Personal Loan Calculator: Estimate Your Monthly Payments

How to use this calculator

1. Enter a loan amount

Enter a personal loan amount from $1,000 to $100,000 — the typical range offered by lenders. You’re more likely to qualify for large amounts if you have strong credit and high income.

2. Enter your interest rate

Current annual percentage rates (APR) range from about 7% to 36%. The rate you receive depends primarily on your credit profile and financial information. So if you have excellent credit and low debt-to-income ratios, you’ll likely get the lowest rates.

For an idea of what to expect, here are the average APRs by credit band that borrowers who pre-qualified with NerdWallet received over the last 30 days:

Excellent credit (720-850 score): 14.76% APR

Good credit (690-719 score): 19.29% APR

Fair (630-689 score): 23.48% % APR

Bad (300-629 score): 26.59% APR

(Note that these rates are estimates only, based on aggregate, anonymized data.)

3. Choose a repayment term

Personal loans typically have repayment terms from two to seven years. A loan with a long term has lower monthly payments, while a shorter-term loan costs less in interest.

4. Include an origination fee (optional)

An origination fee is a one-time fee that’s charged as an upfront percentage of the loan, usually 1% to 10% of the loan amount. It’s typically deducted from the loan amount, so if you take out a $10,000 loan with a 5% origination fee, you’ll receive $9,500. More than half of the 39 personal loan lenders NerdWallet surveys charge an origination fee.

How to make the most of your results

This calculator can help you understand how different loan amounts, rates and terms affect your loan and, ultimately, whether you can afford the monthly payment. Here’s what to consider as you compare different scenarios or loan offers.

How does the interest rate affect my loan?

Your rate has a huge impact on the amount you pay each month and over the life of the loan. Say you take a $10,000, three-year loan. With a 10% interest rate, you'd pay $1,616 in interest. That same loan with a 25% rate would cost $4,314 in interest. Keep this in mind when comparing offers and their APRs and look into ways to lower your rate.

Which term should I go with?

As you experiment with the calculator, you’ll see that longer terms equal lower monthly payments but more interest overall. A shorter-term loan has higher monthly payments but costs less in interest. The ideal repayment term balances affordable payments and low interest costs.

Can I afford the monthly payments?

Once you have an idea of the loan amount, interest rate and term you’d want, ask if you can reliably afford the monthly payment while still covering essential expenses and other debt payments. If not, you may need to adjust the loan amount or term to get lower payments.

How much money will I actually get?

An origination fee won’t affect your monthly payment, but it will take a bite from your proceeds. For example, say you need to cover a $25,000 expense. If your loan comes with a 5% origination fee, you'd only receive $23,750. You’d need to request a larger loan to account for that deduction.

How to get a personal loan

If you’ve identified an amount, term and monthly payment you feel comfortable with, it’s time to compare loan offers and apply. Here’s what’s next:

1. Pre-qualify

Many online lenders, banks and credit unions allow you to pre-qualify for a personal loan. You give the lender some information about yourself, such as your name, income, desired loan amount and loan purpose. The lender will then do a soft credit check to determine what loan amount, rate and repayment term you may qualify for. Soft credit checks don’t impact your credit score. It's a good idea to pre-qualify with multiple lenders to find the best offer — which is usually the one with the lowest APR.

2. Compare lender features

Once you see multiple lenders’ offers, compare their features to find the best fit for you. Consider these factors:

APR or interest rate: APR represents the cost of borrowing, making it the best apples-to-apples cost comparison tool. A lender is required to disclose this number before you get a loan.

A personal loan’s APR is only different from its interest rate if there are other fees, like an origination fee.

Monthly payment: Loan payments should fit comfortably into your monthly budget. On-time personal loan payments help you build credit, while late and missed payments hurt it.

Total interest payments: Looking at the total interest paid by itself lets you compare the cost of one loan to another. You can also use it as a gut-check to decide if the loan is worth it.

If you have multiple promising offers, compare special loan features to break the tie. Some lenders have credit-building tools, flexible payment dates, fast funding and the option to pay your creditors directly with loan funds.

3. Read the fine print

Once you’ve chosen a lender, closely review the terms before formally applying. Here are a few important details to note:

Fees: Check for origination, late fees or prepayment penalties. Most lenders allow you to repay the loan early with no penalty.

Automatic withdrawals: Note whether the lender automatically withdraws payments from your checking account. If it does, consider setting up a low-balance alert with your bank to avoid overdraft fees.

Extra payments: Ideally extra payments above the minimum can be applied directly to the principal. That move can save you money on interest and speed up repayment.

4. Submit your application

Accept your pre-qualified offer and fill out the lender’s formal application. Having documents ready that prove your identity and income, like W-2s and tax forms, can help move the application process more quickly.

When you submit your application, the lender does a hard credit pull, causing your credit score to temporarily dip. Some lenders offer same-day loan approval, while others take between one and seven business days to process your application.

5. Get funded

If approved, most personal loan lenders can fund a loan within a week. Some say they’ll send you the money the same or next business day after approval.

Get started on NerdWallet

Answer a few questions to see if you pre-qualify for a personal loan. Within minutes, we’ll show your personalized rate estimates from several lenders. This won't affect your credit score.