This personal loan calculator works out the regular payment on a fixed-rate personal loan and how much of what you repay is interest. Enter the amount you want to borrow, the annual interest rate a lender quoted, the term and how often you’ll pay, and it shows the payment, the total interest and a year-by-year schedule of how the balance falls.
| Year | Principal | Interest | Balance |
|---|
How the payment is calculated
A personal loan is repaid in equal instalments that cover the interest due for each period plus part of the principal. The calculator divides the annual rate by the number of payments in a year and applies the standard amortization formula, so each payment is the same and the last one clears the balance. Early payments are mostly interest, because the balance is largest at the start; by the final year almost all of each payment goes to principal. Our guide to how loan interest is calculated walks through the formula step by step, including how Canadian compounding rules differ between loan types.
Two inputs drive the result:
- The rate. It depends mostly on your credit history, the lender and whether the loan has collateral. Personal loan lenders compared shows how banks, credit unions and online lenders set their rates, and bad credit loans covers borrowing at the higher end, up to the 35% legal maximum.
- The term. A longer term lowers each payment but adds to the total interest, because the balance stays higher for longer.
Payments on a $10,000 or $20,000 loan over 5 years
Monthly payments and total interest on a $10,000 and a $20,000 loan repaid over 60 months (5 years) at a fixed rate, with no fees. Each payment uses the annual rate divided by 12; the total interest is 60 payments minus the amount borrowed, rounded to the dollar.
| Annual rate | Monthly payment, $10,000 | Total interest, $10,000 | Monthly payment, $20,000 | Total interest, $20,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.99% | $197.96 | $1,878 | $395.93 | $3,756 |
| 9.99% | $212.42 | $2,745 | $424.84 | $5,491 |
| 14.99% | $237.85 | $4,271 | $475.69 | $8,542 |
| 19.99% | $264.88 | $5,893 | $529.77 | $11,786 |
| 29.99% | $323.47 | $9,408 | $646.95 | $18,817 |
Doubling the amount doubles the payment and the interest at every rate, so the $20,000 columns are twice the $10,000 ones, apart from rounding to the cent. The rate matters far more: at the highest rate in the table, the same loan costs several times the interest it does at the lowest. For a different amount or term, or bi-weekly payments, use the calculator above.
Secured or unsecured, fixed or variable
The calculator assumes a fixed rate for the whole term. A loan backed by collateral such as a car, savings or a GIC usually comes with a lower rate than one with none, at the cost of putting that asset at risk; secured loans explains how they work and what happens on default. A variable-rate loan’s payment can change when the lender’s prime rate moves, so the result here is a snapshot at today’s rate.
Using the result
The payment is only part of the picture. Fees such as an origination fee or optional loan insurance raise the true cost, and the loan agreement’s annual percentage rate (APR) should include them; the fee checklist on best personal loans in Canada lists what to look for. If the loan would replace credit card or other high-rate debt, compare the total interest here with what those debts would cost; our guide to debt consolidation works through that comparison.
For revolving borrowing, where you draw and repay as you go, the line of credit calculator works out interest on a line of credit balance instead, and the personal loans and lines of credit guides list the other calculators in this section.