Personal Loan True Cost Calculator (APR + Fees)

How personal-loan fees hide in the payment

Marketing often leads with a monthly payment. That number can look “affordable” while total interest and originations quietly raise the friction of borrowing.

Origination fees frequently reduce cash in hand while interest still accrues on a larger note amount. Ranking offers by payment alone therefore compares different products as if they were identical.

How to use this calculator

Align term length and fee treatment across every offer you are shopping. Enter principal (or note amount), APR, months, and origination fees so payment, cash received, and total interest share one frame.

If you plan to prepay, run a second scenario with fewer months. Early payoff changes effective cost and can reorder which lender wins.

Worked example

Offer A: $12,000 note, 11.9% APR, 36 months, 5% origination ($600) deducted from proceeds → roughly $11,400 cash received. Offer B: $12,000 note, 13.4% APR, 36 months, $0 origination → $12,000 cash received.

Offer A’s payment and APR may look better, but you must compare dollars of interest plus the $600 fee against Offer B’s higher rate on full proceeds. Normalize to the cash you actually need (for example, if you need $12,000 net, Offer A’s note must be larger).

A longer 60-month cousin of either offer will shrink the payment and inflate lifetime interest — useful when cash flow is tight, dangerous when “cheap payment” is the only scoreboard.

Compare apples to apples

When shopping offers, align term length and fee treatment before ranking APRs. Prepayment penalties, autopay discounts, and late-fee schedules still sit outside this simplified amortization.

Pair results with the APR-vs-interest and loan fee checklist guides so you know which line items belong in the model versus the contract fine print.

Assumptions

• Fixed APR and level monthly payments with standard amortization.
• Origination fee either reduces proceeds or is treated as friction you enter — confirm which your disclosure uses.
• No prepayment penalty, deferred interest, or variable rate.
• No credit insurance or add-on products financed into the note unless you raise principal yourself.
• Not a loan offer or underwriting decision.

Related guides

Deeper explainers that sit behind this calculator’s math:

• APR vs Interest Rate: Why Your Monthly Payment Is Not the Whole Cost — A plain-English US guide to APR, fees, and total interest — for personal loans and revolving credit.
• Personal Loan Fee Checklist Before You Sign — Origination fees, late fees, and prepayment clauses — the friction that APR alone may not highlight.