How to plan your credit card payoff
- Enter your current balance and the card's APR (annual percentage rate) from your statement.
- Either enter what you can pay each month to see when you will be debt-free, or choose "Pay off in…" and a number of months to see the payment you need.
- Compare with paying only the card's minimum, and check the year-by-year table of payments, interest and remaining balance. Share the link to keep your plan.
How credit card interest works
Card issuers charge interest monthly at roughly APR ÷ 12 on the balance you carry, so a 22.9% APR costs about 1.9% a month. Each payment first covers that month's interest; only the rest reduces the debt. That is why small payments barely make a dent: on a 5,000 balance at 22.9%, the first month's interest is about 95, so a 100 payment reduces the balance by only 5. Minimum payments, often 1–3% of the balance or a small fixed amount, shrink as the balance shrinks and can stretch repayment over decades.
The calculator simulates every month, assuming no new purchases and a constant APR, and stops when the balance reaches zero. Ways to get out of debt faster: pay more than the minimum (even a little), pay before the statement date, stop using the card for new purchases, and consider a 0% balance transfer or a lower-rate personal loan if fees are reasonable. For several debts, use the debt payoff calculator to compare the snowball and avalanche methods. Calculations stay in your browser.
How long will it take to pay off 5,000 on a credit card?
At 22.9% APR, paying 250 a month takes about 2 years; paying only 2% of the balance could take decades.
Does the calculator include new purchases?
No. It assumes you stop using the card. New spending pushes the payoff date out.
How is the monthly payment for a target date calculated?
With the standard loan formula: payment = balance × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)⁻ⁿ), where r is the monthly rate.