Free personal loan calculators
Four calculators for loans between people, run on the same engine LoanCompass settles real loans with. No account, no email, and nothing leaves your browser — the arithmetic happens on your device.
Pick a plan
- Amortization calculatorEqual monthly payments, interest on the declining balance. The plan most bank-style loans use.
- Diminishing balance calculatorA fixed slice of principal each month plus interest on what is left. Payments start high and fall.
- Interest-only balloon calculatorMonthly interest only, with the whole principal falling due in the final month.
- Flat rate vs reducing balanceThe same quoted rate priced both ways, side by side, with the real cost of the difference.
All six plans at a glance
$10,000.00 lent over 12 months at 2% per month, priced every way. Same principal, same term, same rate — the plan is the only thing that changes.
| Plan | First payment | Last payment | Total interest | Total repaid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly amortization | $945.60 | $945.55 | $1,347.15 | $11,347.15 |
| Diminishing balance | $1,033.33 | $850.00 | $1,300.00 | $11,300.00 |
| Fixed principal + interest | $1,033.33 | $850.04 | $1,300.00 | $11,300.00 |
| Interest-only balloon | $200.00 | $10,200.00 | $2,400.00 | $12,400.00 |
| Add-on / flat rate | $1,033.33 | $1,033.37 | $2,400.00 | $12,400.00 |
| Bullet / lump sum | $0.00 | $12,400.00 | $2,400.00 | $12,400.00 |
Why the totals differ, and how to choose between them, is covered in the guide to repayment plans.
Before you trust any loan calculator
- Check whether the rate is monthly or annual. Every rate in these calculators is per month, because that is how private loans are almost always agreed. A calculator that assumes annual will be out by an order of magnitude on the same input.
- Compare totals, not rates. A flat rate and a reducing-balance rate quoting the same percentage are not the same price. The only comparable figure is total repaid.
- Rounding is to the cent, each month. That is why a final installment often differs by a few cents from the others — the last payment absorbs the rounding so the balance lands exactly on zero.
- A schedule is not a promise. It shows what repayment looks like if every payment arrives in full and on time. What happens when one does not is a separate question.
Stop recalculating this by hand
LoanCompass keeps the schedule, the repayments and the running balance for every loan you have made, so the figures on this page stay current without you rebuilding them. It is free while in early access, and no money moves through it.