Credit card payoff calculator

$
% APR
$
The balance is gone in
2 yr 11 mo

$250 a month against $6,500 at 20.94%

Interest$2,237
Repaid in all$8,737
Never clears under$113
4y7y11y15y$120$240$360$480$600$250: 2 yr 11 mo4y7y11y15y$120$240$360$480$600$250: 2 yr 11 mo

Months to clear against what you pay each month. The curve turns vertical as the payment nears one month of interest, which is why small increases near the bottom buy years.

Paying $250 a month against $6,500 at 20.94% clears the balance in 2 yr 11 mo and costs $2,237 in interest, $8,737 in all. Interest alone is $113 in the first month, so anything under that never clears the card at all.

How to use this, and the parts people get wrong
  • Use the APR from your card statement, not the rate from the card's advert.
  • Enter the payment you will actually make each month. Fixed payments kill balances; minimums barely hold them.
  • The interest figure is the cost of the route you chose, so watch it change as you move the payment.

What the time costs

Fifty more a month clears it 7 months sooner and saves $500 of interest. The saving is front-loaded: the earlier a payment lands, the more of it is principal.

2 yr 11 mountil the balance is gone
$2,237paid in interest along the way
34%of what you borrowed, added

What paying more would do

The same balance and the same rate, at payments around yours.

A monthClear inInterestRepaid
$13010 years$8,978$15,478
$1904 yr 5 mo$3,481$9,981
$2502 yr 11 mo$2,237$8,737
$3102 yr 3 mo$1,663$8,163
$3801 yr 9 mo$1,288$7,788
$5001 yr 3 mo$937$7,437

Questions people ask

How long will it take to pay off my credit card?
On these figures, $250 a month against $6,500 at 20.94% clears it in 2 yr 11 mo and costs $2,237 in interest. The calculation runs month by month: interest is added, your payment is taken off, and whatever is left carries to the next month.
Why does paying a little more help so much?
Because interest is charged on the balance, so every extra pound of principal you clear stops charging you forever after. On these figures $50 more a month clears the card 7 months sooner and saves $500.
What is the payment below which it never clears?
One month of interest at the current balance: $113 here. Pay exactly that and the balance stands still; pay less and it grows, however long you keep paying. That threshold falls as the balance falls, which is why the early months matter most.
Does the minimum payment clear the card?
Eventually, on most cards, but slowly and expensively - a typical minimum is a small percentage of the balance plus interest, so it shrinks as the balance does and stretches the term for years. How the minimum is set differs by card and by country, which is why this page asks what you actually pay.
Should I pay the highest rate first?
Mathematically yes: interest saved is interest saved, and the highest rate charges the most per pound owed. Clearing the smallest balance first wins nothing arithmetically but finishes a card sooner, which some people need more.

Method and sources

  • Standard revolving-balance arithmeticMonthly interest accrual against a fixed payment
The calculation

A month-by-month simulation, not a closed formula, because the payment is fixed and the term is the unknown. Each month the balance is multiplied by the APR divided by twelve, the payment is subtracted, and the remainder carries forward. The run stops when the balance reaches zero, or reports that it never will if a payment fails to cover that month's interest.

What these figures do not cover
  • The APR is treated as fixed; a promotional rate that expires is not modelled.
  • Nothing new is charged to the card during the payoff.
  • Fees, and daily rather than monthly compounding, will move the total a little; the shape does not change.
  • How a card sets its minimum payment differs by issuer and country, so this page asks for your payment rather than inventing a rule.

Last updated August 2026.

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