How to use this credit card payoff calculator
- Choose what to solve for. “Fixed payment” shows how long a monthly payment takes to clear the card; “Pay off by a date” shows the payment needed to be debt-free in a set number of months.
- Enter your balance and APR. Use the purchase APR printed on your statement. The default, 22.15%, is the recent U.S. average APR on credit card accounts that were charged interest as of May 2026 (source: Federal Reserve G.19 Consumer Credit - credit card plans, accounts assessed interest).
- Enter your monthly payment or your target number of months. Results update as you type.
- Compare your options. The results set your plan against paying only the minimum and against a 36-month payoff. Open “Compare a balance transfer” to test an offer, or adjust the minimum payment formula to match your card.
- Save or share your scenario with the “Copy link” button, and open the month-by-month schedule to see each payment’s interest and principal.
How is credit card interest calculated?
Your APR is an annual rate, but many card issuers charge interest daily. They divide the APR by 365 or 360, depending on the issuer, to get a daily periodic rate, apply it to what you owe each day, usually through your average daily balance for the billing cycle, and add the result to your balance. Because that interest becomes part of the balance, unpaid interest earns interest too.
At 22.15% APR the daily periodic rate is 0.0607%. Compounded daily for a year, that is an effective annual rate of 24.79%, compared with 24.54% if interest were added once a month. On a $5,000 balance left unpaid for a year, the difference is about $12.
This calculator uses the monthly approximation, APR ÷ 12 = 1.846% a month, which keeps every number easy to check. Your statements may differ slightly. If your card has a grace period, you can avoid interest on new purchases by paying the full balance by the due date, but the grace period usually applies only when you weren’t already carrying a balance. That is why new purchases can cost interest right away while you pay down debt.
Credit card payoff formulas
With a fixed monthly payment, the number of payments needed to clear the balance is:
n = −ln(1 − r × B / P) / ln(1 + r)
- n
- number of monthly payments (round up; the last payment is smaller)
- B
- current card balance
- P
- fixed monthly payment (must be more than r × B, the monthly interest)
- r
- monthly interest rate = APR ÷ 12
To be debt-free in a set number of months, solve for the payment instead:
P = B × r / (1 − (1 + r)^−N)
- P
- monthly payment
- B
- current card balance
- r
- monthly interest rate = APR ÷ 12
- N
- number of months until the card is paid off
Worked example
A $5,000 balance at 22.15% APR has a monthly rate of r = 0.018458, so the first month’s interest is $92.29. Paying P = $200: r × B ÷ P = 0.4615, and n = −ln(1 − 0.4615) ÷ ln(1 + 0.018458) = 33.84. That rounds up to 34 payments: 33 of $200 and a final payment of $167.76, for $1,768 in total interest.
To clear the same balance in N = 24 months instead, P = $5,000 × 0.018458 ÷ (1 − (1 + 0.018458)−24) = $259.76 a month, with $1,234 of interest.
How long does it take to pay off a credit card?
Time to pay off common balances at 22.15% APR with a fixed monthly payment and no new charges. “Never” means the payment does not cover the monthly interest, so the balance never goes down.
| Balance | $100/mo | $200/mo | $300/mo | $500/mo | $1,000/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | 1 year | 6 months | 4 months | 3 months | 2 months |
| $2,500 | 2 years 10 months | 1 year 3 months | 10 months | 6 months | 3 months |
| $5,000 | 11 years 9 months | 2 years 10 months | 1 year 9 months | 1 year | 6 months |
| $10,000 | never | 11 years 9 months | 4 years 5 months | 2 years 2 months | 1 year |
| $15,000 | never | never | 11 years 9 months | 3 years 9 months | 1 year 6 months |
| $20,000 | never | never | never | 6 years 2 months | 2 years 2 months |
Monthly payment to be debt-free by a target date
The fixed payment needed to clear each balance at 22.15% APR, rounded to the nearest dollar:
| Balance | 12 months | 24 months | 36 months | 48 months | 60 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $94 | $52 | $38 | $32 | $28 |
| $2,500 | $234 | $130 | $96 | $79 | $69 |
| $5,000 | $468 | $260 | $191 | $158 | $139 |
| $7,500 | $702 | $390 | $287 | $237 | $208 |
| $10,000 | $937 | $520 | $383 | $316 | $277 |
| $15,000 | $1,405 | $779 | $574 | $474 | $416 |
| $20,000 | $1,873 | $1,039 | $765 | $632 | $554 |
What happens if you only make the minimum payment?
Minimum payments keep your account current, but they are not designed to clear the debt quickly. Many cards set the minimum at a small percentage of the balance plus that month’s interest, with a dollar floor. This calculator assumes the greater of $25 or 1% of the balance plus interest; check your cardholder agreement for your card’s exact formula and enter it under “Minimum payment formula.”
Because the payment shrinks as the balance falls, progress slows over time. On $5,000 at 22.15%, the first minimum payment is about $142.29, and $92.29 of it is interest. Paying only the minimum would take 19 years 3 months and cost $8,159 in interest, 4.6 times as much as paying a fixed $200 a month.
| Balance | First minimum | Time (minimums only) | Interest (minimums only) | 36-month payment | Interest (36 months) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $28.46 | 5 years 11 months | $775 | $38 | $378 |
| $2,500 | $71.15 | 13 years 6 months | $3,544 | $96 | $944 |
| $5,000 | $142.29 | 19 years 3 months | $8,159 | $191 | $1,888 |
| $10,000 | $284.58 | 25 years | $17,388 | $383 | $3,777 |
| $20,000 | $569.17 | 30 years 9 months | $35,846 | $765 | $7,553 |
The minimum payment warning on your statement
The Credit CARD Act of 2009 added a minimum payment warning to monthly credit card statements. Under Regulation Z, your statement must show how long it would take to pay off the current balance making only minimum payments and the total you would pay. In most cases it must also show the monthly payment that would clear the balance in 36 months, the total cost at that payment and how much you would save, plus a toll-free number for information about credit counseling. Issuers can leave out the 36-month figures in some cases, for example when minimum payments alone would pay off the balance within three years.
Those estimates assume you make no new purchases, pay only the minimum and keep the same APR, the same assumptions this calculator uses. The “Pay off in 36 months” row in the results mirrors the statement’s 3-year figure.
Debt avalanche vs. debt snowball
With several cards, pay every minimum first, then decide where the extra money goes:
- Debt avalanche: put the extra toward the card with the highest APR. This saves the most interest.
- Debt snowball: put the extra toward the smallest balance. You may pay more interest, but you pay off individual cards sooner, which helps some people stay motivated.
In both methods, when a card is paid off its payment rolls over to the next target. Example: Card A has $1,500 at 18% APR (minimum $40), Card B has $4,000 at 24% ($100) and Card C has $8,000 at 29% ($200), with $600 a month to spend on all three:
| Strategy | First card paid off | Debt-free in | Total interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche (highest APR first) | Card C in month 23 | 2 years 7 months | $5,032 |
| Snowball (smallest balance first) | Card A in month 6 | 2 years 9 months | $5,776 |
The avalanche saves $744 and finishes 2 months sooner, while the snowball delivers its first paid-off card in month 6 instead of month 23. The best plan is the one you will follow. On a single card with balances at different rates (for example, purchases and a cash advance), federal rules generally require the issuer to apply anything you pay above the minimum to the highest-APR balance first.
Is a balance transfer worth it?
A balance transfer moves debt to a card with a low introductory APR, often 0%, usually for a fee that is a percentage of the amount moved (or a flat amount, whichever is more). The fee is added to the new balance, so the test is simple: a transfer pays off when the interest you avoid is larger than the fee.
Example: moving $5,000 with a 3% fee ($150) to a card at 0% for 18 months, then 22.15%, and paying $200 a month. About $1,550 would still be owed when the intro rate ends, and the card would be paid off in 2 years 3 months. Total cost: $289 in fees and interest, compared with $1,768 of interest if you stay on the current card, a saving of $1,479. Pay $286.11 a month instead and the full $5,150 is gone before the promotion ends, so the fee is your only cost, versus $1,093 of interest at that payment on the current card.
A quick check: the 3% fee equals about 1.6 months of interest at 22.15%, so a 0% period of several months usually covers it, as long as the rate after the promotion is not much higher than your current one and you avoid new charges. The introductory rate must last at least six months unless you fall more than 60 days behind on payments. Use “Compare a balance transfer” in the calculator to test a real offer.
How to pay off credit card debt faster
- Pay more than the minimum. In the example, paying $250 instead of $200 saves $470 and 8 months.
- Stop adding charges to the card you are paying down, so every payment reduces the balance.
- Ask your issuer for a lower APR, and compare balance transfer offers or a lower-rate personal loan with our loan calculator.
- Check your overall debt load with the debt-to-income calculator, and see how a fixed payment amortizes with the payment calculator.
- Get help if you need it. Your monthly statement lists a toll-free number for information about credit counseling.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to pay off $5,000 in credit card debt?
At 22.15% APR, paying $200 a month clears a $5,000 balance in 2 years 10 months, with $1,768 in interest. Paying $250 a month cuts that to 2 years 2 months and $1,298. Paying only the minimum, starting at $142.29, would take 19 years 3 months. These estimates assume you stop adding new charges.
How is credit card interest calculated?
Many issuers charge interest daily. They divide your APR by 365 or 360, depending on the issuer, to get a daily periodic rate and apply it to your balance each day, typically using your average daily balance for the billing cycle. At 22.15% APR the daily rate is 0.0607%. Interest is added to your balance, so unpaid interest also earns interest.
Why does paying only the minimum take so long?
A common minimum payment formula is that month’s interest plus 1% of the balance, so very little goes to principal, and the payment shrinks as the balance falls. On $5,000 at 22.15%, the first minimum of about $142.29 includes $92.29 of interest. Paying only minimums would cost $8,159 in interest, 4.6 times as much as a fixed $200 payment.
How much should I pay to pay off my credit card in 3 years?
Use the level-payment formula P = B × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−36), with r = APR ÷ 12. For $5,000 at 22.15%, that is $191.34 a month, or $1,888 in total interest. Your monthly statement shows a similar 3-year payment estimate, a disclosure federal rules require for most credit card accounts.
Is a balance transfer worth it?
Usually, if the interest you avoid is larger than the transfer fee and you don’t add new charges. Moving $5,000 to a 0% card for 18 months with a 3% fee ($150) and paying $200 a month would cost $289 in fees and interest, versus $1,768 of interest if you stay at 22.15%, saving about $1,479.
Should I use the debt avalanche or the debt snowball?
The avalanche (highest APR first) saves the most interest, while the snowball (smallest balance first) gives faster early wins. In our three-card example with a $600 monthly budget, the avalanche saved $744 in interest, but the snowball paid off its first card in month 6 instead of month 23. Choose the method you will stick with.
Does this calculator include new purchases or fees?
No. Like the payoff estimates on your statement, it assumes you make no new purchases, pay no fees and keep the same APR. Interest is charged at APR ÷ 12 each month; card issuers usually apply a daily rate to your average daily balance, so your actual interest can differ slightly. To see the effect of new charges, add them to the balance.