🔗 Debt Consolidation Loan Calculator

Consolidation saves money only when the new interest rate is lower than your current weighted average rate across all the debts you’re consolidating — and only when the loan term isn’t extended long enough to erase those savings. If you’re carrying $15,000 at an average of 22% APR and qualify for a personal loan at 12%, consolidation saves approximately $4,200 in interest over four years assuming comparable terms. The trap is extending the term to lower monthly payments: a 12% loan stretched from 4 years to 7 years can cost more total interest than staying on the 22% cards at a higher payment. Enter your numbers in the calculator above to see whether rate reduction or term extension dominates your result.

Most personal loan lenders require a minimum score of 580–620 to approve a consolidation loan, but rates available below 670 are often high enough to negate the savings from consolidating credit card debt. Borrowers in the 670–739 range typically qualify for rates between 12–17%, which produces meaningful savings against the current average credit card APR of 22.83%. Borrowers above 740 often access rates as low as 8–10%, where the interest savings are substantial. If your score is below 620, a credit union, nonprofit credit counseling program, or a balance transfer card with a promotional 0% period may produce better outcomes than a personal loan.

The most commonly overlooked cost is the origination fee, which most personal lenders charge between 1–8% of the loan amount upfront — on a $15,000 loan, that’s $150 to $1,200 deducted before you receive funds. Balance transfer cards carry a separate fee of typically 3–5% of the transferred amount, which on $10,000 equals $300–$500. Unlike interest, these fees are paid regardless of how quickly you repay, which means a high origination fee on a loan you pay off early can cost more per dollar borrowed than simply paying more aggressively on your existing cards. Always calculate the all-in cost — rate plus fees — not just the advertised APR.

In the short term, consolidation typically produces a 5–10 point dip due to the hard inquiry from the loan application and the reduction in average account age when new credit is opened. Over 6–12 months, the score generally recovers and often exceeds the pre-consolidation baseline, driven by reduced credit utilization as card balances are paid off and on-time payment history on the new installment loan. The impact depends heavily on whether you close the paid-off card accounts — keeping them open with zero balances maintains available credit and prevents a spike in utilization. Closing multiple accounts simultaneously after consolidating can temporarily worsen the score effect.

A debt consolidation loan is a personal installment loan with a fixed rate, fixed monthly payment, and a defined payoff date. A balance transfer moves existing credit card balances to a new card offering a promotional 0% APR period, typically 12–21 months. The consolidation loan is better for larger balances that need more than 21 months to pay off, because the 0% period on a balance transfer eventually expires and any remaining balance reverts to the card’s standard rate — often 24–29%. The balance transfer is better for smaller balances you’re confident you can eliminate within the promotional window, where paying zero interest outperforms any personal loan rate.

Yes, and this is precisely where consolidation appears to work on the surface but actually costs more. Extending repayment from 2 years at $800/month to 5 years at $350/month feels like breathing room — but the 3 additional years of interest on the consolidated balance can add $2,000–$4,000 in total cost depending on loan size and rate. The monthly relief is real, but it’s financed by future interest charges. Consolidation lowers monthly payments in a financially beneficial way only when the rate reduction is large enough that interest savings exceed the cost of any term extension.

The risk most people underestimate is behavioral: consolidating credit card balances onto a personal loan pays off the cards but leaves them with zero balances and full available credit — and a significant portion of consolidators rebuild new card balances within 18–24 months. The result is owing both the consolidation loan and a rebuilt card balance, a worse total debt position than before. The cards still exist, the credit line is still available, and without a change in spending behavior the underlying pattern reasserts itself. Consolidation is a tool for lowering the cost of existing debt; it does not address the mechanism that created the debt in the first place.