Debt Snowball vs Avalanche Calculator

The debt snowball and debt avalanche are two ways to pay off several debts with a fixed monthly budget. In both, you keep paying the minimum on every debt and throw any extra money at one debt until it's gone, then roll its payment into the next. They differ only in which debt comes first: the smallest balance, or the highest interest rate.

This calculator runs both on your own list of debts and puts the results side by side: how many months until you're debt-free, the total interest each method costs, and the month each debt is cleared. That turns the choice from a matter of opinion into a number.

Both methods pay every debt's minimum each month and put everything extra on one target debt. When a debt is cleared, its minimum payment joins the extra, so the amount aimed at the next target keeps growing. The snowball targets the smallest balance first; the avalanche targets the highest interest rate.

The avalanche always costs the same or less interest. The snowball clears individual debts sooner, and the quick wins help many people stick with the plan. When the smallest debt also has the highest rate, the two give identical results.