Credit Card Payoff Calculator
See exactly how long it takes to clear a credit card — and what the interest really costs. Enter a monthly payment to find your payoff date, or a target date to find the payment you need.
Estimates are for illustration and education only — not financial advice. Assumes a fixed rate and no new charges on the card. Your issuer's minimum-payment formula and any fees may differ.
Time to clear $6,000 at 22.9% APR
The same balance, the same rate — only the monthly payment changes. Notice how a bigger payment slashes both the time and the interest.
| Monthly payment | Time to pay off | Interest paid |
|---|---|---|
| $150 | 6 yrs 9 mo | $6,120 |
| $250 | 2 yrs 8 mo | $1,940 |
| $400 | 1 yr 6 mo | $1,090 |
| $600 | 11 mo | $690 |
Figures are rounded illustrations for a $6,000 balance at 22.9% APR with no new charges. A low payment can keep you in debt for years while interest piles up — paying more, sooner, is the cheapest move you can make.
How credit card interest really works
Credit cards charge interest on your outstanding balance every single month. At a 22.9% APR, roughly 1.9% of whatever you owe is added back each month before your payment is applied. That's why a balance can feel like it barely moves — a big slice of each payment just covers the fresh interest.
The minimum-payment trap
Paying only the minimum is designed to keep you in debt as long as possible. Because the minimum shrinks as your balance does, the last stretch crawls — turning a few thousand dollars into many years and often more interest than the original balance. Paying a fixed amount every month, instead of a shrinking minimum, is dramatically faster and cheaper.
Every extra dollar goes straight to principal
Once the month's interest is covered, everything above that reduces your balance directly — which means next month's interest is smaller too. That compounding-in-reverse is why increasing your payment even a little has an outsized effect on both time and total cost.
Got more than one card?
If you're juggling several balances, a structured plan beats guessing. Our debt avalanche and debt snowball calculators show the fastest and the most motivating order to knock them out. And once the cards are gone, redirect those payments into our compound interest calculator to put compounding back on your side.
How the payoff time is calculated
Each month, interest is added to your balance first, then your payment is applied. What's left is next month's starting balance — repeated until it hits zero.
Fixed payment vs minimum payment
The single biggest lever on a credit card is refusing to let your payment shrink with the balance. Here's why that one habit changes everything.
Fixed payment the fast lane
- You pay the same dollar amount every month
- Each payment kills more principal as interest shrinks
- Payoff accelerates the closer you get to zero
- Clears the debt in a predictable, finite time
Minimum only the trap
- The minimum shrinks as your balance falls
- A larger share goes to interest for longer
- Payoff can drag on for well over a decade
- You can pay more in interest than you borrowed
Why the minimum is designed to be slow. Minimum payments are typically a small percentage of the balance (often 1–3% plus interest). Because that percentage is taken from an ever-smaller balance, the dollar amount keeps dropping and the payoff crawls. Locking in a fixed payment — ideally well above the minimum — is the cheapest, fastest move available to you.
Stop adding fuel. These figures assume no new charges. Every fresh purchase resets your progress, so pausing use of the card while you pay it down is part of the plan, not a footnote.