Avalanche vs snowball calculator
Two common ways to pay off debt. Enter your debts once and see which one gets you to $0 sooner — and how much interest you’d pay either way.
Debt payoff race: avalanche vs snowball
Enter your debts and see which method gets you to $0 faster.
Avalanche saves you $873 and 1 mo.
Avalanche saves the most money; snowball builds momentum with quick wins.
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See your real debt-free date
Add your debts to Beyond Payday's free Debt Payoff Planner for an avalanche or snowball debt-free date, and update balances as you pay them down. No bank linking, nothing saved here.
How the two methods work
Same payments, different order
- Avalanche — pay every debt its monthly payment, then send every extra dollar to the debt with the highest interest rate. Ties go to the larger balance.
- Snowball — pay every debt its monthly payment, then send every extra dollar to the smallest balance. Ties go to the higher rate.
Both roll each freed-up payment onto the next debt in line, so the amount going to the priority debt grows every time one is paid off.
The math, one month at a time
new balance = balance + balance × (APR ÷ 12) − payment
The priority debt’s payment is its own payment plus the extra pool. The pool starts at your “extra per month” and grows by each paid-off debt’s payment from the following month. The calculator repeats this until every debt reaches $0, then totals the interest and counts the months.
An example with illustrative numbers
These are the calculator’s starting values, for a fictional household:
| Debt | Balance | APR | Payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit card | $9,000 | 23% | $200 |
| Car loan | $4,000 | 7% | $120 |
With $150 a month extra:
- Avalanche targets the 23% card first. Debt-free in 3 years 1 month, with about $3,978 in interest.
- Snowball targets the smaller car loan first and clears it in 16 months. Debt-free in 3 years 2 months, with about $4,851 in interest.
Here avalanche saves about $873 and 1 month, while snowball gives the first paid-off debt more than a year sooner. Change any number and the comparison updates.
Assumptions and how to read the result
- Interest is charged monthly at APR ÷ 12 on the balance, and rates and payments never change. Your lender’s own interest method and fees can make real figures differ.
- No new charges are added to any debt.
- In the month a debt is paid off, any part of its payment left over is not moved to the next debt, so results can be slightly conservative.
- Up to five debts. A debt needs both a balance and a monthly payment above $0 to be included; blank or negative amounts count as $0.
- A plan that is not finished within 600 months (50 years) is reported as never paying off.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the avalanche and snowball methods?
Both pay every debt its monthly payment and send any extra money to one priority debt. Avalanche picks the debt with the highest interest rate first. Snowball picks the smallest balance first. When a debt is paid off, its payment is added to the extra and rolls to the next debt in line.
Which method saves more money?
Avalanche is built to cut interest by paying the most expensive debt first, and the calculator shows how much interest and time it saves over snowball for your debts. The gap can be large when a high-rate debt also has a big balance, and close to zero when rates are similar. When the two finish about the same, the calculator says so.
Why would anyone choose snowball?
Snowball often clears the first debt sooner, which some people find easier to stick with. The calculator shows the cost of that choice in dollars and months, so you can weigh it for your own debts.
What does "extra per month" mean?
Money you can pay on top of all your regular monthly payments. It always goes to the current priority debt. Leaving it at $0 can still show a difference between the methods, because each paid-off debt frees up its payment to roll forward.
Why does it say a debt never gets paid off?
If a debt’s monthly payment is less than the interest it adds each month, its balance never shrinks. The calculator simulates up to 600 months (50 years) and flags any plan that is not finished by then. A higher payment or extra amount can change that.
Which debts are included?
Up to five. A row counts only when it has both a balance and a monthly payment above $0; rows missing either are left out of both plans.
Estimates for education, not financial advice.
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