Mortgage & loan calculator
Enter the principal, the interest rate and the term to see the monthly payment of your mortgage or personal loan, the total interest and the year-by-year amortisation table (annuity/French method, the one used across Europe).
How a mortgage payment is worked out
Most repayment mortgages use the amortisation method: the monthly payment stays the same for the whole loan, as long as the interest rate doesn't change. What does change, month by month, is how much of that payment goes to interest and how much pays down the capital. The payment depends on the amount borrowed, the monthly interest rate and the total number of monthly instalments.
Why you pay almost only interest at the start
At the beginning, since you still owe nearly all the capital, interest swallows most of each payment and you repay very little. Over the years the balance shifts: the debt drops, the interest on it drops too, and more of each payment goes to reducing the loan. This explains something that surprises many people: in the first years, the outstanding balance falls very slowly. The amortisation table this tool produces shows that split month by month.
Nominal rate and APR are not the same
The nominal rate is the "pure" interest applied to the loan. The APR (annual percentage rate) also includes fees and other costs, so it reflects the real price better and is the figure to use when comparing offers from different banks. A mortgage with a low nominal rate but heavy fees can end up costing more than one with a slightly higher rate.
A longer term means a comfier payment, and more interest
Stretching the term lowers the monthly payment, which eases the monthly budget, but it has a cost: the more years, the more interest you pay in total, because the money is borrowed for longer. Shortening the term or making early repayments cuts that interest. It's a balance between what you can comfortably pay today and what you want to pay overall.