Credit Card Payoff Calculator
See exactly how many months it will take to pay off your credit card balance and how much interest you will pay in total. Use it when comparing fixed monthly payment strategies or planning a debt-free date.
About this calculator
Credit card interest compounds monthly. Each month the balance grows by balance × (APR / 12 / 100), then your payment and any new charges are applied. The calculator simulates this month-by-month loop: balance = balance + (balance × monthlyRate) + newCharges − payment, repeating until the balance reaches zero or 600 months elapse. There is no single closed-form formula because new charges can vary, so an iterative approach is the most accurate method. The total interest paid equals the sum of all monthly interest charges across every iteration. Paying even a small amount above the minimum can dramatically shorten the payoff timeline because more of each payment goes toward principal once interest is covered. This simulation lets you test different payment amounts side by side.
How to use
Assume a $3,000 balance, 20% APR, no new charges, and a fixed $150 monthly payment. Monthly rate = 20% / 12 = 1.667%. Month 1 interest: $3,000 × 0.01667 = $50.00; new balance before payment = $3,050; after payment = $2,900. Month 2 interest: $2,900 × 0.01667 = $48.33; balance after payment = $2,798.33. This continues for approximately 24 months. Total paid ≈ $3,580, meaning roughly $580 in interest. Increasing the payment to $200 cuts payoff to about 18 months and saves over $200 in interest.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to pay off a credit card making only minimum payments?
Making only minimum payments can keep you in debt for a very long time, sometimes decades, because the minimum is often just 1–2% of the balance or a small fixed floor. As the balance slowly falls, so does the minimum payment, meaning very little principal is retired each month. On a $5,000 balance at 20% APR with a 2% minimum, payoff can take over 20 years and cost more than $5,000 in interest alone. Paying a fixed amount above the minimum every month is the single most effective way to accelerate payoff.
What is the difference between APR and monthly interest rate on a credit card?
APR stands for Annual Percentage Rate and represents the yearly cost of borrowing. Credit card issuers divide APR by 12 to get the monthly periodic rate applied to your balance each billing cycle. For example, an 18% APR translates to a 1.5% monthly rate. Because interest is charged on the remaining balance each month, the effective annual rate (due to compounding) is slightly higher than the stated APR. Always use APR divided by 12 when doing month-by-month payoff calculations.
Why does paying more than the minimum payment save so much interest?
Interest on a credit card accrues on the outstanding principal every month, so the faster you reduce the principal, the less interest accumulates. When you pay only the minimum, a large chunk of each payment covers interest and almost nothing reduces the principal. By paying more, you shrink the balance faster, which means next month's interest charge is calculated on a smaller number. This compounding benefit accelerates over time: each extra dollar paid today eliminates all future interest that would have accrued on that dollar for however many months it would have remained outstanding.