Debt Snowball Calculator

How to use

1. 1Pick a scenario preset, or click Add a debt and enter each open debt's name, balance, annual APR, and minimum monthly payment.
2. 2Enter the extra monthly payment you can put toward debt above the sum of all minimums.
3. 3Read the Headline plan panel to see total payoff time and total interest for your chosen strategy.
4. 4Compare Snowball and Avalanche in the side-by-side cards, including months saved and interest saved by the avalanche.
5. 5Scroll to the Payoff order table to see the month each individual debt is fully cleared under each strategy.
6. 6Click Copy plan summary to paste a plain-text payoff plan into your notes app, budget, or shared doc.

About this tool

Debt Snowball Calculator runs a month-by-month simulation of two classic multi-debt payoff strategies side by side so you can see how each one performs on your real balances before you commit to a plan. Snowball orders your debts smallest balance first and rolls the extra monthly amount into clearing those first, which produces fast early wins and is the strategy popularized by Dave Ramsey and most consumer finance writers. Avalanche orders by highest annual percentage rate first and pours the extra into the most expensive debt, which mathematically minimizes the total interest you pay over the life of the plan. The simulation models each debt as a separate amortizing account: every month it accrues interest at APR divided by twelve, every minimum payment is paid first, and the extra monthly payment plus any freed minimums from already-paid-off debts cascade onto the strategy target. The output shows the headline payoff time and total interest for each plan, a clear summary of how many months and how many dollars the avalanche saves over the snowball (or whether they tie), the exact month each individual debt is cleared under each strategy, and a copyable plain-text summary of the whole plan. Five realistic presets cover the common cases people search for: two credit cards, a mixed pile of cards plus auto plus personal loan, a high-balance slow-paydown profile, a post-grad mix of student loan plus card plus car, and a small-debt fast-payoff sprint. Supports any currency from a dropdown for international users. The math is deterministic and runs entirely in your browser, so balances, APRs, minimum payments, and the rest of your debt situation never leave your device. Useful for choosing between snowball and avalanche, deciding how much extra to budget toward debt each month, seeing the impact of an extra hundred dollars on your total interest, building a payoff date you can put on the calendar, and stress-testing a debt freedom plan before you start.

Free to use. Works in your browser. No signup, no login.