Credit Card Payoff Calculator

Staring at a credit card balance and wondering how long it's going to hang over your head? You're not alone. Americans are carrying over $1.2 trillion in credit card debt right now, and that number keeps climbing.

This credit card payoff calculator cuts through the uncertainty and shows you exactly where you stand. Enter your balance and interest rate, and you'll see precisely how long it will take to become debt-free—plus how much of your money is going toward interest instead of paying down what you actually spent.

The calculator works two ways: tell it how much you can pay each month and see your payoff timeline, or pick when you want to be debt-free and see what payment that requires. Either way, you'll walk away with a clear plan instead of vague anxiety.

With credit card interest rates averaging 23.79% in 2026, every month you carry a balance costs real money. Knowing your numbers is the first step toward changing them.

Here's something most people don't realize until they run the numbers: the difference between an okay repayment strategy and a good one can be thousands of dollars and years of your life.

Take a common situation—a $5,500 balance at 21% APR:

The person paying $500/month instead of $151/month saves $2,853 and gets nearly 4 years of their life back. Same debt, completely different outcome.

That's why this calculator exists. Not to make you feel bad about debt—plenty of people carry credit card balances for perfectly understandable reasons—but to help you see what's possible and make choices that work for your situation.

Understanding the mechanics helps you see why paying more than the minimum makes such a dramatic difference.

Credit cards don't just charge interest once a month. They calculate it daily:

1. Your APR gets divided by 365. A 21% APR becomes a 0.0575% daily rate. Sounds tiny, right?
2. That rate applies to your balance every single day. If you're carrying $5,000, that's about $2.88 in interest accumulating daily.
3. At month's end, all that daily interest gets added to what you owe. Now you're paying interest on the interest you were just charged.

This compound interest is why credit card debt feels like it barely budges when you're making minimum payments. You're mostly paying interest, with only a small slice going toward your actual balance.

The national average sits at 23.79% right now. If you're not sure what you're paying, grab your most recent statement—your APR is listed near the interest charges. Knowing this number is essential for planning your payoff.

Getting your personalized payoff plan takes about 30 seconds:

Step 1: Enter your current balance

This is the total amount you owe right now. Check your latest statement or log into your account for the exact number. Include any interest that's already been tacked on.

Step 2: Enter your interest rate

Your card's APR (annual percentage rate). If you're in a promotional 0% period, you can enter that—just remember to plan for when the regular rate kicks in.

Step 3: Choose how you want to calculate

You have two options:

• "Payment per month" — You know what you can afford monthly and want to see how long payoff takes
• "Desired months to payoff" — You have a target date and want to know what payment gets you there

Step 4: Enter your number

Either your monthly payment amount or your target payoff timeline in months.

Step 5: See your results

Instantly, you'll see:

• Your monthly payment (or confirmation of what you entered)
• Exactly how many months until you're debt-free
• Your total principal (what you originally spent)
• Your total interest (the cost of borrowing)

Try running it a few times with different numbers. Seeing how a $50 increase in monthly payment affects your timeline can be genuinely motivating.

The numbers this calculator gives you tell an important story. Here's how to read it:

This is your finish line. If the number feels overwhelming, don't panic—run the calculator again with a slightly higher payment to see how much time you could shave off. Sometimes an extra $50/month cuts your timeline by a third.

This is the number that often changes how people think about their debt. It's money that goes to the credit card company, not toward paying off what you actually purchased.

When you see that a $6,000 balance might cost you $3,200 in interest over 5 years, it reframes decisions. That's not abstract—it's a vacation, an emergency fund, or several months of car payments going to interest instead.

Credit card minimums are usually 1-3% of your balance or around $25-35, whichever is higher. They're designed to keep you current on your account, not to get you out of debt efficiently.

Here's a real example of what minimum payments actually look like:

$5,000 balance at 23% APR, minimum payments only:

• Time to payoff: Over 17 years
• Total interest paid: More than $7,400
• Total paid: $12,400+ (for $5,000 worth of purchases)

The minimum payment isn't a recommendation. It's the least you can pay without penalties.

Once you've seen your numbers, here are concrete strategies to improve them:

Use this calculator to test different amounts. What's the highest payment you can sustain without straining your budget? That's your target. Even $30 more than you're paying now makes a measurable difference over time.

Split your monthly payment in half and pay that amount every two weeks. Because there are 52 weeks in a year, you'll make 26 half-payments—equivalent to 13 monthly payments instead of 12. That extra payment goes straight to principal.

Tax refund? Birthday cash? Work bonus? Before it disappears into general spending, put a chunk toward your credit card. A single $500 payment on a $4,000 balance at 22% APR saves you roughly $300 in interest and months of payments.

If your calculated payment is $178, pay $200. If it's $243, pay $250. Those extra dollars bypass interest and chip directly at your principal. Over a year, rounding up can knock months off your payoff.

Cards offering 0% introductory APR for 12-18 months let you pay down principal without interest piling on. The catch: transfer fees typically run 3-5%, and you need to pay off the balance before the promo ends. Do the math to make sure it actually saves you money.

It sounds almost too simple, but it works. If you've been a customer for a while and have a decent payment history, call your card issuer and ask for a rate reduction. The worst they can say is no—and many people get 2-5 percentage points knocked off just by asking.

If you have multiple cards, focus extra payments on one at a time rather than spreading extra money across all of them. Whether you target the highest interest rate (saves the most money) or the smallest balance (fastest win), concentrated effort beats diluted effort.

Numbers mean more with context. Here are situations you might recognize:

Situation: You put $3,200 on your card during the holidays. Your APR is 24%.

The takeaway: Doubling your payment from $100 to $200 saves you $615 and more than two years.

Situation: A $4,500 car repair went on your card. Your APR is 21%.

If you want it paid off in 12 months, you need to pay about $420/month. Total interest: roughly $504.

If that's too steep, extending to 18 months drops your payment to $293/month, but interest climbs to $769.

The takeaway: Sometimes a longer timeline is the realistic choice. The important thing is having a timeline at all.

Situation: You opened a retail card for the 20% discount and now carry a $1,800 balance at 29.99% APR.

The takeaway: High-interest store cards punish slow payoffs harshly. That $50/month approach costs you an extra $748 compared to paying $100/month.

Situation: You have $8,000 in credit card debt at 22% APR and can pay $300/month.

Your numbers:

• Payoff time: 35 months (just under 3 years)
• Total interest: $2,364
• Total paid: $10,364

What happens if you find an extra $100/month:

• Payoff time: 24 months (2 years)
• Total interest: $1,516
• Savings: $848 and 11 months

Running these numbers might feel uncomfortable. Seeing exactly how much of your money goes toward interest, or how long your debt will stick around with current payments, isn't always pleasant.

But here's the thing: you can't improve what you don't understand. Now you have clarity—real numbers, not guesses.

The $100/month extra that seems hard to find? It might save you $1,500 and a year of payments. That context changes decisions.

Whatever your balance, whatever your rate, you now have a tool to test different approaches and find one that fits your life. Use it. Try different scenarios. Find the payment that gets you to debt-free on a timeline you can commit to.

Your future self—the one who doesn't owe anyone money on a credit card—will thank you for starting today.