Compare the debt avalanche and debt snowball side by side. See your debt-free date, total interest, and which method costs less on your own debts.
Anything you can pay above the minimums. All of it goes to the target debt.
Estimates assume fixed rates, no new borrowing, and every extra dollar going to one target debt at a time. A cleared debt's payment rolls to the next debt in the same month. This is educational information, not financial advice.
You might also find these calculators useful
Pay off debt fastest using the snowball method
See what minimum payments really cost you
See if a consolidation loan cuts your interest and your payoff time
Compare two 0% offers, net of the fee, and see which clears first
Most debt payoff calculators make you choose a method before they will tell you anything. That is backwards: the choice is the question. This one runs the debt avalanche (highest APR first) and the debt snowball (smallest balance first) against your real balances at the same time and shows both plans side by side, so you can see exactly what the avalanche saves in interest and what the snowball costs you for the quicker first win. Enter your debts, add whatever extra you can put in each month, and the head-to-head table does the rest.
Both methods pay the minimum on every debt and then aim every spare dollar at one target debt until it is gone. They differ only in which debt goes first. The avalanche targets the highest APR, which always minimises total interest, because interest is charged on balances at their own rate and killing the fastest-growing balance first starves the largest charge. The snowball targets the smallest balance, which clears an account soonest and gives the plan visible momentum. When a debt clears, its whole payment rolls onto the next one immediately, so each payoff makes the next one faster. That rolling is the entire mechanic, and it is why both methods beat paying minimums by years.
Monthly Interest
Settle the argument with your own numbers: see the interest gap between the two methods before committing to either
Map out how long several cards will take and what the whole plan costs in interest
Test what an extra $50, $200 or $500 a month actually buys in months and in dollars
Cards, a car loan, a medical bill and student loans in one plan, ordered by whichever rule you choose
See how much of a bonus or a raise redirected to debt pulls the debt-free date forward
Verify the date and interest total a budgeting app quotes you against a schedule you can read line by line
Compare killing the highest-APR balance against clearing the smallest account outright
See the avalanche and the snowball on the same screen instead of toggling between them and trying to remember the other number
The snowball's quick wins have a price in interest. This shows you exactly what that price is on your debts, so it is a decision instead of a guess
A calendar month, not a count of payments, for whichever method you pick
Compare against paying minimums only — and if a minimum cannot cover its own interest, the tool says so instead of inventing a saving
Change the extra amount and watch the payoff date and total interest move with it
Every payment split into principal and interest, so you can check the plan rather than trust it
The debt avalanche always costs less interest, because paying the highest APR first starves the fastest-growing balance. The snowball clears an account sooner, which many people find easier to stick with. The honest answer depends on the size of the gap: this calculator shows both methods side by side with the exact dollar difference on your debts, and on many mixed portfolios that gap is under a few hundred dollars — small enough that the method you will actually finish is the better one.
The debt avalanche pays the minimum on every debt and directs all extra money at the debt with the highest annual percentage rate. When that debt is cleared, its entire payment rolls to the next-highest rate. Because interest accrues at each balance's own rate, attacking the highest rate first minimises the total interest paid across the whole plan.
The debt snowball pays the minimum on every debt and directs all extra money at the smallest balance, regardless of rate. Clearing a whole account early is a visible win, and the freed payment rolls onto the next-smallest balance. It costs more interest than the avalanche whenever the smallest balance is not also the highest rate.
It depends entirely on how far apart your balances and rates are. When the smallest balance happens to carry the highest rate the two methods produce the same order and cost exactly the same. When a large balance carries a much higher rate, the gap widens. This calculator reports the difference in dollars for your debts rather than quoting a typical figure, because a typical figure is not your figure.
Yes, and that is the defining mechanic of both methods. The monthly budget stays constant — every minimum plus your extra — for the whole plan. In the month a debt clears it does not need its full share, and the remainder is applied to the next debt in the same month, not held back. Each payoff therefore accelerates the next one.
Every extra dollar goes to principal on the target debt, which shrinks the balance the next month's interest is charged on. The effect compounds: a smaller balance means a smaller interest charge, which means more of the next payment is principal. That is why a modest extra amount can cut years off a plan.
Highest APR first for the avalanche, smallest balance first for the snowball. The calculator ranks your debts under whichever rule you pick and shows the exact sequence. Ties are broken sensibly: equal balances go to the higher rate first, equal rates to the smaller balance first.
Then that balance grows every month and, at that minimum alone, it is never repaid. The calculator detects this and says so rather than quoting a saving against a baseline that does not exist. Your payoff plan can still work — the extra payment covers the gap — but the comparison to minimums-only has no finite answer, so no number is shown for it.
Common guidance is to hold a small starter emergency fund, often cited as about $1,000, before attacking high-interest debt, so an unexpected bill does not go straight back on a card. Beyond that, credit card APRs generally exceed what savings accounts pay, which favours the debt. Your own job security and insurance deductibles should adjust this.
No. It assumes you stop adding to these balances and only pay down what you owe today. New charges push the debt-free date back and are not modelled, so pause new borrowing while you run the plan.
Usually. Lowering credit card balances reduces credit utilisation, which is a major scoring factor, and consistent on-time payments build history. Closing a card after paying it off can reduce your total available credit and push utilisation back up, so paying off and keeping open often scores better than paying off and closing.
Yes, and nothing is lost by doing so — the balances are what they are on the day you switch. A common approach is to start with the snowball to clear one or two small accounts for momentum, then switch to the avalanche for the large high-rate balances where the interest gap is worth the most.