Debt payoff calculator: Avalanche vs Snowball
The short answer
The avalanche method pays off the debt with the highest interest rate first. The snowball method pays off the smallest balance first. Both pay every minimum each month and put everything left over, including the minimum of each debt already cleared, toward the next one. Avalanche usually costs less in interest; Snowball usually clears your first debt sooner.
Your debts
These are example numbers: replace them with yours. Nothing you type leaves this page.
- $%$
- $%$
- $%$
- $%$
On top of the minimums. Put 0 to compare the order alone.
Your plans
Avalanche costs $393 less in interest than Snowball and finishes in the same month. Snowball clears its first debt sooner: month 4, against month 9.
Avalanche
Highest rate first
Debt-free in
2 years 7 months
Total interest
$4,120
Total paid
$27,220
Snowball
Smallest balance first
Debt-free in
2 years 7 months
Total interest
$4,514
Total paid
$27,614
Minimums only
No extra, nothing rolls over
Debt-free in
6 years 1 month
Total interest
$9,931
Total paid
$33,031
Avalanche order
- 1. Store cardmonth 9
- 2. Credit cardmonth 24
- 3. Medical billmonth 24
- 4. Car loanmonth 31
Snowball order
- 1. Medical billmonth 4
- 2. Store cardmonth 11
- 3. Credit cardmonth 24
- 4. Car loanmonth 31
Keep the plan current without retyping it
VeloFlow links your cards and loans with read-only access through Plaid, so balances and rates stay up to date and this plan updates with them. It can see your accounts; it can never move money.
How the calculation works
- Each month, every debt adds one twelfth of its APR in interest.
- Every debt that still has a balance gets its minimum payment.
- Everything else in the monthly budget goes to the target debt: the highest rate for Avalanche, the smallest balance for Snowball. Whatever is left after clearing it goes to the next one.
- The budget stays the same until the end. When a debt is paid off, its minimum moves to the next target instead of stopping.
It assumes rates and minimums stay as entered and nothing new is added to the balances. Lenders may compound daily, charge fees or change rates, so your statements can differ a little from these figures.
Which method should you use?
That is your call, and either beats paying minimums only. Avalanche saves the most when your rates are far apart. Snowball gives you a paid-off debt sooner, which keeps some people going. The calculator puts both in dollars and months so you can see what the trade-off costs. VeloFlow doesn’t pick one for you: it is a tracker, not an adviser.
Questions
Is the avalanche or snowball method faster?
With the same monthly budget, Avalanche usually finishes at the same time or sooner and costs less interest, because less of each payment goes to interest. Snowball usually pays off its first debt sooner, because it starts with the smallest balance.
What happens to a minimum payment when a debt is paid off?
In both methods it keeps being paid, to the next debt in line, every month until everything is cleared. That rollover is what makes either method faster than paying minimums only.
What if my minimum payments don’t cover the interest?
Then the balance never goes down at that payment, and the calculator says so instead of showing a date. Adding an extra amount each month is what turns it into a payoff date.
Does the calculator save what I type?
No. It runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored, and it is gone when you close the page.
How is this different from the VeloFlow app?
This calculator uses the numbers you type in. VeloFlow links your cards and loans with read-only access through Plaid and keeps the balances, rates and payoff plan up to date. It can see your accounts but can never move money.
Estimates for information only, not financial advice. VeloFlow is a personal finance tracker: not a bank, lender, broker or adviser.