📅 Repayment Calculator
The loan term is the biggest lever on your monthly payment: a short term means a bigger payment but far less interest, while a long term eases the month but inflates the total cost.
Enter the amount and annual rate once, and this calculator lines up the monthly payment for 1, 3, 5 and 10 year terms so you can pick the balance of payment size and total cost that fits your budget.
How to use this calculator
Enter a loan amount and annual rate once to compare the monthly payment across 1, 3, 5 and 10 year repayment terms.
- Type the Loan amount you plan to borrow.
- Enter the Annual interest rate as a percentage.
- Press Calculate.
- Compare the four monthly payments and pick the term whose payment fits your budget.
Frequently asked questions
What does the calculator show?
Four monthly payments for the same loan repaid over 1, 3, 5 and 10 years, so the trade-off between payment size and term length is visible at a glance.
Can you give the numbers for an example?
Borrowing $20,000 at 8% costs about $1,739.77 a month over 1 year, $626.73 over 3 years, $405.53 over 5 years, and $242.66 over 10 years.
Why does the 10-year payment look so attractive?
Because the cost is spread thin, but you pay interest for a decade, so the total interest is far higher than on the shorter terms.
How do I choose a term?
Pick the shortest term whose monthly payment leaves comfortable room in your budget, since every extra year mostly buys interest, not value.