Finance calculator

Free payday loan calculator

See the real cost of a payday loan in two seconds. Enter the amount, the fee, and the term in days — the calculator returns the annual percentage rate (APR), the total you repay, the fee per $100 borrowed, and how fast the cost climbs if you roll the loan over — updated live, as you type.

On this page15 sections

InputsLive

Loan amount

Fee (finance charge)

Term

days

Rollovers

Result

Annual percentage rate (APR)

391.1%

That's more than ten times a typical credit card — because the term is so short.

Total repayment (on time)$345.00

Fee per $100 borrowed$15.00

Cost with rollovers$345.00

Estimates only, based on the values you enter. Not financial advice.

Results are estimates. Consult a professional.

Definition

What is a payday loan?

A payday loan is a short-term, high-cost loan — usually for $500 or less — that is due in a single payment on your next payday. You borrow a small amount, the lender charges a flat fee, and the whole balance (loan plus fee) comes due in two to four weeks. The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) defines it plainly: “a short-term, high-cost loan, generally for $500 or less, that is typically due on your next payday.” This payday loan calculator turns that flat fee into the one number that matters — the annual percentage rate (APR) — so you can see the true cost before you sign.

To get the cash you typically write a post-dated check for the full balance including the fee, or authorize the lender to debit your bank account electronically on the due date. There is usually no credit check, which is why payday loans are marketed to people with poor or no credit — but that convenience carries a price most borrowers never annualise.

The amount you borrow — commonly $100 to $500, capped by state law in most states.

The flat fee the lender charges for the loan, typically $10 to $30 for every $100 borrowed.

How long until repayment is due — usually two weeks (14 days), sometimes up to a month.

Annual percentage rate — the fee expressed as a yearly rate, which is how lending costs are compared on equal footing.

Extending the loan past its due date for another fee instead of repaying it — the start of the debt cycle.

Method

How the payday loan calculator works

The calculator needs three inputs: the amount you want to borrow, the fee the lender charges, and the term in days. From those it annualises the fee over a 365-day year to produce the APR — the only number that lets you compare a two-week payday loan against a credit card, a personal loan, or any other form of credit.

APR = (fee ÷ principal) ÷ termDays × 365 × 100

total repayment = principal + fee

cost after rollovers = principal + fee × (rollovers + 1)

Enter the loan amount. The principal you want in hand — keep it to what you can repay in full on the due date.
Enter the fee. The lender's flat finance charge for the term. At $15 per $100, a $300 loan costs $45.
Enter the term in days. Two weeks is 14 days; a month is about 30. The shorter the term, the higher the APR.
Add rollovers (optional). Each rollover charges the fee again — the calculator shows how fast the total cost climbs.

Worked example

A worked example using the payday loan calculator

Example: a $100 loan for two weeks

This is the textbook case the CFPB uses. You borrow $100, the lender charges a $15 fee, and the loan is due in 14 days. A $15 fee on $100 sounds like a flat 15% — but it is 15% for two weeks, not for a year. Here is how the calculator annualises it.

Step 1 — Find the fee as a share of the principal

Divide the $15 fee by the $100 borrowed: 15 ÷ 100 = 0.15. That is the cost for the two-week term — a 15% period rate.

Step 2 — Convert it to a daily rate

Spread that 0.15 across the 14-day term: 0.15 ÷ 14 = 0.010714 per day, or about 1.07% a day.

Step 3 — Annualise over 365 days

Multiply the daily rate by 365 and by 100 to express it as a percentage: 0.010714 × 365 × 100 = 391.07%.

Input	Value
Loan amount (principal)	$100
Fee	$15
Term	14 days
Fee per $100	$15
Total repayment	$115
APR	391.07%

A $15 fee on a $100 loan due in 14 days works out to a 391% APR — the canonical payday loan example.

391% APR

You repay $115 in two weeks. That $15 fee — modest as a dollar figure — annualises to a 391% APR, more than ten times a typical credit card. The dollar cost is small; the rate is enormous because the term is so short.

The catch

Why the payday loan APR is so high

The fee looks cheap and the APR looks insane, and both are describing the same $15. The gap is the term. APR measures cost over a full year, but a payday loan only lasts two weeks — so the formula scales that two-week fee up by a factor of roughly 26 to express it annually. The CFPB puts it directly:

“If your payday lender were to charge you a $15 fee once per year for every $100 borrowed, that would be a simple interest rate of 15 percent. But if you’re required to repay the loan in two weeks, that 15-percent finance charge equates to an APR of almost 400 percent because of the very short term.” — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

This is why APR is the honest comparison. A credit card might run 18–30% APR; a personal loan 7–15%. A payday loan at 391% is not a little more expensive — it is an order of magnitude more expensive. Depending on the state and fee, real payday APRs commonly land anywhere from 300% to 600%, and in states with no rate cap they can exceed 660%.

Cost

How much does a payday loan cost?

Payday lenders charge a flat fee per $100 borrowed rather than a stated interest rate. The CFPB notes fees “ranging from $10 to $30 for every $100 borrowed,” with $15 per $100 being typical. The table below shows what each fee level does to the APR on a standard 14-day loan — the fee barely changes, but the annual rate is brutal at every level.

Fee per $100	Fee on a $300 loan	Total repaid	APR (14-day term)
$10	$30	$330	261%
$15	$45	$345	391%
$20	$60	$360	521%
$25	$75	$375	652%
$30	$90	$390	782%

APR for a $300 payday loan over 14 days at each common fee level. The dollar fee feels small; the APR does not.

The same fee over a longer term is a lower APR: a $45 fee on $300 is 391% over 14 days but about 183% over 30 days. Term length is the single biggest driver of the headline rate — which is exactly why these loans are so short.

The trap

Rollovers and the payday loan debt cycle

The real danger of payday loans is not a single $15 fee — it is what happens when you can't repay on the due date. Rather than collect, the lender offers to roll over the loan: you pay the fee again to extend it another two weeks, but the principal you owe never shrinks. Each extension is a fresh fee on the same borrowed money.

How $100 becomes a spiral

You borrow $100 with a $15 fee, due in two weeks. Payday comes and you can’t spare $115, so you roll it over for another $15. Two weeks later, same problem — another $15. After four rollovers you’ve paid $75 in fees and still owe the original $100. The fee buys you time, never progress.

Rollover	Fees paid so far	Still owe	Total out of pocket
Original loan	$15	$100	$115
1st rollover	$30	$100	$130
2nd rollover	$45	$100	$145
3rd rollover	$60	$100	$160
4th rollover	$75	$100	$175

A $100 loan rolled over four times costs $75 in fees on top of the $100 you still owe — the calculator's rollover field models this.

This is the debt trap regulators warn about: borrowers take a second loan to cover the first, and a $100 loan can balloon toward $1,000 in fees before they escape. Consumer advocates and regulators consistently find that a large share of payday-loan fees come from borrowers who renew repeatedly rather than repay — the renewals, not the original loan, are where the cost compounds. If you find yourself reaching for a rollover, that is the signal to stop and look at the alternatives below.

Better options

Payday loan alternatives

Almost any other source of cash is cheaper than a 391% APR. Before taking a payday loan, work down this list — most people qualify for at least one of these:

Payday alternative loans (PALs). Offered by many federal credit unions, capped at 28% APR, for $200–$1,000 over 1–6 months, with an application fee of no more than $20. You generally need to have been a member for at least a month.
A small personal loan. Even at 36% APR — the rate cap many consumer advocates push for — a personal loan is roughly a tenth the cost of a payday loan and gives you months to repay.
A paycheck advance. Some employers and earned-wage-access apps advance pay you've already earned for little or no fee.
Asking the creditor for time. If the loan is to cover a bill, call the biller first — many offer hardship plans or payment extensions for free.
Local assistance and family. Community charities, religious organizations, and a trusted family loan can bridge a true emergency without any finance charge.
A 0% or low-APR credit card. Even cash-advance APRs around 25–30% are dramatically cheaper than a payday loan.

Compare the real cost of any alternative with our APR calculator, personal loan calculator, or debt payoff calculator before you borrow.

The law

Payday loan rules and state rate caps

Payday lending is regulated mostly at the state level, and the rules vary enormously. Some states ban payday loans outright or cap the APR at 36%, which effectively ends storefront payday lending there. Others set a maximum fee per $100 and a maximum loan size — commonly $500 — but allow the resulting triple-digit APRs. A handful place no meaningful cap at all, where APRs of 600%+ are routine.

Rate-cap states. Around 18 states plus Washington, D.C. cap payday APRs near 36% or prohibit the loans, the level consumer advocates consider affordable.
Loan-size limits. Many states cap the loan at $500 and limit how many loans you can have open at once.
Rollover limits. Some states ban rollovers or cap the number of renewals to slow the debt cycle.
Cooling-off periods. A few require a waiting period between loans so borrowers can't chain them back-to-back.

There is no nationwide payday-loan rate cap, though the Military Lending Act caps the rate at 36% for active-duty service members and their dependents. Always check your own state's rules — and remember the calculator's APR is the figure to compare against any cap.

Your credit

Do payday loans affect your credit?

A payday loan almost never helps your credit, but it can hurt it. The CFPB is explicit:

“Payday loans are generally not reported to the three major national credit reporting companies, so they are unlikely to impact your credit scores or help you build credit.” — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Because on-time payday payments usually aren't reported, repaying one as agreed won't raise your score. But if you default and the debt is sent to a collection agency, that collection account can be reported to the credit bureaus, damaging your score and staying on your report for up to seven years. The credit risk is all downside.

Methodology

Sources and methodology

All definitions, fee ranges, and the 391% APR example are drawn from the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The APR formula — fee ÷ principal ÷ term × 365 × 100 — is the standard payday-loan annualisation used by the CFPB, NerdWallet, and Omni Calculator. PAL terms come from the National Credit Union Administration (MyCreditUnion.gov). Figures are illustrative; your actual cost depends on the lender and your state's law.

CFPB — What is a payday loan?CFPB — Why is the APR on my payday loan so high?NCUA — Payday Alternative Loans (PALs).

Questions

Frequently asked questions about the free payday loan calculator

A payday loan calculator is a free online tool that helps you calculate the true APR and cost of a payday loan from its fee, amount, and term — plus the cost if rolled over. A payday loan charges a flat fee for a very short term; annualising that fee over 365 days reveals the real cost as an APR. It runs entirely in your browser with instant results and no sign-up.

A payday loan is a short-term, high-cost loan — generally for $500 or less — that is typically due on your next payday, in a single payment two to four weeks after you borrow. To get the cash you write a post-dated check or authorize an electronic debit for the full balance plus the fee. There is usually no credit check, which is why these loans target borrowers with poor or no credit.

Payday lenders charge a flat fee, typically $10 to $30 for every $100 borrowed. A typical two-week loan with a $15-per-$100 fee equates to an annual percentage rate (APR) of almost 400 percent. The dollar fee can look small — $45 on a $300 loan — but because the term is only about two weeks, the APR lands in the 300%–600% range, more than ten times a typical credit card.

Because the term is so short. If a lender charges a $15 fee once per year for every $100 borrowed, that is a simple interest rate of 15 percent. But if you must repay in two weeks, that 15-percent finance charge equates to an APR of almost 400 percent because of the very short term. APR annualises the fee over a full year, so a two-week fee gets scaled up by a factor of about 26.

Payday loans are generally not reported to the three major national credit reporting companies, so they are unlikely to impact your credit scores or help you build credit. Repaying one on time usually won't raise your score. But if you default and the debt goes to collections, that collection account can be reported and stay on your credit report for up to seven years — so the credit risk is all downside.

If there isn't enough money in your account on the due date, the lender may charge a late or returned-item fee, your bank may add overdraft or non-sufficient-funds penalties, and the lender may attempt to debit your account multiple times. If you default, the account can be sent to a debt collector, reported to the credit bureaus, and in some cases pursued in court. Many borrowers instead roll the loan over — paying the fee again to extend it — which starts the debt cycle.

A rollover (or renewal) is when you can't repay on the due date, so you pay just the fee to extend the loan to your next payday — without reducing the principal. Each rollover adds another full fee, so a $300 loan with a $45 fee rolled over four times costs $225 in fees while you still owe the original $300. This is the core of the payday debt trap, which is why several states ban or limit rollovers.

About

About this payday loan calculator

This payday loan calculator runs entirely in your browser. Every figure you enter stays on your device — nothing is sent to a server, logged, or shared. It annualises the lender's flat fee over a 365-day year to reveal the true APR, shows the total you repay and the fee per $100 borrowed, and multiplies the fee across any rollovers you add, updating instantly as you type.

Calculators Cloud offers 400+ free tools with no sign-up. The whole Finance calculators shelf includes APR, Personal loan, and Debt payoff tools alongside this one. Or browse the full calculator directory.