acalculator

Home improvement loan payment

Type what you want to borrow, the rate and the term. The home improvement loan calculator gives the monthly payment, the APR with any fee, and the total cost of the project loan.

Your numbers

The fee is
Monthly payment
$543.56

Borrowing $25,000.00 at 11% over 60 months costs $543.56 a month; with the fee, the APR is 12.34% and the loan costs $8,363.63 in all.

Cash you get $24,250.00Cost of the loan $8,363.63
74% cash you get26% cost of the loan
APR
12.34%
Cash you get
$24,250.00
Origination fee
$750.00
Balance you repay
$25,000.00
Total interest
$7,613.63
Total of payments
$32,613.63
Cost of the loan
$8,363.63
Paid off in
November 2031
Months
60

Answer for the example date Sunday, November 1, 2026. It changes to today's date when the page loads.

Monthly payment: $543.56. Borrowing $25,000.00 at 11% over 60 months costs $543.56 a month; with the fee, the APR is 12.34% and the loan costs $8,363.63 in all.

How much of what you repay is cost?

Where does each year of payments go?

What does every payment look like?

The results are estimates for information only. They are not financial, tax, or legal advice. Check the numbers with your lender or a qualified professional before you decide. Terms of use

How to calculate

Computes the monthly payment, total cost, and APR of a fixed-rate home improvement loan with an origination fee taken from the loan or added to it.

Example with the default inputs (Loan amount $25,000.00, Interest rate 11%, Loan term (months) 60, Origination fee 3%, The fee is Taken from the loan, Loan start date November 1, 2026) on the example date Sunday, November 1, 2026: Borrowing $25,000.00 at 11% over 60 months costs $543.56 a month; with the fee, the APR is 12.34% and the loan costs $8,363.63 in all.

Method: payment = L × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−n), with L the balance you repay, r the rate ÷ 12, and n the months; the APR is 12 × j, where j is the monthly rate at which n payments repay the cash you receive.

  • The rate is fixed and interest is charged monthly at the rate ÷ 12 on the balance.
  • The fee is a percentage of the loan amount, taken from the money you receive or added to the balance.
  • Payments are made at the end of each month, starting one month after the start date.
  • The APR follows the actuarial method of Regulation Z (12 CFR 1026.22), with the fee as a prepaid finance charge.
  • Values are not rounded to the cent between months; only the display is rounded.

Machine-readable copies: Markdown, JSON.

Worked examples

Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.

  1. Loan amount $25,000.00, Interest rate 11%, Loan term (months) 60, Origination fee 3%, The fee is Taken from the loan gives Monthly payment $543.56, Cash you get $24,250.00, APR 12.34%, Cost of the loan $8,363.63, Origination fee $750.00.Source: Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.22, Determination of annual percentage rate, https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/22/
  2. Loan amount $25,000.00, Interest rate 11%, Loan term (months) 60, Origination fee 3%, The fee is Added to the loan gives Monthly payment $559.87, Balance you repay $25,750.00, Cash you get $25,000.00, APR 12.3%, Total interest $7,842.04.Source: Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.22, Determination of annual percentage rate, https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/22/
  3. Loan amount $10,000.00, Interest rate 9.5%, Loan term (months) 84, Origination fee 0%, The fee is Taken from the loan, Loan start date 2026-11-01 gives Monthly payment $163.44, APR 9.5%, Total interest $3,728.94, Paid off in 2033-11-01.Source: Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.22, Determination of annual percentage rate, https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/22/

How it works

Write A for the loan amount, f for the origination fee rate, r for the yearly rate ÷ 12 (as a decimal), and n for the number of months. These are the same rules as the personal loan calculator.

  • Origination fee = A × f.
  • Fee taken from the loan: Balance you repay L = A and Cash you get = A − fee. Fee added to the loan: L = A + fee and cash = A.
  • Monthly payment P = L × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−n), or L ÷ n at 0%.
  • APR = 12 × j × 100, where j is the monthly rate at which n payments of P are worth the cash: P × (1 − (1 + j)^−n) ÷ j = cash. With no fee, the APR equals the rate.
  • Total interest adds each month’s interest, balance × r. The last payment clears the balance. Total of payments = L + total interest. Cost of the loan = total of payments − cash.
  • Paid off in is the month n months after the start date.

Rules

  • The loan amount is above $0 and at most $10 million; the rate is 0% to 50%; the term is 1 to 120 whole months; the fee is 0% to 20%.
  • The fee, the cash and the balance are exact on the decimals as typed. Values are not rounded between months, and money shows to the cent, rounded half up.
  • Payments come at the end of each month. The rate is fixed, and the fee is the only charge besides interest.

Worked examples by hand

$25,000 at 11% over 60 months, 3% fee taken from the loan. The fee is $750, so you get $24,250 and repay L = $25,000. r = 0.11 ÷ 12, and the payment is $543.56. The total of payments is $32,613.63, so the cost is 32,613.63 − 24,250 = $8,363.63. The APR is 12.34%.

The same loan with the fee added. L = $25,750 and the cash is $25,000. The payment is $559.87, the interest is $7,842.04, and the APR is 12.30%.

$10,000 at 9.5% over 84 months with no fee, starting November 1, 2026. The payment is $163.44, the interest is $3,728.94, the APR equals the rate (9.5%), and the last payment is in November 2033.

Other questions people ask

How is a home improvement loan payment calculated?

It is the fixed-rate loan formula: L × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−n), where L is the balance, r is the yearly rate ÷ 12, and n is the months. $25,000 at 11% over 60 months is $543.56 a month.

What does an origination fee do to the cost?

A 3% fee on $25,000 is $750. Taken from the loan, you receive $24,250 but repay $25,000, so the APR rises from 11% to 12.34%. Compare offers by APR, because it counts the fee.

Should the fee be taken out or added to the loan?

Added to the loan, you get the full $25,000 but pay interest on $25,750, so the payment is $559.87 instead of $543.56. Use the switch to compare the two.

What kind of loan should I use for home improvements?

HUD says the best kind depends mainly on how much you need to borrow, and it calls paying cash the thriftiest way. If your home equity is limited, it points to an FHA Title I Property Improvement Loan.

Is a home equity loan different?

A home equity loan uses your home as collateral, and the CFPB warns that the lender could foreclose if you cannot pay it back. This page works out the payment for any fixed-rate loan, but read the terms of what you are offered.

Why does this page not show current rates?

Rates depend on your credit and your lender, so you type the rate you were quoted.