Balance transfer calculator

$
% APR
%
mo
$
Transferring saves you
$2,139

after a $225 fee and the interest once the 0% ends

The fee$225
Left after 21 mo$1,425
If you stay$2,440
$91$903$1,716061218243036breaks even21 months: $2,139$91$903$1,7160122436breaks even21 months: $2,139

What the move saves at each promotional length, on the same balance, fee and payment. Below the dashed line the fee costs more than the interest it avoids.

Moving $7,500 from 20.94% to a 21-month 0% deal with a 3.0% fee costs $225 up front and saves $2,139 of interest overall, paying $300 a month. $1,425 is still owed when the promotion ends.

How to use this, and the parts people get wrong
  • The fee is charged up front on the amount you move, and it is the price of the interest-free months.
  • The rate that matters most is the one after the promotion ends, because balances outlive promotions.
  • Break-even is the month the fee is repaid by interest saved; before it, the transfer has cost you money.

What the move actually costs

Paying $300 a month clears $6,300 of the transferred balance inside the promotion, leaving $1,425 to start charging again at 20.94%. That last piece is what the offer does not mention.

$2,139saved by transferring, all in
$225paid as a fee, whatever happens
$1,425still owed when the promotion ends

Offers of other lengths

The same balance and fee, at every promotional window.

0% moSavesLeft afterInterest after
0$-408$7,725$2,622
6+$811$5,925$1,404
9+$1,244$5,025$970
12+$1,581$4,125$633
15+$1,837$3,225$378
18+$2,019$2,325$195
21+$2,139$1,425$75
24+$2,201$525$13
30+$2,215$0$0
36+$2,215$0$0

Questions people ask

Is a balance transfer worth the fee?
It depends entirely on how fast you pay. Here a 3.0% fee costs $225 and the move saves $2,139 overall, so it is worth doing. Pay faster and the interest avoided shrinks toward the fee; at some payment the fee wins and transferring costs money.
What happens when the 0% period ends?
Whatever is still owed starts charging again, usually at a rate no better than the card you left. On these figures $1,425 is still outstanding after 21 months, and the interest on it from there is counted in the saving above rather than ignored.
Is the fee added to the balance?
Normally yes, so you start the promotion owing slightly more than you transferred. This page adds it, which is why the balance to clear is $7,725 rather than $7,500.
What payment clears it inside the promotion?
The transferred balance divided by the promotional months: $368 a month here. Clearing inside the window is the clean win, because then the only cost of the move is the fee itself.
Does transferring hurt my credit?
Opening a card adds an application and lowers the average age of your accounts, both small and short-lived. The larger effect usually runs the other way: moving a balance onto more available credit lowers utilisation. Neither is modelled here, which prices the money only.

Method and sources

  • Standard revolving-balance arithmeticTwo runs of the same balance, with and without the promotional period
The calculation

Two month-by-month runs of the same balance and the same payment. The first leaves it where it is and accrues interest at your APR until it clears. The second adds the fee, runs the promotional months at zero, then accrues at the same APR on whatever is left. The saving is the first run's interest minus the fee minus the second run's interest, so all three terms are in one number.

What these figures do not cover
  • The rate after the promotion is assumed to match the card you left, which is the honest assumption when no post-promotional rate is known.
  • Nothing new is spent on either card during the run.
  • Some offers cap the fee or waive it below a threshold; enter the effective percentage you would actually pay.
  • Credit-score effects are not modelled. This prices the money only.

Last updated August 2026.

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