APR Calculator

Model the real cost of a fixed-rate loan with flexible payment frequency, compounding, financed fees and upfront fees. Compare APR, EAR and effective APR, then inspect total interest, finance charge and amortization.

Additional

Fees financed with loan

Upfront fees

How to use the APR calculator

Enter the base loan amount, quoted interest rate and term, then choose how often payments are made and how often interest compounds.

Open Additional when the loan has fees. Fees financed with the loan are added to the interest-bearing balance. Upfront fees are treated as paid at origination. Either can be entered as money or as a percentage of the base loan amount.

The result separates APR, EAR and effective APR, then shows the scheduled installment, modeled amount financed, finance charge, total interest and full amortization schedule.

APR, EAR and effective APR measure different things

APR is the nominal annualized borrowing-cost rate implied by the payment stream and modeled amount financed. It is designed to make rate and fee effects easier to compare on one annual scale.

EAR, or effective annual rate, answers a different question: what annual growth rate results from the entered interest rate and compounding convention before fees are added? A 6% nominal rate compounded monthly has an EAR slightly above 6%.

Effective APR takes the solved APR periodic rate and compounds it across a year. It is useful when you want the fee-inclusive borrowing cost expressed as an effective annual rate rather than a nominal annualized rate.

**What the main APR results mean**
Result	Meaning
APR	Nominal annualized borrowing-cost rate implied by the payment stream and modeled amount financed
EAR	Effective annual rate produced by the entered interest rate and compounding convention before fees
Effective APR	Effective annual cost implied by the solved APR periodic rate
Installment	Scheduled payment for the selected payment frequency
Amount financed	Base loan amount minus upfront fees in this model
Finance charge	Total scheduled payments plus upfront fees minus the base loan amount

Payment frequency and compounding are separate inputs

A loan can compound interest on one schedule and collect payments on another. For example, Canadian fixed-rate mortgage disclosures can show interest compounded twice per year while payments are made monthly.

The calculator converts the quoted interest rate into the rate that applies between scheduled payments. Changing payment frequency can therefore change the installment even when the quoted annual rate stays the same.

Semi-monthly means two payments per month. Biweekly means 26 payments per year. Weekly uses 52 payments per year and daily uses 365.

**Payment frequency vs compounding**
Setting	What it controls	Examples
Payment	How often an installment is due	Monthly, biweekly, weekly, quarterly, yearly
Compounding	How often the quoted interest rate is compounded	Monthly, semi-annually, daily, continuously

Financed fees and upfront fees affect the loan differently

A financed fee is rolled into the balance. If you borrow $100,000 and finance a $2,000 fee, the payment calculation uses an interest-bearing balance of $102,000.

An upfront fee is paid separately. If the same $100,000 loan carries a $2,500 upfront charge, this model uses $97,500 as amount financed for the APR cash-flow calculation.

Both types can increase borrowing cost, but they do it in different ways: financed fees increase the balance being repaid, while upfront fees reduce the modeled net credit received at the start.

**How the two fee inputs are modeled**
Fee input	Treatment	Typical effect
Fees financed with loan	Added to the interest-bearing balance	Raises the scheduled payment and can raise APR
Upfront fees	Paid at origination rather than added to the balance	Reduces modeled amount financed and can raise APR

A lower interest rate can still produce a higher APR

Consider two five-year loans for $20,000. Loan A charges 8% interest and no upfront fee. Loan B advertises a lower 7.5% rate but charges a $1,000 upfront fee.

Loan B has the slightly lower monthly installment, yet its modeled APR is about 9.69% and its finance charge is higher. The lower headline rate does not erase the cost of the fee.

That is the practical reason to compare APR with the interest rate instead of judging a loan by the advertised rate alone.

**Lower rate, higher APR: an illustrative comparison**Both examples are $20,000 five-year loans with monthly compounding and monthly payments. Figures are rounded.
Offer	Loan	Interest rate	Upfront fee	Monthly installment	Modeled APR	Finance charge
Loan A	$20,000	8.00%	$0	$405.53	8.00%	$4,331.67
Loan B	$20,000	7.50%	$1,000	$400.76	9.69%	$5,045.54

Read the percentage and the dollars together

APR is useful for comparison, but total interest, finance charge and all payments plus fees show the cost in money rather than percentages.

A longer term can lower each installment while increasing the amount of interest paid over the life of the loan. A short-term loan can have a higher installment but a smaller total interest bill.

The colored result bar separates principal, interest and fees so you can see which part of the total repayment is the amount originally borrowed and which part is borrowing cost.

The amortization table shows where each payment goes

Every scheduled payment is split between interest and principal. Early payments on an amortizing loan usually contain more interest because the outstanding balance is larger.

As the balance falls, less interest accrues between payments and more of the installment goes toward principal. The final row clears the remaining modeled balance, including a shorter final period when the selected term does not divide evenly by the payment frequency.

Use the CSV export when you need the full schedule for a spreadsheet or a deeper comparison between loan structures.

APR rules and terminology vary by country

In the United States, Regulation Z treats APR as a yearly measure of the cost of credit that relates the amount and timing of value received to the amount and timing of payments. CFPB materials include separate monthly and weekly APR tables for closed-end transactions.

UK consumer-credit rules also calculate APR by equating the present value of drawdowns with repayments and charges, with timing expressed in years or fractions of a year.

Canada commonly discloses payment frequency and compounding separately, and official examples can show semi-annual compounding with monthly payments. Australia uses comparison rate terminology for a fee-inclusive consumer-loan comparison measure, so an official local disclosure may not use the same label as this calculator.

APR, compounding and payment formulas

The calculator first values the scheduled payments using the entered interest-rate compounding convention. It then solves the payment-period rate that discounts those payments to modeled amount financed.

Interest-bearing principal

B = P + F_{f}

Amount financed

A = P - F_{u}

Payment-period rate for periodic compounding

r_{p} = (1 + \frac{R}{m})^{m / q} - 1

Payment-period rate for continuous compounding

r_{p} = e^{R / q} - 1

APR present-value equation

A = k = 1 \sum n \frac{P M T}{( 1 + i ) ^{q t_{k}}}

APR

A P R = i \times q

Effective APR

A P R_{e f f} = (1 + i)^{q} - 1

Effective annual rate

E A R = (1 + \frac{R}{m})^{m} - 1

$P$: Base loan amount
$F_{f}$: Fees financed with the loan
$F_{u}$: Upfront fees paid separately
$B$: Interest-bearing principal
$A$: Modeled amount financed
$R$: Quoted annual interest rate as a decimal
$m$: Compounding periods per year
$q$: Scheduled payments per year
$i$: Solved APR rate per payment period
$t_{k}$: Time in years from origination to payment k
$P M T$: Scheduled installment

Examples

Ten-year loan with an upfront fee

Loan $100,000; 6% interest; 10 years; monthly payments and compounding; $2,500 upfront fee.

Installment about $1,110.21; amount financed $97,500; APR about 6.5627%; finance charge about $35,724.60.

Fee rolled into the loan

Loan $100,000; 6% interest; 10 years; monthly payments and compounding; $2,000 financed fee and $2,500 upfront fee.

Interest-bearing principal becomes $102,000; installment about $1,132.41; APR about 7.0070%.

Semi-annual compounding with monthly payments

Loan $100,000; 6% quoted rate; 10 years; monthly payments; interest compounded semi-annually; no fees.

The payment-period rate is converted from the semi-annual compounding convention before the monthly installment and APR are calculated.

Weekly repayment schedule

Loan $25,000; 5% interest; 3 years; weekly payments; monthly compounding.

The calculator builds a 156-payment schedule and amortizes the balance at the rate implied between weekly payments.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between interest rate and APR?

The interest rate determines how interest grows on the loan balance. APR expresses the borrowing cost on an annualized basis and can reflect modeled fees as well as the payment schedule.

What is EAR?

EAR is the effective annual rate produced by the quoted interest rate and compounding frequency before loan fees are included.

What is effective APR?

Effective APR compounds the solved APR periodic rate across a year. It is the effective annual version of the fee-inclusive modeled APR rate.

Why can payment frequency differ from compounding frequency?

Some loans calculate or compound interest on one schedule but collect installments on another. The calculator converts the quoted rate to the interval between scheduled payments.

What are fees financed with the loan?

They are fees added to the interest-bearing balance. The calculator includes them in the balance used to calculate scheduled installments and interest.

What are upfront fees?

They are charges paid at origination rather than added to the interest-bearing balance. In this model they reduce amount financed for the APR cash-flow calculation.

Can I enter fees as a percentage?

Yes. Both fee inputs can be entered as either a money amount or a percentage of the base loan amount.

Can a lower interest rate have a higher APR?

Yes. A loan with a lower stated rate can still have a higher APR when its fees or payment structure create a higher overall borrowing cost.

Does this calculator support biweekly and weekly payments?

Yes. It supports biweekly, weekly, semi-monthly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, yearly, and daily payment schedules.

Will this match an official lender APR exactly?

Not necessarily. Official disclosures can depend on exact dates, jurisdiction-specific rules, charge classifications, rounding, and contractual details that are outside this general fixed-rate model.