See the full true cost of borrowing — every payment plus every fee — so you know exactly what a loan will cost you from start to finish.
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Total Cost of Loan
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Total Interest
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Cost as % of Amount Borrowed
Cumulative interest paidCumulative principal paid
How the Loan Cost Calculator works
The interest rate on a loan only tells part of the story. The real number that matters is the
total cost — every dollar you'll hand over by the time the loan is paid off, including interest
and any fees charged to set up the loan.
This calculator adds your full amortized interest to any origination or other upfront fees to
give you one bottom-line figure, plus that figure expressed as a percentage of what you actually
borrowed, so you can quickly judge how expensive a loan really is relative to its size.
Total Cost = Total of All Payments + Fees
Comparing total cost side by side is often more useful than comparing rates alone, especially
when offers have different fees or terms. If you want to compare two full offers at once, try the
Loan Comparison Calculator.
Frequently asked questions
The total cost is every dollar you pay to borrow the money: all of your scheduled principal and interest payments over the full term, plus any upfront fees such as an origination fee, application fee, or other one-time charges.
No. Total cost is a dollar amount — everything you'll pay in interest and fees combined. APR is a rate that expresses fees as if they were spread across the loan as extra interest, which makes it useful for comparing loans with different fee structures. Try the APR Calculator to see that rate for this same loan.
Usually, yes. A longer term lowers your monthly payment, but you pay interest for more months, so the total interest — and usually the total cost — is higher. Shortening the term is one of the most reliable ways to reduce the total cost of a loan, assuming you can afford the larger payment.