# Loan Amortization Calculator > Generate a full month-by-month amortization schedule for any loan. See principal vs interest, total cost, and the full payment table. URL: https://uttir.com/loan-amortization-calculator Categories: calculators, math-tools Privacy: All math runs locally. No loan data leaves your browser. ## About An amortization schedule shows how each loan payment is split between principal (the amount you actually owe) and interest (the cost of borrowing). Early in the loan, most of each payment goes to interest; as the balance shrinks, more goes to principal. A 30-year mortgage might cost you 2-3× the original loan amount in interest over its life, depending on the rate. This tool generates the full schedule: monthly payment, total interest, total paid, and a per-payment breakdown. Supports monthly, biweekly, weekly, and quarterly payment frequencies. ## How to use 1. **Enter the loan amount** — The total amount you are borrowing. For a mortgage, this is the home price minus down payment. 2. **Enter the interest rate** — Annual percentage rate (APR), not the nominal interest rate. For mortgages in the US, the APR is what the lender quotes. 3. **Enter the term** — How many years until the loan is fully paid. 30 is standard for a US mortgage; 15 is also common. 4. **Pick a payment frequency** — Monthly (standard), biweekly (pay half your monthly amount every two weeks — saves years of interest), weekly, or quarterly. ## Examples ### $300k mortgage, 6.5%, 30 years, monthly A typical US mortgage in 2024-2026. Output: ``` Monthly payment: $1,896 · Total interest: $382,633 · Total paid: $682,633 ``` ### $50k auto loan, 7%, 5 years, monthly A typical new-car loan. Output: ``` Monthly payment: $990 · Total interest: $9,402 · Total paid: $59,402 ``` ## FAQ ### Why does so much of my early payment go to interest? Each payment is calculated as (current balance) × (monthly interest rate) for the interest portion, with the rest going to principal. Early in the loan, the balance is highest, so the interest portion is largest. As you pay down the balance, the interest portion shrinks and the principal portion grows. By the final payment, almost all of it is principal. This is why paying extra early in the loan has a disproportionate effect on total interest. ### How much can biweekly payments save? Biweekly payments (half your monthly amount every two weeks, so 26 half-payments per year instead of 12 monthly payments) add up to one extra full payment per year. On a 30-year mortgage at 6.5%, that extra payment can cut the term by 4-6 years and save $50,000-$100,000 in interest. The catch: many lenders charge a fee for biweekly, or do it in a way that does not actually result in the savings. Verify with your lender before signing up. ### What is extra payment and how does it work? Apply any extra amount to the principal balance. Most loan servicers allow you to mark a payment as "extra toward principal" (not as an advance payment of next month). The loan recalculates: same monthly payment, but more of it goes to principal each month, paying off the loan faster. Even $50-100/month extra on a 30-year mortgage can save 2-3 years and tens of thousands in interest. Use the schedule in this tool to see the effect. ## Related tools - [Mortgage Calculator](https://uttir.com/mortgage-calculator) — Estimate monthly mortgage payments, including down payment, property tax, and insurance. - [Loan Calculator](https://uttir.com/loan-calculator) — Calculate monthly payments, total interest, and a full amortization schedule for any loan. - [Compound Interest Calculator](https://uttir.com/compound-interest-calculator) — Project savings growth with compound interest and monthly contributions, year by year. - [Retirement Calculator](https://uttir.com/retirement-calculator) — Project your retirement savings with monthly contributions, annual raises, and inflation. Year-by-year balance and real (today's-dollar) value. - [Savings Goal Calculator](https://uttir.com/savings-goal-calculator) — Find the monthly contribution needed to reach a savings goal, or how long your monthly contribution will take. Accounts for compound interest. --- For the full HTML page with the live tool, visit https://uttir.com/loan-amortization-calculator. This file is the markdown rendering at https://uttir.com/loan-amortization-calculator.md. See https://uttir.com/llms.txt for a site-wide summary.