Personal Loan Calculator
Monthly payment, total interest and the real APR once origination or arrangement fees are counted, with a term comparison.
How to Use Personal Loan Calculator
- 1Choose where the loan is (United States, United Kingdom or elsewhere) so the APR is shown the way lenders there quote it.
- 2Enter the loan amount and the interest rate on your offer, and pick a term from 1 to 7 years.
- 3If the lender charges an origination or arrangement fee, enter it and say whether it's taken from the money you receive or added to the loan.
- 4Optionally add an extra monthly payment to see how much interest and time it saves.
- 5Read the monthly payment, total interest, the APR with fees and the comparison of terms, then copy or share the result.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the monthly payment on a $15,000 personal loan?
At 12% over 5 years it's $333.67 a month, with $5,020 in total interest. Over 3 years the payment rises to $498.21 but the interest falls to $2,935.73. The term comparison table shows every term from 1 to 7 years for your loan.
How does an origination fee change the APR?
A fee taken from the loan means you receive less but repay the full amount, so the real cost is higher than the rate. A $750 fee (5%) on a $15,000, 5-year loan at 12% gives an APR of about 14.28%. Comparing APRs, not rates, is the fair way to compare loans with different fees.
What's the difference between APR in the US and the UK?
Both include fees, but they're calculated differently. US lenders quote APR as the monthly rate × 12. UK lenders quote an annual equivalent rate, which counts monthly compounding, so 7% a year charged monthly is a 7.23% APR. The calculator shows the APR the way lenders in your country quote it.
Does paying extra each month save money?
Yes, if your lender doesn't charge for it. Paying $100 a month extra on a $15,000, 5-year loan at 12% clears it in 43 months instead of 60 and saves about $1,520 in interest. In the UK you have a legal right to repay a personal loan early; the lender can charge at most 1% of the amount repaid (0.5% if less than a year is left).
Is a shorter loan term better?
It costs less in total but more each month. Choose the shortest term whose payment fits comfortably in your budget, with room for unexpected costs: a missed payment costs far more than the interest a shorter term saves.
What credit score do I need for a personal loan?
Each lender sets its own criteria. The rate you're offered depends on your credit history, income and existing debts, and the best advertised rates usually go to applicants with strong credit. Checking your eligibility with a soft search doesn't affect your score.
About Personal Loan Calculator
This personal loan calculator works out the monthly payment, total interest and real cost of a fixed-rate loan, for any amount and a term of 1 to 7 years. It counts origination fees (US) or arrangement fees (UK) in the APR, whether the fee comes out of the money you receive or is added to what you borrow, so you can compare offers fairly.
A table compares the same loan over every term, showing how a longer term lowers the payment and raises the total cost. An extra-payment option shows how much interest you'd save by overpaying, and the schedule breaks each year into principal and interest.
Results are estimates: your lender's offer depends on your credit history and its own fees, and the APR you're offered may differ from the advertised one.