Loans & borrowing

Loan APR Calculator

Compare the advertised interest rate with the annual cost after upfront fees. Estimate your payment, fee-adjusted APR and total finance charge.

Loan details

Interest rate and fees

Loan amount ($) Nominal annual interest rate (%) Term (months) Payment frequency

Upfront finance charges

Origination fees ($) Discount fees / points ($) Closing or administrative charges ($)

Enter each fee once in dollars. One discount point equals 1% of the loan amount. Use the interest rate after any discount. Include only charges you want treated as finance charges; taxes and escrow deposits are not automatically finance charges.

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Why APR can be higher than the interest rate

The contractual interest rate sets the loan payment. Upfront fees reduce the net money available to you while you still repay the stated principal and interest. The rate that matches those cash flows is higher when fees are included.

APR versus effective annual rate

This APR estimate is the fee-adjusted periodic rate multiplied by payments per year. The effective annual rate compounds that periodic rate for a year. They are different measures: even with no fees, compounding can make the effective annual rate exceed the nominal interest rate.

Calculation method

For loan amount P, periodic interest r and n payments, payment = P × r / (1 − (1+r)^−n); at zero interest use P/n. Here r is the nominal annual rate divided by payments per year. We solve net proceeds = sum(payment / (1+i)^k) for the fee-adjusted periodic rate i, for k from 1 to n. APR = i × payments per year; effective annual rate = (1+i)^(payments per year) − 1.

Total finance charge equals total scheduled payments minus net proceeds: interest plus the entered fees. Fees paid separately at disbursement and fees deducted from proceeds have the same net initial cash flow in this model. Fees financed by increasing principal, irregular dates, balloon payments, variable rates, late charges and early payoff are not modeled.

Payment timing and rounding

The first payment is one full period after disbursement. Weekly and biweekly estimates use 52 and 26 equal periods per year, not actual calendar dates. The term must contain a whole number of payments. Calculations use unrounded equal payments and round dollar displays to cents; lender payment rounding and adjusted final payments can change the actual APR.

Sources: CFPB: Interest rate versus APR and Regulation Z: Determination of APR. Which fees belong in a legal APR depends on the loan and applicable rules; consult the lender's disclosure.