Free debt payoff calculator. Enter your actual debts — balances, APRs and minimum payments — plus whatever extra you can put toward them each month. It compares the avalanche method (highest interest rate first) against the snowball method (smallest balance first), and against paying minimums only.
It runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored, and there is no signup.
Debt payoff calculator: avalanche vs. snowball
| Debt name | Balance ($) | APR (%) | Min. payment ($) |
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Assumes fixed APRs, fixed minimum payments, and a constant total monthly budget (all minimums + your extra). As each debt clears, its minimum rolls into the next target automatically. Educational tool — not financial advice.
How this calculator works
Each month the calculator accrues interest on every balance, pays every debt its minimum, then sends every remaining dollar of your budget to one target debt — the highest-APR debt under avalanche, the smallest balance under snowball. When a debt clears, its minimum payment rolls into the next target automatically. That rollover is the “snowball effect,” and it applies to both methods.
Three assumptions worth knowing, because most payoff calculators do not state theirs:
- Your total monthly budget stays constant — all minimums plus your extra payment — for the life of the payoff.
- APRs and minimum payments are fixed. Real card minimums shrink as balances fall; paying the original minimum throughout, as modeled here, is both simpler and slightly faster than reality.
- No new debt is added. The math only holds if the balances only go down.
Reading your result
Two numbers matter more than the winner. The first is the gap between the two methods — often smaller than people expect, which means picking the one you will actually stick with is a rational choice, not a compromise. The second is the gap between either method and paying minimums only, which is usually several thousand dollars and a couple of years.
If the calculator warns that a debt’s minimum barely covers its interest, that debt will never clear on minimums alone. That situation needs a lower rate or a higher payment before payoff strategy is even the right conversation.
For the full worked example and when each method genuinely wins, read Debt Avalanche vs. Snowball: The Actual Math. Related: credit utilization, the emergency fund calculator, and the paycheck-to-paycheck exit sequence.
Educational tool, not personalized financial advice. Your card agreement’s actual minimum-payment formula and any rate changes will alter real-world results.