Loan Comparison Calculator
Put two or more loan offers side by side and see which is actually the cheapest. It ranks them by total cost — interest plus upfront fees — because the lowest rate, or the lowest monthly payment, isn't always the cheapest path.
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Why the lowest rate isn't always the cheapest loan
When you're handed a few financing offers, it's tempting to grab the one with the smallest rate or the smallest monthly payment. But the number that actually decides which loan is cheapest is total cost: every dollar of interest you'll pay over the life of the loan, plus any upfront fees or points. This tool lines your offers up on the same loan amount and ranks them by that one honest figure.
Three things move total cost in ways a single rate can hide:
- Term: a longer term shrinks the monthly payment but adds more months of interest — so the cheap-looking payment can cost the most overall.
- Fees and points: a few hundred dollars upfront can quietly erase the savings from a slightly lower rate.
- Rate: it matters, but only in combination with the other two — which is exactly why a side-by-side total-cost view beats comparing rates alone.
The calculator also reports a fee-adjusted effective APR for each offer — the rate that equates the payment stream to the cash you actually receive after fees — and calls out when the lowest-payment or lowest-rate offer is not the cheapest. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you type is uploaded or stored.
Common questions
- Isn't the loan with the lowest rate always the cheapest?
- No. A lower rate over a longer term can cost more in total interest than a higher rate over a shorter one, and upfront fees or points can erase a small rate edge. The cheapest offer is the one with the lowest total cost — interest plus fees — which this tool ranks for you.
- Why isn't the lowest monthly payment the winner?
- A lower payment usually comes from a longer term — and stretching the debt out means more months of interest, so the total you pay goes up. The calculator flags when the lowest-payment offer isn't the lowest-cost one, so you can weigh cash flow against lifetime cost on purpose.
- What does the effective APR with fees mean?
- It's the rate that equates an offer's payment stream to the cash you actually receive — the loan amount minus upfront fees. It rolls fees into one comparable rate, so two fee-free offers show their stated APR while a fee-heavy one shows a higher effective rate. Use it as a fee-aware tiebreaker next to total cost.
- Is anything saved or sent anywhere?
- No. Every number runs in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded, stored, or shared — and you can export the full comparison to CSV with one click.
Knowing the payment is only half the picture
Taly auto-splits every paycheck across your budget — so once you pick a loan, the payment slots in automatically and you can see what's left. Your paycheck does the math.