Free Tool

Debt Snowball vs Avalanche Calculator

Avalanche pays the highest rate first and costs less. Snowball pays the smallest balance first and kills a card sooner, which is what keeps most people going. Put in your own cards and see both, side by side, on the same money. Nothing is sent anywhere: the math runs in your browser.

Your cards

Balances, rates, and what you can pay

Leave a card blank if you do not have it. The monthly amount is everything you put toward these cards combined, not per card.

Avalanche

Highest rate first

Debt free in

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Interest paid

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First card cleared

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Snowball

Smallest balance first

Debt free in

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Interest paid

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First card cleared

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The trade

What you are actually choosing between

Interest accrues monthly at APR divided by 12, and the minimum is 1% of the balance after that month's interest, floored at $25 — the method the published comparison used, so this tool and the article beside it cannot disagree. Real issuers usually add the month's interest on top of the 1%, which makes minimums larger and payoff a little faster than shown here. Anything left after every minimum is paid goes to the target card, and spills to the next one the moment that card clears — no month's money is ever wasted.

Next step

Run the plan, not just the comparison

The strategy that works is the one you keep. Forgenta tracks the balances as they actually move, so the payoff order stays right when a rate changes or a month goes sideways, instead of being a plan you made once on a good day.