Debt Avalanche Calculator
Target your highest-interest debt first to minimize interest. Compare avalanche vs snowball savings instantly.
How the debt avalanche method works
The debt avalanche is a payoff strategy that orders your debts by interest rate, highest first. Each month you pay the minimum on every debt, then direct all of your extra money to the debt with the highest APR. Once that debt is gone, you roll its payment into the next-highest-rate debt, and so on. By always attacking the most expensive debt, you stop the costliest interest from compounding sooner.
Mathematically, the avalanche is optimal: followed to completion, it pays the least total interest of any payoff order and usually clears your debt in the least time. The benefit is largest when you carry a big balance at a much higher rate than your other debts — a high-APR credit card alongside lower-rate loans, for example. This calculator simulates the strategy month by month, accruing interest, paying minimums, then cascading the extra budget to the highest-rate debt, and reports your timeline, total interest, and payoff order.
The trade-off is psychological. Your first target is the highest-rate debt, which may also be a large balance, so the first "win" can take a while — whereas the snowball method clears small balances fast for early motivation. When all your rates are similar, the two methods finish within a few dollars of each other; when rates vary widely, the avalanche can save hundreds to thousands. This tool shows the snowball result alongside, so you can weigh interest saved against staying motivated.