See exactly how your loan is paid off. This free amortization calculator shows your monthly payment, total interest, and a complete year-by-year schedule of how each payment splits between principal and interest.
Loan details
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Monthly payment
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Enter a loan amount, rate and term
Total interest
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Total of payments
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Amortization schedule (yearly)
Year
Principal paid
Interest paid
Balance
Results update automatically as you type. Estimates only — confirm exact figures with your lender.
Use this free amortization calculator to see your monthly payment and a full year-by-year schedule of how each payment splits between principal and interest. Enter your loan amount, interest rate and term to view the complete payoff breakdown.
What this amortization calculator shows you
An amortization calculator shows how a loan is paid off over time. It calculates your fixed monthly payment, then builds an amortization schedule — a table showing how much of each year’s payments goes to principal versus interest, and your remaining balance. It also totals the interest you’ll pay over the life of the loan.
The schedule reveals something most borrowers miss: in the early years, most of your payment goes to interest, not principal. Seeing this helps you understand why extra payments early in a loan save so much.
How to use the amortization calculator
Enter the loan amount. The amount you’re borrowing.
Add the interest rate. Use the APR your lender quoted.
Set the term in years. Common terms are 15 and 30 years for mortgages, fewer for other loans.
Read your schedule. Your monthly payment, total interest and full yearly breakdown appear instantly.
How amortization works
With an amortizing loan, you pay the same amount every month, but the split changes over time. Each payment first covers the interest due on the remaining balance; whatever is left reduces the principal. The monthly payment is found with:
M = P × [ r(1 + r)n ] ÷ [ (1 + r)n − 1 ]
Where P is the loan amount, r is the monthly rate (APR ÷ 12 ÷ 100), and n is the number of payments. As the balance shrinks, the interest portion falls and the principal portion grows.
Amortization example
On a $250,000 loan at 6.5% over 30 years:
Detail
Amount
Monthly payment
$1,580
Total interest
$318,861
Total of payments
$568,861
Over 30 years you’d pay nearly $319,000 in interest — more than the loan itself. In year one, the vast majority of each payment goes to interest; by the final years, almost all of it goes to principal.
How extra payments change your amortization
Extra principal payments shorten the loan. Money added to principal skips all the future interest it would have generated.
Early payments help most. The earlier you pay extra, the more interest you avoid.
Biweekly payments squeeze in one extra payment a year, trimming years off a long loan.
Check for prepayment penalties before paying ahead, though most modern loans have none.
Amortization terms glossary
Term
What it means
Amortization
Paying off a loan with regular equal payments over a set period.
Amortization schedule
A table showing the principal, interest and balance for each period.
Principal
The amount you borrowed and still owe.
Interest
The cost of borrowing, charged on the remaining balance.
Term
The total length of the loan.
Balloon payment
A large final payment some non-amortizing loans require.
Amortization Calculator FAQ
What is an amortization schedule?
An amortization schedule is a table showing every payment on a loan, broken down into how much goes to interest, how much goes to principal, and your remaining balance after each period. Early payments are mostly interest; later payments are mostly principal.
How is an amortized payment calculated?
It uses the formula M = P × r(1 + r)n ÷ ((1 + r)n − 1), where P is the loan amount, r is the monthly interest rate, and n is the number of payments. The payment stays fixed while the principal-to-interest split changes over time.
Why is most of my early payment interest?
Interest is charged on your remaining balance, which is highest at the start of the loan. As you pay the balance down, the interest portion of each payment shrinks and more goes to principal.
How do extra payments affect amortization?
Extra payments go straight to principal, which removes all the future interest that principal would have generated. Paying extra early in the loan saves the most, and can shorten the term significantly.
What's the difference between a 15-year and 30-year amortization?
A 15-year schedule has higher monthly payments but builds equity faster and pays far less total interest. A 30-year schedule has lower payments but much more interest over the life of the loan.
Does this work for any loan type?
Yes. Any fixed-rate amortizing loan — mortgage, auto, personal or student — follows the same schedule, so you can use this calculator for all of them.
Is the amortization calculator free to use?
Yes, this amortization calculator is completely free, needs no sign-up, and gives instant results directly in your browser.
