DanfioSearch tools/

Type a tool name, a pinyin spelling or a synonym - both languages are searched.

Debt Consolidation Calculator

U.S. only tools

Consolidating debt means replacing several balances with one loan at one rate and one payment. It can cut the interest bill sharply, and it also makes the month easier to manage. What it cannot do is reduce the balance: the same money still has to be repaid, and a long term at a lower rate can cost more in the end.

Debt Consolidation Calculator - Danfio

https://danfio.com/tools/debt-consolidation-calculator/ - printed from this page

Currency: USD ($) - display only, nothing was converted

Use the minimum payment from each statement, not what you plan to pay.

DebtThe account as the statement names it. It only labels the comparison table.
BalanceThe payoff balance on that statement - what the new loan would have to clear.
APR %The rate you are paying on that balance today. The comparison is against the new loan rate you enter below.
MinimumThe minimum due on that statement now. It sets the "keep paying as you are" side of the comparison.

The rate you have been quoted on the new loan.

Years to repay the new loan. A longer term lowers the payment and raises the total interest.

Fee as a percent of the balance, usually rolled into the new loan.

$

Leave at 0 to pay exactly the new loan payment on both sides.

Results update as you type. Nothing leaves your device.

Currency symbol

Symbol only - nothing is converted and no exchange rate is used. Figures quoted in the explanation text stay as the sources publish them.

Monthly payment on the new loan

$504.73

$22,950.00 financed over 60 months at 11.5%, replacing 3 accounts.

Interest saved
$5,520.14
Payment change per month
-$70.27
Fee recovered after
7 months
Rate on the debts today
16.39%

Keeping the accounts versus one new loan

Keep the debtsConsolidation loan
Monthly outlay$504.73$504.73
Interest paid in total$12,853.97$7,333.83
Months to clear6 years 10 months5 years 1 month
Total paid$35,353.97$30,283.83
Difference$5,520.14consolidating costs less

Both columns pay $504.73 a month, so only the rates and the term differ. The keep column pays every minimum first and then avalanches the highest rate.

What the new loan replaces

DebtBalanceAPRMinimum
Credit card$8,00024%$200.00
Store card$2,50027.5%$75.00
Personal loan$12,0009%$300.00
Total$22,50016.39%$575.00

The new loan finances $22,500 plus $450.00 of fees, and lowers the balance-weighted rate by 4.89%.

Consolidating saves $5,520.14 of interest and 1 year 9 months of payments after the $450.00 fee. Keep paying the same monthly amount after the old accounts are gone and the new loan clears early.

The three numbers that decide whether to sign

Rate cut on the balance
4.89% The balance-weighted rate on the accounts against the rate on the new loan
Payments saved
1 year 9 months How much sooner the same monthly outlay clears the balance
Fee paid back after
7 months The origination fee against the monthly payment the new loan frees up

Which costs disappear and which stay

  • The separate minimum payments disappear: once the old accounts are cleared there is one payment and one due date.
  • The rates on the individual accounts disappear, but the new loan rate runs for the whole term, so a cut today has to be worth the years ahead.
  • The origination fee stays. It is financed into the loan, and it is exactly what the fee paid back figure above has to recover.
  • Late fees, over-limit fees and penalty rates stop only once the old accounts are closed. Leaving them open with a zero balance keeps the credit history, not the temptation.
  • A longer term spreads the same balance thinner, so a smaller payment is not the same thing as a smaller cost.

This calculator runs both plans with the same monthly budget. Keeping the accounts means paying every minimum and throwing the rest at the highest rate; consolidating means one loan at the quoted rate and fee. Whichever column shows less interest is the cheaper plan for that budget.

About this debt consolidation calculator

Combining several balances into one loan at one rate can lower the monthly outlay and simplify the month, but it does not shrink what is owed. This page runs your current accounts against a consolidation loan on the same monthly budget and prints the interest saved, the payoff time and the month the fee is recovered.

Both columns pay the same amount every month - the honest way to compare - with the keep column sending every minimum first and the remainder to the highest-rate balance. There is no account to create and no lender connected, and the debts, rate and fee you enter are never sent off your device.

Compare the new rate against the weighted average you already pay before signing, because a longer term can erase the saving while the payment still drops. Origination and transfer fees, a variable reset, the tax on forgiven debt and the risk of running the open cards back up all sit outside the arithmetic. An estimate, not financial advice; your lender's Loan Estimate overrides it.

How this debt consolidation calculator works

What consolidation actually changes

Three things move and two do not. The number of payments, the interest rate and the term change; the balance and your income do not. A $20,000 balance at a 15% weighted average rate on minimum payments can run for years; the same balance on a five-year loan at 11.5% has a fixed end date. That fixed endpoint is usually the strongest argument for consolidating, because it converts an open-ended debt into a schedule you can plan around.

The new rate is priced on your credit profile and on whether the loan is secured. Personal loans are usually unsecured and priced higher; a home equity loan is often cheaper but puts the house behind the debt, which is a very different risk if payments stop. The page lets you enter whichever offer you actually have.

Why the monthly budget has to match

A comparison is only honest if both plans pay the same amount each month. Paying $450 on a new loan while the old accounts would have received $800 is not a saving - it is a smaller payment stretched over a longer time, which can cost far more in the end even at a lower rate. Matching the monthly outlay is what makes the two columns comparable at all.

Both columns here pay the same budget. The keep column applies every minimum first, then sends the remainder to the highest-rate balance, which is the cheapest way to run several debts. The loan column is paid at the same monthly outlay, so it finishes early when the budget sits above the loan’s scheduled payment - and that early finish is part of why the interest saved is real.

What the calculation leaves out

Fees vary: origination fees are usually 1% to 8% of the balance, and balance-transfer promotions charge 3% to 5% with a 0% window that eventually expires. Closing the consolidated accounts also changes your credit utilization, which can move a score in either direction depending on whether you keep the old lines open.

Not modelled: late fees, penalty rates, variable-rate resets, the tax treatment of forgiven debt under a hardship program, and the discipline question of whether the cards get run back up. If the accounts stay open, that reuse risk is real and worth deciding about before you sign, because a consolidation only helps if the newly freed credit lines stay quiet.

The fee is a rate you pay once

An origination or transfer fee is charged on the whole balance up front, so it acts like a bump in the rate spread across the entire loan. A 5% fee on $13,000 is $650 that has to be earned back from the monthly saving before consolidation starts to win - which is why the page prints the break-even month and the interest saved after the fee, not before it.

That distinction is easy to miss in a lender’s pitch, where the headline rate hides the up-front charge. Seeing the fee converted into a payoff penalty is what lets you judge whether a consolidation offer is genuinely cheaper or just looks that way on the monthly payment alone.

Worked examples

Each example below was run through the calculator on this page when the site was built, so the numbers match what you see when you enter the same inputs.

Three accounts, 11.5% for five years

Debts to consolidate: 3 items · Consolidation loan APR: 11.5% · New loan term: 5 years · Origination fee: 2% · Monthly amount you can pay: $0.00

Monthly payment on the new loan

$504.73

$22,950.00 financed over 60 months at 11.5%, replacing 3 accounts.

Interest saved: $5,520.14 · Payment change per month: -$70.27 · Fee recovered after: 7 months · Rate on the debts today: 16.39%

The new loan is paid at its own payment, so the monthly outlay falls while the balances still disappear on a fixed date.

Low rate but a seven-year term

Debts to consolidate: 3 items · Consolidation loan APR: 7.9% · New loan term: 7 years · Origination fee: 2% · Monthly amount you can pay: $0.00

Monthly payment on the new loan

$356.56

$22,950.00 financed over 84 months at 7.9%, replacing 3 accounts.

Interest saved: $5,852.78 · Payment change per month: -$218.44 · Fee recovered after: 3 months · Rate on the debts today: 16.39%

A much lower rate can still cost more in total when the term is stretched this far — check the interest row, not the payment.

Same accounts with $800 a month committed

Debts to consolidate: 3 items · Consolidation loan APR: 11.5% · New loan term: 5 years · Origination fee: 2% · Monthly amount you can pay: $800.00

Monthly payment on the new loan

$504.73

$22,950.00 financed over 60 months at 11.5%, replacing 3 accounts.

Interest saved: $1,811.02 · Payment change per month: -$70.27 · Fee recovered after: 7 months · Rate on the debts today: 16.39%

With a fixed budget on both sides, the loan clears early enough that the interest saving survives the fee comfortably.

A 5% fee leaves a thinner saving

Debts to consolidate: 2 items · Consolidation loan APR: 18% · New loan term: 5 years · Origination fee: 5% · Monthly amount you can pay: $0.00

Monthly payment on the new loan

$346.62

$13,650.00 financed over 60 months at 18%, replacing 2 accounts.

Interest saved: $1,367.45 · Payment change per month: -$43.38 · Fee recovered after: 15 months · Rate on the debts today: 23.85%

Consolidating $13,000 from a 23.9% weighted rate onto an 18% loan with a $650 fee saves about $1,367 of interest; the fee takes 15 months to earn back and leaves about $717 of lifetime advantage. Worth it, but thinner than the bigger headline cases.

Frequently asked questions

Is debt consolidation a good idea?

It helps when the new rate is genuinely lower than the weighted average you are paying and the term is not so long that extra interest cancels the saving. It hurts when the balance stays the same and only the pressure eases, because a cleared card with an open limit invites the same balance back.

Does consolidating debt hurt my credit score?

A hard inquiry costs a few points and a new account lowers the average age of your credit. Against that, replacing high-utilization card balances with an installment loan usually reduces utilization, which helps. Most of the movement is temporary.

Should I close the credit cards after consolidating?

Keeping them open with a zero balance helps utilization, so closing them can cost points. The real risk is reuse. A common compromise is to keep the accounts open but remove the cards from wallets and online stores, and to track the loan balance weekly.

What is a good APR for a debt consolidation loan?

It depends on your credit and the collateral. Compare the offer against the balance-weighted rate on the debts you are replacing: if the new APR is not clearly lower, or the term is much longer, the math usually does not work.

Consolidation loan or 0% balance transfer — which is cheaper?

A 0% transfer is cheaper while the promotion runs, provided the 3% to 5% transfer fee is smaller than the interest avoided and you clear the balance before the standard rate returns. For balances too large to clear inside the window, a fixed-rate installment loan has a predictable end date.

What happens if I cannot pay the consolidation loan?

The lender can send the account to collections, and a secured loan puts the collateral at risk. Talk to the lender before missing a payment: hardship programs, rate reductions and term extensions exist, but they are far easier to arrange early.

Is debt consolidation the same as debt settlement?

No. Consolidation repays what you owe on better terms. Settlement negotiates to pay less than the balance, damages your credit record, may trigger tax on the forgiven amount, and should be approached with legal advice rather than a calculator.

Assumptions and sources

  • Both plans are simulated month by month with the same monthly budget; the keep column pays every minimum first and then the highest APR balance.
  • Fees are charged as a percentage of the consolidated balance and rolled into the new loan, which is why they raise the true cost of credit.
  • Typical fee ranges (1% to 8% origination, 3% to 5% balance transfer) reflect common US offers and are entered as inputs rather than assumed.
  • This is an estimate tool, not debt, financial or credit advice. It promises neither a forgiven balance nor approval - your actual rates, fees and terms are set by your issuer or lender, not by arithmetic.

Last reviewed 2026-09-28. An estimate, not financial advice; your lender's Loan Estimate overrides it. Read the full disclaimer.

Where a figure on this page comes from an official agency — HUD, IRS, FICO or a state body — the site keeps a dated snapshot of the source page in its sources library, and a scheduled job re-checks that snapshot, so the number can be traced back to the document it came from.

Related tools

Debt Payoff CalculatorDebt & CreditCompare the debt snowball and avalanche methods on your real balances. See your debt-free date, total interest and the order each debt gets cleared.Plan debt payoff →Credit Card Payoff CalculatorDebt & CreditSee how long a credit card balance takes to clear on minimum payments, and how much interest and time a fixed extra payment saves you.Plan credit card payoff →Debt-to-Income CalculatorDebt & CreditWork out your debt-to-income ratio the way a lender does, see the room left before the 43% line most lenders still use as a guideline, and test a new loan before you apply.Calculate debt-to-income ratio →Personal Loan CalculatorLoans & MortgagesWork out the monthly payment on a personal loan, the true APR once origination fees are counted, and how much extra payments shorten the term.Calculate personal loan payments →Loan CalculatorLoans & MortgagesWork out the monthly payment, total interest and full amortization schedule for any fixed-rate loan. Free, instant and computed in your browser.Calculate loan payments →Auto Refinance Savings CalculatorDebt & CreditCompare your current auto loan against a refinance: new monthly payment, total interest over the loan, and how long the refi fees take to earn back.Compare refinancing your car loan →