Free Mortgage Calculator with Side-by-Side Comparison

On a $300,000 loan at 6.5% for 30 years, paying $200 extra each month cuts roughly 6 years 11 months off the loan and saves about $103,000 in interest. The exact savings depend on your rate and remaining balance — plug your numbers in above to see your specific result.

If your current rate is already close to market rates, paying extra principal almost always wins because there are no closing costs and the savings start immediately. Refinancing makes sense when rates drop at least 0.75-1.0% below your current rate and you'll stay in the home long enough to recoup the closing costs (usually 2-5 years).

A 15-year loan saves enormous interest (often 60%+ vs a 30-year) and forces aggressive payoff, but the higher monthly payment leaves less room for emergencies, investing, or family needs. A common middle path: take the 30-year loan for the flexibility, then voluntarily pay it like a 15. You get most of the interest savings and keep the option to drop back down to the lower payment if life happens.

Rates move daily and depend on credit score, loan type, down payment, and lender competition. The Freddie Mac 30-year fixed average sat at 6.52% in June 2026 — down from 6.84% a year earlier — with 15-year fixed about 0.5-0.75% lower. Always shop at least three lenders — a 0.25% difference on a $300k loan is roughly $16,000 in interest over 30 years.

Extra payments reduce the term, not the monthly payment. Each extra dollar goes straight to principal, which means future months have less interest to pay, which means more of every future payment also goes to principal. That snowball is why even small extra payments save shocking amounts of interest.

Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is required when your down payment is less than 20%. It typically costs 0.3-1.5% of the loan annually. By federal law, lenders must automatically cancel PMI when your loan balance reaches 78% of the original home price; you can also request cancellation at 80%. The calculator above auto-drops PMI on the first month your loan-to-value crosses that threshold.

Yes — biweekly payments effectively give you one extra full payment per year (26 half-payments = 13 full ones), which knocks roughly 4-6 years off a 30-year mortgage. You can replicate the same effect for free by adding 1/12 of your monthly payment to each month's check. Beware lender "biweekly programs" that charge a setup fee — you don't need them.

If your mortgage rate is meaningfully below your expected investment return after taxes (typical guideline: rate < 5%), investing usually wins long-term. At today's higher rates (6%+), paying down the mortgage is closer to a guaranteed risk-free return — many planners now favor the payoff. The honest answer for most people: do both, since the psychological wins from each are different.

A widely-used rule is the 28/36 rule: your housing payment (PITI) should stay under 28% of gross monthly income, and total debt payments under 36%. The stricter "financially safe" version many FIRE-minded buyers use is 25% of net income on the mortgage payment. Anything higher and the rest of your financial life starts to pinch.

PITI stands for Principal, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance — the four core monthly costs of owning a home with a mortgage. Lenders use the full PITI when deciding how much to lend you, not just the principal-and-interest payment. HOA fees, when they apply, are technically separate but worth bundling into the same mental category.

Amortization is the schedule that splits each monthly payment into principal (paying down the loan) and interest (paying the bank for the loan). Early payments are mostly interest; the split shifts month by month until the final payment is mostly principal. The amortization chart above shows this curve for your loan.

Almost all U.S. mortgages let you make extra principal payments at any time without penalty. Just specify on the check or bill-pay memo that the extra goes to principal — otherwise some servicers apply it as a future regular payment. A few older or specialty loans have prepayment penalties, so check your closing documents if you're unsure.

The interest rate is what you pay the lender for the loan itself. APR (annual percentage rate) is the rate plus most upfront costs (origination fees, points, mortgage insurance) spread across the life of the loan. APR is always higher than the rate; comparing APR is the apples-to-apples way to shop lenders.

Yes, dramatically. An extra $1,000 in year 1 of a 30-year loan saves you decades of compound interest on that $1,000. The same $1,000 in year 25 saves only the interest from the last few years. The earlier the extra payment, the more interest it eliminates — which is why "start small, start now" beats "wait until I can afford a big payment".

Yes, as inputs. Open “Advanced options” at the bottom of the inputs and enter your annual property tax, annual home insurance, monthly HOA fees and PMI rate. The headline figure stays principal and interest so two loans compare cleanly; the escrow share shows in the “Where your money goes” chart, and the PITI section above works out the full monthly payment on a $300,000 example.

Yes, that is what it was built for. “Extra monthly payment” is in the main inputs, not behind a toggle. Type any amount and the payoff date, total paid and total interest update as you type. The “Extra $200/month” preset shows the same loan with and without the extra payment side by side, with the time saved.