Credit Card Payoff Calculator

What this calculator does. It shows how long it will take to pay off a credit card balance and how much interest you'll be charged along the way. You can either set a fixed monthly payment to see when you'll be debt-free, or pick a target payoff date to see what monthly payment you'd need to get there.

How the calculation works. Each month the card charges interest on your remaining balance — the APR is split into a monthly rate (APR ÷ 12). Your payment first covers that month's interest, and whatever is left reduces the balance. The lower the balance gets, the less interest is charged the following month, so the same payment clears more debt over time. We simulate this month by month until the balance reaches zero.

A worked example. A £3,000 balance at 21% APR with a fixed payment of £100 a month would take roughly 3 years and 7 months to clear, costing about £1,260 in interest. Increase the payment to £150 and you'd clear it in around 2 years, with interest dropping to about £660 — saving you roughly £600 just by paying £50 more each month.

How to read the results. "Months to clear" is the payoff timeline; "Total interest" is the real cost of carrying the balance. If only the minimum payment is made, payoff can stretch over a decade — even small increases above the minimum dramatically cut both time and interest, because more of every payment goes to the balance instead of the lender.

Figures assume the APR and payment stay constant and no new spending is added to the card.