Calculate your monthly personal loan payment, total interest, and true APR including origination fees. Compare loan offers side-by-side on an equal basis before borrowing.
Monthly payment, total interest & true APR
A personal loan calculator is essential for comparing loan offers because lenders quote rates in different ways. The stated interest rate and the APR (Annual Percentage Rate) can be very different numbers. A lender offering 10% with a 5% origination fee on a $15,000 loan for 36 months has an effective APR closer to 14%–15%. This calculator computes the true APR so you can compare Lender A (9% rate, 3% fee) against Lender B (11% rate, no fee) on an equal basis. In 2025, average personal loan APRs in the US ranged from about 8% for excellent-credit borrowers to 25%+ for those with fair credit.
Loan term is another major factor. A shorter term means higher monthly payments but dramatically less total interest. A $15,000 personal loan at 12% APR over 36 months costs about $2,900 in interest; stretched to 60 months, the same loan costs nearly $4,900 — an extra $2,000 paid just for the longer timeline. For debt consolidation purposes, the personal loan APR needs to beat the weighted average APR of the debts being consolidated to produce real savings. This calculator helps you verify that before you sign.
APR includes origination fees rolled into the annual cost. A 10% loan with a 4% fee has an APR of roughly 12.5%–13% over 36 months. Always compare APR, not the stated rate, when evaluating competing offers.
Origination fees typically run 1%–8% of the loan amount. On a $20,000 loan, a 5% fee is $1,000 deducted upfront but you still owe the full $20,000. Factor this into your comparison — the net amount you receive matters.
Shorter terms (24–36 months) cost less total interest but require higher monthly payments. Longer terms (60–84 months) free up monthly cash flow but can cost 50%–75% more in total interest over the loan life.
Borrowers with 760+ FICO scores get the best personal loan rates (7%–12%). Scores in the 640–699 range often see 18%–25% APR. Improving your credit score before applying can save hundreds or even thousands over the loan term.
Personal loans are unsecured fixed-rate instalment debt, priced almost entirely on credit score — the spread between excellent and fair credit commonly exceeds fifteen percentage points. Because there is no collateral, rates sit well above mortgage or auto lending but far below credit cards, which is what makes them the standard consolidation vehicle. The detail that catches borrowers is the origination fee: typically 1–8%, deducted from the advance rather than added to it, so a $20,000 loan with a 5% fee puts $19,000 in your account while charging interest on the full $20,000.
M = P × [ i(1 + i)^n ] ÷ [ (1 + i)^n − 1 ]Net cash received = P − origination feeTrue APR = rate implied by (net cash received, payment, term)where:
Assumptions: Fixed rate and no prepayment penalty on most US personal loans. Compare the APR rather than the rate, since it incorporates the origination fee, which the rate does not.
Compute the payment, then find what the loan really costs once the fee is included.
Result$404.05 a month — a 14.7% true APR, not 12.4%
The fee adds 2.3 percentage points to the real cost, which is why comparing headline rates between lenders is misleading when their fee structures differ. A no-fee loan at 14% is cheaper than this 12.4% offer despite the worse-looking rate.