Personal Loan Calculator

Rates depend heavily on your credit score, income, and the lender. As of 2025–2026, borrowers with excellent credit (720+) can find rates from roughly 7–12% APR at credit unions and online lenders. Good credit (680–719) typically sees 12–18%. Below 660, rates often run 20–36%. If you are offered above 20%, consider whether improving your credit score or using a secured loan is feasible before accepting.

Most lenders perform a soft credit pull (no score impact) for pre-qualification and a hard pull when you formally apply. A hard inquiry typically reduces your score by 2–5 points temporarily. If you are shopping across multiple lenders, do so within a 14–45 day window — credit bureaus treat multiple loan inquiries in a short period as a single inquiry for scoring purposes.

Most personal loans allow early payoff without penalty, but some lenders charge a prepayment penalty (often 1–5% of the remaining balance or a flat fee). Check your loan agreement before making extra payments. If there is no penalty, extra principal payments reduce your balance and save interest on every remaining month of the loan.

It depends on the rate and your repayment timeline. If you can pay a credit card balance in full within the promotional 0% period, that beats a personal loan. For purchases you will carry for 12+ months, a personal loan's fixed rate is usually lower than a credit card's ongoing APR, and the fixed payment ensures you are paying down the debt on a defined schedule. A revolving credit card balance tends to grow unless aggressively managed.

An origination fee is a one-time charge (typically 1–8% of the loan amount) that lenders deduct from your disbursement or add to your balance. If you borrow $10,000 with a 3% origination fee, you may receive only $9,700 but owe $10,000. When comparing lenders, the APR should account for origination fees — a 9% rate loan with a 5% origination fee has a higher effective cost than an 11% rate loan with no fee, depending on term length.

A personal loan is unsecured — no collateral is required, but rates are higher. A home equity loan uses your home as collateral and typically offers lower rates because the lender has a claim on your property if you default. If you own a home with equity, a home equity loan or HELOC often costs less for large amounts. The risk is that defaulting can result in foreclosure. Personal loans are preferable when you want no collateral risk or do not have home equity.

Missing a payment typically triggers a late fee (commonly $25–$40 or 5% of the payment) and, if more than 30 days late, a negative mark on your credit report that can lower your score by 60–110 points. Multiple missed payments can result in the account being sent to collections or the lender suing for repayment. If you anticipate difficulty making a payment, contact your lender proactively — many offer hardship programs, payment deferrals, or modified schedules before a payment becomes delinquent.

It can be, if the personal loan rate is meaningfully lower than your weighted average rate across the debts being consolidated, and if you commit to not re-accumulating the paid-off balances. The mistake many borrowers make is consolidating credit card debt into a personal loan, then running up the cards again — ending up with both the loan and new card balances. Consolidation works best paired with closing or freezing the paid-off accounts temporarily to remove the temptation.