Credit Card Payment Calculator
Pick the month you want the card gone and this calculator works backwards to the fixed monthly payment that gets you there, interest included, on the daily-balance model.
Start from the date, not the payment
Most people pick a payment and discover the date. This calculator reverses it: choose the month the card dies, and it solves for the fixed monthly payment that lands exactly there — interest computed the issuers' way, on the daily balance, so the date is real.
Find the payment P where the daily-balance simulation clears the balance in exactly your target cycles
Example: $5,000 at 24% APR, gone in 24 months: the required payment is about $261 a month, with roughly $1,270 of interest along the way. Stretch the target to 36 months and the payment falls near $196 — but the interest climbs to about $2,050. The deadline is a price either way; this page shows both sides of it.
A payment that survives contact with your budget
The output is a commitment device: a fixed figure to automate the day after payday, replacing the minimum — which is engineered to stretch the debt, not end it (see the minimum payment calculator for the cost of that engineering).
How this is calculated
The required payment is found by bisection on the published daily-balance model (interest per 30-day cycle = balance × APR ÷ 365 × 30, payment at cycle end): the payment is adjusted until the simulated payoff lands within your target cycle count. The interest total shown is then read from that same simulation, so the payment and the interest always agree.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the required payment higher than a loan calculator's for the same balance?
Because card interest accrues on the daily balance at the full APR from day one with no amortization schedule's structure — and at card APRs, which dwarf loan rates. Same debt, harsher physics.
What if I can pay more some months?
Pay the solved figure as your floor and throw extras whenever possible: every extra dollar advances the date. The plan degrades gracefully — unlike a minimum-payment path, which degrades by design.
Does this account for new spending on the card?
No — and no payoff plan survives new charges. The solved payment assumes the balance only falls. A card being paid off should usually stop being a card you spend on.
How do issuers' minimums compare?
A typical minimum (interest + 1% of balance) on the example debt starts near $149 and shrinks monthly, taking the better part of a decade. The fixed payment this page computes is the antidote, priced exactly.
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