Personal Loan Calculator
Work out the monthly payment, the total interest and — the figure most calculators skip — what the origination fee does to your real borrowing cost once it is deducted from the money you actually receive.
- Updated Aug 9, 2026
- Reviewed by the BSF CPA Editorial Team
- US unsecured lending
- 9 min read
The origination fee is the part of a personal loan that hides in plain sight. Borrow $20,000 at a 12.41% rate over 60 months and the payment is $449 either way — but a 5% fee means only $19,000 lands in your account while you still repay the full $20,000. Your true cost is a 14.70% APR, not 12.41%. At a 10% fee it is 17.18%.
Enter the amount you want to borrow, the quoted rate, the term and the origination fee. The fee is deducted from your proceeds, and the APR shown is the fee-inclusive cost of the money you actually receive.
Personal Loan Calculator
Find your monthly payment, total interest, and the real cost of a personal loan once the origination fee is included.
Enter your details and press Calculate to see your loan payment.
How the personal loan calculator works
Your monthly payment is a fixed, amortizing amount that pays the loan off over the term. The calculator also handles the origination fee — a one-time charge many lenders subtract from the money you receive. Because you repay the full loan amount but only get the amount after the fee, your true cost of borrowing (the effective APR) is higher than the quoted interest rate.
Net received = Amount − (Amount × fee%)
Effective APR > quoted rate whenever a fee applies
The effective APR shown is solved from your actual net cash received versus the payments you make. For secured borrowing against a home or car, compare with our Mortgage and Auto Loan calculators, which usually carry lower rates.
Is a personal loan the right choice?
Personal loans are unsecured, so rates are higher than mortgages or auto loans but lower than most credit cards. They work well for consolidating high-interest debt or funding a one-off expense with a fixed payoff date. Always compare the effective APR — not just the headline rate — across lenders, since origination fees can make a “low rate” loan more expensive than it appears.
- Debt consolidation: replacing 20%+ credit-card debt with a lower-rate personal loan can save significant interest.
- Watch the fee: a 6% origination fee on a short loan can add several points to your effective APR.
- Fixed payoff: unlike credit cards, a personal loan has a set end date, which enforces discipline.
Frequently asked questions
What is an origination fee? +
Why is the effective APR higher than the interest rate? +
What credit score do I need? +
Are personal loans better than credit cards? +
Can I pay off a personal loan early? +
How to read your results
| Output | What it means | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly payment | Principal and interest on the full loan amount | Fixed for the whole term. Based on what you borrow, not what you receive. |
| Total interest | Everything repaid above the loan amount | The cost of the borrowing, excluding the fee. |
| Total repaid | Payment × number of months | What leaves your account over the loan’s life. |
| Origination fee | The fee percentage applied to the loan amount | Charged once, up front, and taken out of your proceeds. |
| Net amount received | Loan amount − origination fee | The cash that actually reaches you. Borrow enough to cover the fee. |
| Effective APR | The rate that equates your payments to the net amount received | The only figure that lets you compare offers with different fees. |
This is the APR in the Truth in Lending sense — the periodic rate annualised by multiplying by 12, which is how US lenders are required to disclose it. It is not the compounded effective annual rate, which would be slightly higher (15.73% rather than 14.70% on the example above). Use the displayed figure to compare against lenders’ quoted APRs, since they are calculated the same way.
What this calculator does
A personal loan is unsecured, fixed-rate and fully amortizing. No collateral backs it, so pricing rests almost entirely on your credit profile and income — which is why rates span a far wider range than secured borrowing, from single digits to the mid-30s.
Most personal loan calculators stop at the monthly payment. This one continues to the part that decides which offer is actually cheapest: the origination fee, the cash you end up with, and the fee-inclusive rate that follows from both.
The formula
payment = amount × i × (1 + i)n ÷ [(1 + i)n − 1]
fee = amount × fee rate
net received = amount − fee
APR: solve for a where net received = payment × [1 − (1 + a)−n] ÷ a, then × 12
- amount What you borrow and repay — the fee does not reduce it.
- i Monthly rate, the quoted annual rate divided by 12.
- n Number of monthly payments.
- a The monthly rate implied by your payments against the cash you received.
The last line is the important one. Because the payment is set on the full amount but you only receive the amount less the fee, the true rate solves backwards from those two facts. There is no closed-form answer, so the calculator finds it numerically.
Why the origination fee matters more than it looks
Origination fees typically run from 0% to about 10%, and occasionally higher. A fee of “5%” sounds like a rounding error next to a 12% rate. It is not, because you pay it once on day one and never get the use of that money.
| Origination fee | Net received | True APR | Added to your rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | $20,000 | 12.41% | — |
| 1% | $19,800 | 12.86% | +0.45 pp |
| 3% | $19,400 | 13.76% | +1.35 pp |
| 5% | $19,000 | 14.70% | +2.29 pp |
| 8% | $18,400 | 16.16% | +3.75 pp |
| 10% | $18,000 | 17.18% | +4.77 pp |
$20,000 borrowed at a 12.41% quoted rate over 60 months.
A 12.41% loan with a 5% fee (14.70% APR) is more expensive than a 14% loan with no fee. Quoted rates are not comparable across lenders unless the fees are identical — compare the fee-inclusive APR, and nothing else.
The second consequence is practical: if you need $20,000 in hand and the fee is 5%, borrowing $20,000 leaves you $1,000 short. You need to borrow about $21,053 — the amount divided by 0.95.
Three worked examples
$20,000 at 12.41% over 60 months, 5% origination fee
Payment $449, total interest $6,943, total repaid $26,943. The $1,000 fee means $19,000 reaches you, making the true cost 14.70% APR. Against carrying the same balance at a typical 24.99% card rate over the same period — $587 a month and $15,215 of interest — consolidating saves $8,272 in interest even after the fee.
$12,000 at 14.58% over 36 months, 1% origination fee
Payment $414, total interest $2,887. The $120 fee leaves $11,880 received and lifts the APR to 15.29% — only 0.71 points, because a small fee spread over a short term barely registers. This is what a competitive offer looks like: the fee is almost irrelevant, so the quoted rate is close to the truth.
14.58% is the July 2026 average rate for borrowers with scores of 720 and above.
$15,000 over 48 months with a 5% fee
| Credit tier | Avg rate | Payment | Total interest | True APR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent (720+) | 14.58% | $414 | $4,885 | 17.42% |
| Good (690–719) | 19.04% | $449 | $6,543 | 21.98% |
| Fair (630–689) | 22.65% | $478 | $7,939 | 25.68% |
The payment gap between excellent and fair credit is only $64 a month, which is easy to shrug off. The interest gap is $3,054 on the same $15,000.
The term trap: when a lower APR costs you more
Here is the counterintuitive result, and the reason APR alone should not choose your term. Take the same $20,000 at 12.41% with a 5% fee and vary only the length:
| Term | Payment | Total interest | True APR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 months | $945 | $2,687 | 17.65% |
| 36 months | $668 | $4,056 | 16.02% |
| 48 months | $531 | $5,474 | 15.20% |
| 60 months | $449 | $6,943 | 14.70% |
| 84 months | $357 | $10,026 | 14.13% |
The APR falls as the term lengthens — from 17.65% to 14.13% — because the one-time fee is spread across more payments. Yet total interest nearly quadruples, from $2,687 to $10,026.
APR is the correct tool for comparing two offers over the same term. It is the wrong tool for choosing a term, because it deliberately annualises away the effect of duration. For term length, compare total interest.
2026 rate benchmarks
Personal loan pricing in 2026 spans roughly 8% to 36% APR, with an overall average near 12.41%. By credit tier, average rates as of July 2026:
| Credit profile | Score | Average rate | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | 720+ | 14.58% | Fee-free offers are realistic; shop for 0% origination. |
| Good | 690–719 | 19.04% | Fees of 1–5% are common; the APR gap between lenders is wide. |
| Fair | 630–689 | 22.65% | Expect fees at the top of the range. Compare APR, never rate. |
The spread within a tier is often larger than the gap between tiers, which is why pre-qualifying with three or four lenders is worth far more than an hour of your time.
Common mistakes
Comparing quoted rates, not APRs
A 12.41% rate with a 5% fee costs more than a 14% rate with none. Only the fee-inclusive APR is comparable across lenders.
Borrowing exactly what you need
The fee comes out of your proceeds. Need $20,000 in hand at a 5% fee? Borrow $21,053, not $20,000.
Using APR to choose the term
APR falls with longer terms because the fee is spread thinner, while total interest rises steeply. Choose term on total interest.
Consolidating without changing behaviour
Paying off cards with a loan and then running the cards back up leaves you with both debts. Close or freeze the accounts.
Accepting the first pre-qualified offer
Pre-qualification uses a soft inquiry and does not affect your score. Rate spreads within a credit tier are routinely several points.
Missing the prepayment terms
Most US personal loans have no prepayment penalty, but some charge one or use precomputed interest. Confirm before assuming early payoff saves money.
Best practices
Pre-qualify with three or more lenders
Soft inquiries cost nothing. Compare the APR each returns after fees, not the headline rate in the marketing.
Gross up for the fee
Divide the cash you need by (1 − fee rate). At a 5% fee, $20,000 needed means $21,053 borrowed.
Take the shortest term you can service
Moving from 60 to 36 months on Example 1 raises the payment $219 but cuts interest by $2,887.
Check that consolidation actually wins
Compare the loan’s total interest against what you would pay servicing the existing balances. If the rate gap is small, the fee can erase the benefit.
Frequently asked questions
Is the origination fee added to my loan or taken out of it?
This calculator deducts it from your proceeds, which is how most US lenders handle it — you repay the full amount but receive less. Some lenders instead add the fee to the balance. Either way the cost is the same; only the mechanics differ.
Why is the APR higher than the interest rate I was quoted?
Because you receive less than you repay. The APR reflects the cost of the cash that actually reached you. With no origination fee the two figures are identical.
What is a good personal loan rate in 2026?
Rates span roughly 8% to 36%, averaging about 12.41%. By tier, July 2026 averages were 14.58% for scores of 720+, 19.04% for 690–719 and 22.65% for 630–689. Below your tier’s average, after fees, is a good offer.
How much should I borrow if there is a fee?
Divide the cash you need by one minus the fee rate. To receive $20,000 with a 5% fee, borrow $20,000 ÷ 0.95 = $21,053. Borrowing exactly $20,000 would leave you $1,000 short.
Does applying hurt my credit score?
Pre-qualifying uses a soft inquiry and does not. Formally applying triggers a hard inquiry, which typically has a small, short-lived effect. Pre-qualify widely, then apply only to the best offer.
Is a personal loan better than a credit card balance?
Usually, if the rate gap is wide. In Example 1, consolidating $20,000 from a 24.99% card into a 12.41% loan saves $8,272 in interest over five years even after a $1,000 fee. It also converts revolving debt into a fixed payoff date.
Why does the APR drop when I lengthen the term?
The origination fee is charged once, so spreading it over more payments dilutes its annualised effect. This is why APR should compare offers over the same term, never choose the term itself — the longer loan costs far more in total interest.
What does unsecured mean?
No collateral backs the loan, so the lender cannot seize an asset if you default. That risk is priced into the rate, which is why personal loans cost more than auto loans or mortgages for the same borrower.
Can I pay it off early?
Most US personal loans allow it with no penalty, and because interest accrues on the balance, early payoff saves real money. Check your agreement for prepayment penalties or precomputed interest, both of which limit the benefit.
What else can a lender charge?
Late fees, returned-payment fees and occasionally an application or documentation fee. Origination is the significant one because it is a percentage of the loan; the rest are usually flat and only apply if something goes wrong.
Are personal loan payments tax deductible?
Generally no, when the money is used for personal purposes. Interest may be deductible if the proceeds are used for business or certain investment purposes, subject to strict tracing rules. Consult a tax professional before relying on this.
Does the calculator handle a 0% fee?
Yes. Set the fee to 0 and the fee, net amount and APR rows are hidden, because with no fee the APR simply equals your quoted rate.
Methodology & sources
Payments use the standard fixed-rate amortization formula with monthly compounding and end-of-month payments. The origination fee is applied to the full loan amount and deducted from proceeds. The APR is found by numerically solving for the monthly rate that equates the payment stream to the net amount received, then annualising by 12 — the Truth in Lending convention, not the compounded effective annual rate.
- NerdWallet — average personal loan interest rates by credit score, July 2026.
- Bankrate — average personal loan rates and origination fee ranges, 2026.
- Federal Reserve Regulation Z (12 CFR 1026) — APR disclosure requirements.
Related resources
- Auto Loan CalculatorSecured borrowing, with tax and trade-in
- Loan Prepayment CalculatorWhat paying extra actually saves
- Credit Card vs Personal LoanWhen consolidating is worth the fee
- Loan Eligibility CalculatorHow much you can realistically borrow
- Net Worth CalculatorSee where the debt sits on your balance sheet
- All CalculatorsThe full BSF library
Compare the APR, not the rate
Run each offer through the calculator with its own fee, and let the fee-inclusive APR decide which lender is actually cheapest.
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