Free Debt Payoff Calculator

How it works: Pay only the minimum on every debt, with no extra applied anywhere. This is the baseline the other eight strategies are measured against. The comparison table shows how much time and interest each one saves versus this path.

Best for: Understanding your starting point. Almost any structured strategy beats it once you can pay anything beyond the minimums.

How it works: All extra payment goes to the debt with the highest interest rate. This mathematically minimizes total interest paid.

Best for: Saving the most money overall. This is the mathematically optimal strategy.

How it works: All extra payment goes to the debt with the smallest balance. Once paid off, its minimum payment plus the extra rolls into the next smallest debt.

Best for: People who need quick psychological wins to stay motivated.

How it works: Similar to snowball, but re-evaluates which debt has the lowest balance every month.

Best for: Situations where balances fluctuate or you want a more adaptive approach.

How it works: All extra payment targets the debt with the largest remaining balance each month.

Best for: People who want to eliminate their largest obligation quickly.

How it works: All extra payment targets the debt with the highest minimum monthly payment. Paying this off first frees up the most cash flow.

Best for: People who want to reduce required monthly obligations quickly.

How it works: Targets the debt with the lowest balance-to-payment ratio. A lower ratio means your extra dollar has the biggest relative impact.

Best for: Efficiently freeing up cash flow with maximum leverage.

How it works: Uses Net Present Value analysis to determine where an extra dollar saves the most interest, considering both rate and remaining term.

Best for: Sophisticated analysis with a mix of short-term high-rate and long-term low-rate debts.

How it works: Considers both interest rate AND how long the debt will accumulate interest. Targets the debt that will generate the most future interest over its remaining life, accounting for the fact that longer-term debts at moderate rates can cost more than short-term debts at high rates.

Best for: Portfolios with a mix of debt terms — reveals which debt truly costs the most over its full remaining life.

The debt snowball method targets your smallest balance first while making minimum payments on everything else. When the smallest debt is paid off, you roll that payment into the next smallest. It's popular because paying off debts quickly provides motivation to keep going.

The debt avalanche (highest rate) method targets the debt with the highest interest rate first. This saves the most money in total interest over time, making it the mathematically optimal strategy. However, it may take longer to see your first debt fully paid off.

The "best" strategy depends on your goals. If you want to save the most money, the avalanche method (highest rate first) is mathematically optimal. If you need motivation from quick wins, the snowball method works well. Our calculator compares all 9 strategies so you can see the trade-offs.

Leave the "Term" field blank for credit cards and other revolving debt. The calculator will estimate your payoff timeline based on your balance, interest rate, and minimum payment using standard amortization formulas.

The cashflow index divides each debt's balance by its minimum payment and pays off the lowest-index debt first, the one consuming the most monthly payment per dollar owed. It frees up monthly cash flow fastest, which can matter more than total interest when your budget is tight. It's one of the 9 strategies this calculator compares.

Yes. Choose HELOC or ARM as the debt type and the extra fields appear: HELOCs model the interest-only draw period and the re-amortized repayment period separately, and ARMs model the fixed-rate period and the adjusted-rate remainder. There's also a dedicated HELOC payoff calculator with a fuller explanation.

Yes! The calculator is completely free with no signup required. If you want to save your results and track your progress over time with detailed payment schedules and charts, you can create a free Zoninga account.