear, and the calculator reports that clearly instead of appearing to hang.

How to use this tool

1. Enter your Current Balance — what you currently owe on the card.
2. Enter the card's Annual Percentage Rate (APR) as a percentage (e.g. 22.99).
3. Enter the Fixed Monthly Payment you plan to pay every month.
4. Optionally, enter New Charges Added Each Month if you'll keep using the card while paying down the balance. Leave it at 0 to model paying it off with no new spending.

The summary table updates instantly with the payoff time, total interest paid and total amount paid.

FAQ

Why does my payoff time seem longer than my bank's estimate? Some issuers estimate payoff using a minimum-payment schedule that shrinks each month as the balance drops. This calculator assumes you pay the same fixed amount every month, which pays off faster and costs less interest than a shrinking minimum payment — check which one your issuer is quoting.

What if my payment doesn't cover the interest? The calculator flags this directly: if your fixed payment is smaller than the interest (and any new charges) accruing each month, the balance would grow instead of shrink, and it would never be paid off. Increase the payment or reduce new spending.

Does this account for a card's minimum-payment percentage rule? No — it models a fixed dollar payment you choose, not a shifting percentage-of-balance minimum. If you want to see what a fixed extra payment saves on a term loan instead, see the Debt Repayment Calculator.

Privacy

All calculations run entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter — balances, APR or payment amounts — is sent to a server or stored anywhere.