Personal Loan Calculator — Payment, Origination Fee & APR

Loan details

Example: $15,000.00 with a 5% origination fee at 12% for 3 years. Enter your loan offer to update.

Your estimate

Monthly payment: $498.21; 36 payments at 12% interest
Cash you receive: $14,250.00; After a $750.00 fee
Fee-adjusted APR: 15.61%; Interest rate 12%
Cost of borrowing: $3,685.73; Interest + fee
Total interest: $2,935.73
Total of payments: $17,935.73
Paid off: 3 years

Where your payments go

Loan amount: $15,000.00 (83.6%)
Interest: $2,935.73 (16.4%)

Loan payments only. Late fees and optional insurance are not included.

What you receive and what you repay

Loan money flow

Item	Amount
Loan amount (what you repay principal on)	$15,000.00
Origination fee (5%), withheld	− $750.00
Cash you receive	$14,250.00
Total you repay	$17,935.73
Cost of borrowing (interest + fee)	$3,685.73

The interest rate is 12%, but because the fee is taken out of the money you receive, the loan costs the equivalent of 15.61% a year on the cash you actually get.

Extra payments

Add an extra monthly payment above to see how much interest and time it could save.

Compare loan terms

A fixed fee costs more per year on a shorter loan, so the fee-adjusted APR rises as the term shortens even while total interest falls.

Same loan amount, fee and rate over common terms

Term	Monthly payment	Total interest	Fee-adjusted APR	Interest vs. your term
1 year	$1,332.73	$992.78	21.86%	−$1,942.95
2 years	$706.10	$1,946.45	17.23%	−$989.28
3 years (yours)	$498.21	$2,935.73	15.61%	—
4 years	$395.01	$3,960.36	14.78%	+$1,024.63
5 years	$333.67	$5,020.00	14.28%	+$2,084.28
6 years	$293.25	$6,114.21	13.95%	+$3,178.48
7 years	$264.79	$7,242.44	13.71%	+$4,306.72

Amortization schedule

Amortization by year, with the required payment

Year	Paid	Principal	Interest	Ending balance
Year 1	$5,978.58	$4,416.23	$1,562.34	$10,583.77
Year 2	$5,978.58	$4,976.32	$1,002.25	$5,607.44
Year 3	$5,978.58	$5,607.44	$371.13	$0.00

Show all 36 monthly payments

Every monthly payment, with the required payment

Payment #	Payment	Principal	Interest	Balance
1	$498.21	$348.21	$150.00	$14,651.79
2	$498.21	$351.70	$146.52	$14,300.09
3	$498.21	$355.21	$143.00	$13,944.87
4	$498.21	$358.77	$139.45	$13,586.11
5	$498.21	$362.35	$135.86	$13,223.76
6	$498.21	$365.98	$132.24	$12,857.78
7	$498.21	$369.64	$128.58	$12,488.14
8	$498.21	$373.33	$124.88	$12,114.81
9	$498.21	$377.07	$121.15	$11,737.74
10	$498.21	$380.84	$117.38	$11,356.90
11	$498.21	$384.65	$113.57	$10,972.26
12	$498.21	$388.49	$109.72	$10,583.77
13	$498.21	$392.38	$105.84	$10,191.39
14	$498.21	$396.30	$101.91	$9,795.09
15	$498.21	$400.26	$97.95	$9,394.83
16	$498.21	$404.27	$93.95	$8,990.56
17	$498.21	$408.31	$89.91	$8,582.25
18	$498.21	$412.39	$85.82	$8,169.86
19	$498.21	$416.52	$81.70	$7,753.34
20	$498.21	$420.68	$77.53	$7,332.66
21	$498.21	$424.89	$73.33	$6,907.77
22	$498.21	$429.14	$69.08	$6,478.64
23	$498.21	$433.43	$64.79	$6,045.21
24	$498.21	$437.76	$60.45	$5,607.44
25	$498.21	$442.14	$56.07	$5,165.30
26	$498.21	$446.56	$51.65	$4,718.74
27	$498.21	$451.03	$47.19	$4,267.72
28	$498.21	$455.54	$42.68	$3,812.18
29	$498.21	$460.09	$38.12	$3,352.09
30	$498.21	$464.69	$33.52	$2,887.39
31	$498.21	$469.34	$28.87	$2,418.05
32	$498.21	$474.03	$24.18	$1,944.02
33	$498.21	$478.77	$19.44	$1,465.24
34	$498.21	$483.56	$14.65	$981.68
35	$498.21	$488.40	$9.82	$493.28
36	$498.21	$493.28	$4.93	$0.00

How origination fees change what you receive

Many personal loans charge an origination fee, a percentage of the loan withheld when the loan is funded. You repay the full loan amount with interest, but receive less cash. In the example, a 5% fee on $15,000.00 withholds $750.00, so you receive $14,250.00 while paying $498.21 a month on the full $15,000.00.

If you need a specific amount of cash, borrow enough that the amount left after the fee covers it. Enter a larger loan amount and check the Cash you receive figure.

How the payment is calculated

The monthly payment is the standard fixed-rate loan payment on the full loan amount, using the interest rate divided by 12 as the monthly rate: P × r × (1 + r)ⁿ ÷ ((1 + r)ⁿ − 1). It is the same tested formula behind our loan payment calculator. Over 36 payments the example repays $17,935.73: $2,935.73 of interest plus the $15,000.00 borrowed.

What the fee-adjusted APR means

The fee-adjusted APR is the yearly rate that makes the cash you receive equal to the value of all your scheduled payments. It is found by solving for the monthly rate that discounts the payments back to $14,250.00 and multiplying by 12. For the example that is 15.61%, compared with the 12% interest rate. With no fee, the two are equal.

Lenders' APRs work the same way: the APR includes the interest rate plus fees such as origination charges, which is why it is usually higher than the rate (CFPB: interest rate vs. APR). This calculator's figure is an estimate for comparing offers. The APR on your lender's Truth in Lending disclosure is the official figure and can differ if other finance charges apply or payments are timed differently.

Why a fee costs more on a short loan or early payoff

A fee is charged once, so its cost per year depends on how long you keep the loan. For the example amount, fee and rate, the fee-adjusted APR is 21.86% over 1 year but 13.71% over 7 years, even though the longer loan costs more in total interest. Paying the loan off early works the same way: you save interest, but a withheld fee is not refunded, so its effective rate rises. The extra-payment section shows both effects.

Comparing offers: rate vs. fee

A lower rate with a fee is not always cheaper than a higher rate with none. For example, for $15,000.00 over 3 years (illustrative numbers, not current market rates):

Offer A: 11% with a 6% fee: you receive $14,100.00, pay $491.08 a month, and the cost of borrowing is $3,578.91 (fee-adjusted APR 15.33%).
Offer B: 13% with no fee: you receive $15,000.00, pay $505.41 a month, and the cost of borrowing is $3,194.73 (APR 13%).

Here offer B costs less in total despite its higher rate, and it also gives you more cash. Compare offers on the cash you receive, the fee-adjusted APR and the cost of borrowing, not the interest rate alone.

If the loan would pay off credit card balances, the credit card payoff calculator shows how long the cards would take to clear, and what they would cost in interest, at a payment you can afford, so you can compare both routes.

Assumptions and limitations

Fixed interest rate and equal monthly payments; monthly interest is the annual rate divided by 12 on the remaining balance.
The origination fee is a percentage withheld from the loan proceeds and is not refunded on early payoff.
The fee-adjusted APR uses the scheduled payments and is an estimate, not a Truth in Lending disclosure.
Late fees, returned-payment fees and optional insurance products are not included.
No rates or fees are assumed for any lender or credit profile. Use the figures from your own offer.
Amounts are calculated at full precision and rounded to cents for display. Results are estimates, not a loan offer, approval or financial advice.

Methodology and testing

The personal-loan engine uses the same tested amortization engine as our other loan calculators and adds the origination fee and a fee-adjusted APR solver. Automated tests check the payment, cash received, cost of borrowing and fee-adjusted APR against independent calculations, including zero fees, zero interest, extra payments and invalid inputs. Your inputs stay in your browser. How we build and test calculators.

Sources

What is the difference between a loan interest rate and the APR?, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The APR includes the interest rate plus fees such as origination charges, so it is usually higher than the rate.

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