Loan Comparison Calculator

Lenders compete on the number borrowers look at, which is the monthly payment. Extending the term reduces it without reducing the cost of the loan at all, and comparing two offers on payment alone reliably selects the more expensive one.

This calculator reports both dimensions - total cost and monthly payment - along with the APR that folds each offer’s fees into a rate. Which offer wins depends on which constraint actually binds.

Result

Cheaper overall

Offer A

Total difference

$4,027

Lower payment: Offer B
Offer A payment: $801
Offer B payment: $449
Payment difference: $351
Offer A interest: $3,830
Offer B interest: $7,357
Offer A APR: 10.61%
Offer B APR: 10.24%

A lower monthly payment and a lower total cost are often different offers. The comparison shows both so the trade-off is visible.

APR here folds the fees you entered into the borrowing cost. Lenders may include a different set of fees in their disclosed APR.

Offer comparison

Metric	Offer A	Offer B
Monthly payment	$800.82	$449.4
Term (months)	36	72
Total interest	$3,829.52	$7,356.8
Fees	$400	$900
Total cost	$29,229.52	$33,256.8
APR	10.6086%	10.2404%

How to use the loan comparison calculator

Enter the amount, rate, term and fees for the first offer.
Enter the same for the second; the amounts do not have to match.
Compare total cost and monthly payment separately.
Use APR to see what each fee structure is worth as a rate.

What people use this for

Choosing between two lender offers on a personal or auto loan.
Testing whether a longer term is worth its extra interest.
Comparing a low-rate-with-fees offer against the opposite.
Deciding between a lower payment and a lower total cost.

Worked examples

Every figure below is produced by running this calculator against the example inputs, so the numbers always match the tool.

Shorter term against lower payment

$25,000 at 9.5% over 3 years with $400 of fees, against the same amount at 8.9% over 6 years with $900 of fees.

Cheaper overall: Offer A
Total difference: $4,027
Lower payment: Offer B

Same term, different fee structures

A low-rate offer with a large fee against a higher-rate offer with none.

Cheaper overall: Offer B
Offer A APR: 11.33%
Offer B APR: 9.4%

The term is the lever lenders pull

Extending a $25,000 loan from three years to six roughly halves the payment and roughly doubles the interest. The offer looks better on the number most borrowers compare and is substantially worse on the number that matters.

Neither term is wrong. A payment that is not comfortably affordable is a real problem, and the longer term solves it at a stated price. What is wrong is choosing it without seeing the price.

What APR can and cannot settle

APR spreads fees across the term and expresses them as an addition to the rate, which makes two same-term offers with different fee structures directly comparable.

It cannot compare offers of different terms, and it assumes the loan runs to term. Repay early and the fee is spread across far fewer months, which makes a low-rate-high-fee offer considerably worse than its APR suggests.

Methodology and assumptions

What this calculator does, and what it deliberately does not do.

Payments use the standard amortising formula. Total cost is payment × months plus fees.
APR is solved by bisection so the payment stream matches the amount advanced net of fees.
Insurance products, payment protection and variable-rate resets are not modelled.
Results are estimates. Real quotes depend on credit, income, property, loan programme and lender pricing at the time of application.
Nothing you type is transmitted or stored - the calculation runs entirely inside your browser.

This calculator is provided for informational and educational purposes only. Results are estimates and may not reflect actual rates, fees, taxes, or market conditions.

This website is not a lender, a mortgage broker or a financial adviser. It does not originate loans, does not accept applications and does not forward your details to anyone.

Actual loan terms depend on credit history, income, the property, the loan programme and lender pricing at the time of application. Only a lender can tell you what you qualify for.

Frequently asked questions

Should I compare on APR or total cost?

APR when the terms match. When they differ, compare total cost and payment separately - APR cannot express both at once.

What counts as a fee?

Anything the lender charges to advance the loan: origination, arrangement, documentation. Third-party costs that are the same whichever lender you use can be ignored for comparison.

Is the lower payment ever the right choice?

Yes, when the higher payment would strain the budget. The extra interest is the price of a payment you can sustain, and that is a legitimate thing to buy.

Does this include payment protection insurance?

No. If an offer bundles it, add the total cost to that offer’s fees to compare like with like.

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