Free Debt Avalanche Calculator

Pay the highest interest rate first and see what it costs you in total interest.

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Your debts

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Anything you can pay beyond the minimums. Leave blank for none.

Total going toward debt each month$0.00

Add at least one balance above and your results appear here — instantly, with no signup.

How to use this calculator

  1. 1Enter each debt with its balance and, most importantly for this method, the APR printed on your statement — the avalanche is entirely driven by that number.
  2. 2Enter each lender’s required minimum payment. Every debt keeps receiving its minimum; only the money above them gets redirected.
  3. 3Add whatever you can pay beyond the minimums. This is the amount the avalanche aims at your highest rate.
  4. 4Compare the total interest here with the same debts under the snowball ordering to see what the rate-first order is worth on your numbers.

How the debt avalanche method works

The avalanche sorts your debts by interest rate and ignores their size. Every debt gets its minimum payment; everything above that goes to whichever debt charges the most, until it is gone. Then the same money moves to the next-highest rate. Balances only matter for how long each step takes.

The reasoning is mechanical rather than motivational. A dollar of balance on a 23% card costs about 1.9 cents a month; the same dollar on a 5.5% student loan costs about half a cent. Every spare dollar you place has a price attached, and the avalanche always places it where it is buying down the most expensive interest. No other ordering of the same monthly payment produces less total interest.

Where the avalanche pulls furthest ahead

Three things widen the gap. A large spread between your highest and lowest rate is the first — the more expensive your worst debt, the more each month of delay costs. A long plan is the second, since interest compounds over time and small monthly differences accumulate. The third is a big balance carrying the high rate: an expensive $12,000 card punishes delay far more than an expensive $800 store card does.

Reverse those conditions and the two methods converge. If your rates are within a few points of each other, or your extra payment is large enough to clear everything inside a year or two, the ordering barely registers in the total.

The trade-off worth naming

The avalanche’s weakness is that its first result can be a long way off. If your highest rate sits on your largest balance, you may pay for a year or more before a single account closes, with the other balances shrinking only at their minimums the whole time. That is the exact stretch where repayment plans get abandoned — and a plan abandoned in month eleven saves nothing, whatever it looked like on paper.

It is worth seeing both numbers before deciding. The side-by-side calculator shows the interest saved and the wait for the first cleared debt together, so you can weigh what each order costs you rather than choosing on principle.

Frequently asked questions

What is the debt avalanche method?
You pay the minimum on every debt, then send every spare dollar to the debt with the highest APR — regardless of its balance. When that one is cleared, the same money moves to the next-highest rate. Because interest accrues on rates rather than on balances, this ordering produces the lowest total interest of any repayment order that keeps the same monthly total.
Which rate do I enter — APR, interest rate, or APY?
Use the APR (annual percentage rate) shown on your statement or loan agreement. For credit cards this is usually labelled "purchase APR"; if your card has separate rates for purchases, balance transfers, and cash advances, use the one that applies to most of your balance. The calculator divides whatever you enter by twelve to get a monthly rate.
How much does the avalanche actually save?
It depends entirely on the spread between your rates and on how long the plan runs. Two debts a few points apart might differ by less than a hundred dollars; a 25% card sitting behind a 5% car loan can differ by well over a thousand. The saving grows with the rate gap and with the size of the expensive balance. Enter your own debts above and the total interest figure gives you the number for your situation.
Should I include 0% promotional balances?
Yes, include them with 0 as the APR so the payoff date accounts for the money you owe. Be aware of what the calculator cannot know: a promotional rate has an end date, and deferred-interest offers can charge back the whole promotional period if the balance is not cleared in time. The avalanche will put a 0% balance last, which is correct on the rate alone but not if the promotion expires mid-plan.
Does paying the highest rate first hurt my credit score?
Payment history and utilization drive most scoring models, and the avalanche keeps every account current while reducing total balances, so the direction is generally positive. It does tend to leave small accounts open longer than the snowball would, which means utilization on those cards falls more slowly. This calculator models balances and interest only — it does not model credit scores.
What if two debts have the same interest rate?
The calculator keeps a stable order between them, so the extra payment lands on one until it is cleared and then moves to the other. With equal rates the total interest is effectively the same whichever you choose, so it is a reasonable place to pick by balance instead and take the earlier win.

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How the numbers are calculated

Interest accrues monthly at the APR you enter divided by twelve, applied to the balance at the start of each month. Each debt receives its minimum payment; anything left over in your monthly total goes to the debt at the top of the order, and a debt’s minimum payment is added to that pool once it is cleared. The simulation stops after 600 months (50 years), so a plan whose payments never cover the interest is reported as never reaching zero instead of getting a date. Debts are ordered by APR, highest first, and the ordering is recalculated each month — balances do not affect the order.

Results are estimates. They assume every payment is made on time, no new debt is added, and rates, fees, and promotional periods stay unchanged — real accounts vary in how they compound interest and apply payments, so your lender’s figures will differ somewhat.

This calculator is an educational tool, not financial advice, and using it does not create an advisory relationship. See our Terms of Use.

Built by DebtWise, a debt-payoff and budgeting app. The math here is the same engine that powers the app’s planner.

Last updated .