Payday Loan Calculator — Fee, APR & Total Cost
Payday loans carry fees that look small per $100 but translate into enormous annual rates. Enter the loan amount, the lender's fee and the term length to see the true APR, the total repayment amount and a breakdown of principal versus charge.
$
Fee type
$
days
Principal plus all fees due on the repayment date
$575
Total duePrincipal
87%
Finance charge
13%
- 1
Finance charge
(500 ÷ 100) × 15 = 75 - 2
Daily rate
75 ÷ 500 ÷ 14 = 0.010714Fee divided by principal and term gives the cost per day. - 3
Total repayment
500 + 75 = 575
How does this calculator work?
Total repayment = principal + fee; APR = (fee ÷ principal) × (365 ÷ days) × 100. A $15 fee on a $100 14-day loan equals ~391% APR. Enter your loan amount, fee and term to see the exact cost and how it compares on an annualised basis.
Formula
How this is calculated
Payday lenders typically charge a flat fee per $100 borrowed — for example $15 per $100 on a 14-day loan. The finance charge is calculated as (loan amount ÷ 100) × fee, and the total repayment is simply the principal plus that charge. The fee looks modest in dollar terms but translates to a very high APR because the term is so short.
APR is calculated as (fee ÷ principal) × (365 ÷ term_days) × 100, which is the annualised cost mandated by US Truth in Lending Act (TILA) disclosures. The effective annual rate uses compound arithmetic — (1 + daily_rate)^365 − 1 — and is even higher because it accounts for what would happen if you rolled the loan over repeatedly for a full year, which is the realistic risk of the debt trap cycle.
This calculator supports both "per $100" fees and flat fees so you can enter the exact terms of your loan offer. Values are editable; adjust them to compare lenders. If your lender quotes a different term, enter it directly — the APR and total cost update instantly.
Frequently asked questions
APR expresses cost as if the loan ran for a full year. A $15 fee on a $100 two-week loan is only 15% for 14 days — but annualised (multiplied by 365 ÷ 14 ≈ 26) that becomes roughly 391% APR. The short term amplifies every dollar of fee into a very large annual rate.
The disclosed APR assumes simple (non-compounding) annualisation. The effective annual rate (EAR) compounds daily — it reflects the cost if you were to roll over the loan every fortnight for an entire year, which is the scenario payday lenders depend on. EAR is always equal to or higher than APR.
Credit union payday alternative loans (PALs) are capped at 28% APR in the US. Bank overdraft lines, employer salary advances and buy-now-pay-later products often carry far lower costs. Comparing the APR across alternatives is the clearest way to evaluate cost — this calculator gives you the benchmark.
Also known as
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). Payday Loan Calculator — Fee, APR & Total Cost [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/payday-loan-calculator
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "Payday Loan Calculator — Fee, APR & Total Cost." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/payday-loan-calculator.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "Payday Loan Calculator — Fee, APR & Total Cost," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/payday-loan-calculator
@misc{wecalculate_payday_loan_calculator, title = {Payday Loan Calculator — Fee, APR & Total Cost}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/payday-loan-calculator}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
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