Personal Loan True Cost & Offer Comparison Calculator

Compare the cash you receive—not only the loan amount

The cheaper personal-loan offer is the one with the lower cost for the same usable cash over the period you expect to keep it, provided the payment remains affordable and the contract risks are acceptable. A low interest rate can lose its advantage when a fee is withheld, financed, charged monthly, or paid again at early settlement.

This calculator holds the desired cash amount constant and builds each offer from the written terms. It does not insert live rates or predict what a lender will approve.

Continue with Audit the written offers line by line or Trace every fee to cash or principal for the next calculation.

What to copy from each written offer

Collect the contractual interest rate, term, regular payment, amount financed, cash actually disbursed, origination or establishment fee, any monthly account fee, the lender-disclosed APR or comparison rate, whether the rate can change, and the early-settlement rule. Use a dated personalized offer—not a headline “from” rate.

If the document does not state how a fee is collected, ask the lender. The same percentage produces different cash flows when it is paid in cash, added to principal, or withheld.

Keep the interest rate separate from APR or comparison rate

The contractual interest rate drives a standard amortization schedule. A lender-disclosed APR, representative APR, or Australian comparison rate is a broader comparison measure whose legal method and assumptions depend on the market. Do not replace the contractual rate with the broader disclosure in the payment formula.

The calculator accepts both numbers, but labels its own IRR result modeled annualized cash-flow cost. It does not certify the lender disclosure.

Cash, financed and withheld fees change different parts of the loan

Paid in cash: the modeled principal stays at the cash target, but the borrower has a day-zero outflow. Financed: the fee is added to principal and accrues interest. Withheld: the lender deducts the fee from disbursement, so the model grosses up principal to leave the same target cash available.

That equal-cash comparison closes a common calculator gap: two offers can show the same nominal loan amount while putting different cash in the borrower’s hands.

Calculated payment versus written quoted payment

Calculated mode uses the standard reducing-balance payment equation. Quoted mode uses the regular principal-and-interest payment from the document, adds any separate monthly service fee, and reports the final adjusted payment needed to clear the modeled balance.

A large last payment is a diagnostic. It can mean the quoted payment, rate, fee treatment, term, balloon, or compounding assumption does not match the entries. Recheck the offer rather than assuming the calculator or document is “close enough.”

Treat a variable rate as a scenario, not a forecast

For a variable offer, enter one rate-change month and one changed rate. Calculated mode recasts the payment over the remaining term. The result shows the payment after the change, the peak modeled payment, and the difference from the first payment.

Moneysmart and Canadian guidance both emphasize testing whether payments remain manageable if rates rise. Real contracts may change on different dates, use reference-rate margins, cap movements, or keep the payment while extending the term.

How modeled annualized cash-flow cost works

The model starts with cash received minus any fee paid immediately. Each monthly payment and mandatory service fee is an outflow. It solves the monthly rate that makes those cash flows balance, then converts it to an effective annual rate.

This creates a consistent audit measure across the two entries. It is not a jurisdictional APR formula, and a gap from the lender-disclosed rate is a prompt to inspect assumptions—not proof that a disclosure is wrong.

Why the winner can change when you repay early

An offer with a large fee and low rate can be cheaper over the full term but more expensive if settled soon. The optional settlement scenario makes the regular payment first in the selected month, then adds the remaining balance and one entered contract fee: none, flat amount, percentage of balance, or months of interest.

For a real payoff, request a dated settlement or payout statement. Daily interest, statutory limits, rebates, waived charges, notice periods, and contract wording can change the amount.

Worked comparison: low rate, high fee

Suppose both offers must deliver 10,000. Offer A charges 12% for 36 months with no origination fee. Offer B charges 6% but withholds 5%. Offer B must finance 10,526.32 so the borrower still receives 10,000. The lower rate can win over the full term, while Offer A can remain cheaper at an early settlement date because Offer B’s fee is paid at the start.

The calculator exposes both horizons instead of presenting one “best loan” badge.

A lower payment is not the same as a lower cost

A longer term or low quoted payment can free monthly cash while increasing total interest. Compare the first and peak payment with total borrower outflow, cost above cash received, term, and final adjustment. A payment that does not fit the budget is not fixed by having a lower lifetime cost.

Use the personal-loan affordability checklist before applying.

When this tool is the wrong calculator

Use the Debt Consolidation Calculator when one new loan is being compared against several current debts or a balance transfer. Use the Amortization Calculator for one generic schedule and extra-payment exploration. Property-backed, title, guarantor, student, payday, business, and interest-only borrowing need product-specific analysis.

Tier-1 market terms are not interchangeable

The selector changes USD, GBP, CAD, or AUD formatting only. United States APR, United Kingdom representative APR, Canadian cost-of-borrowing disclosure, and Australian comparison rate rules use different definitions and assumptions. The tool does not insert local rate caps, cooling-off rights, hardship rules, tax outcomes, or lender eligibility.

Check current official guidance and the contract in your jurisdiction.

Separate real loan fees from advance-fee promises

A legitimate written loan can include application or origination costs, but the FTC warns about scammers who promise approval and demand payment for the promise. This calculator never asks for a credit score, lender login, application, or payment.

Verify the lender through the appropriate regulator and do not treat a calculator result as proof that an offer is genuine.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review status

• CFPB — Interest rate versus APR
• CFPB — Finance-charge definition in Regulation Z
• CFPB — Shopping for a personal line of credit
• FTC — Advance-fee loan warning signs
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — Personal loans
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — Lines of credit
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — Before borrowing money
• MoneyHelper — Personal loans
• ASIC Moneysmart — Personal loans
• ASIC Moneysmart — Personal loan calculator
• FCA — 2026 review of APR presentation

Sources and model boundaries were checked on 2026-10-07. CalculatorGeek Editorial Team reviewed and approved the full finance and insurance package on 2026-10-08. The cited organizations supplied source material; they did not review or endorse this CalculatorGeek package. Product terms, policy forms, laws, regulatory guidance and rates can change; current written documents and applicable authorities control.