List your debts and one extra payment — see both plans at once, months to debt-free and total interest.
Interest is compounded monthly on each balance; both plans pay every minimum plus your extra, rolling freed-up minimums into the next debt. Estimates for comparison only — real terms, fees, and rate changes vary. Not financial advice.
Both plans throw the same money at your debts. The only difference is the order: avalanche targets the highest APR first, snowball the smallest balance first — and the result above shows how that plays out for your numbers.
When you have several debts and a bit of extra money each month, the question isn't whether to pay extra — it's which debt to attack first. Two methods dominate the advice, and they disagree. The avalanche method targets the debt with the highest interest rate first, regardless of its size. The snowball method targets the smallest balance first, regardless of its rate. In both, you keep paying the minimum on every other debt, and when one is cleared, its freed-up payment rolls onto the next.
Avalanche is the mathematically cheaper path. By killing the highest-rate debt first, you stop the most expensive interest soonest, so you pay less overall and, usually, finish a little faster. If the numbers are all that matter, avalanche wins on cost every time.
Because paying off debt is behavioural, not just mathematical. Snowball clears your smallest balance first, which means you get a debt fully gone — an account closed, one fewer bill — sooner. That early, visible win is genuinely motivating, and for a lot of people it's the difference between sticking with the plan and giving up. A slightly more expensive plan you finish beats a cheaper plan you abandon.
Look at the two numbers above. If the interest difference is small — a few hundred dollars — and an early win would keep you motivated, snowball is a perfectly rational choice. If the gap is large, or you're confident you'll stay the course, avalanche saves you the most. There's no universally correct answer, which is why this calculator shows both and names the trade-off instead of declaring a winner.
Bigger than the choice between methods is the size of your extra payment. Both plans get dramatically faster as you add to the monthly extra, because more of every dollar goes to principal instead of interest. Before you agonise over order, make sure you're paying as much extra as you sustainably can — and that you're not neglecting a starter emergency fund, so a surprise doesn't undo your progress.
Avalanche costs less interest and usually finishes sooner, because it kills the highest rate first. Snowball clears your smallest balance first, giving an early win that helps many people stay the course. The best method is the one you'll actually finish — the calculator shows both so you can weigh cost against motivation.
You pay the minimum on every debt, then put all your extra money toward the debt with the highest APR. When it's paid off, its payment rolls onto the next-highest-rate debt, and so on until you're debt-free.
The same rollover mechanics, but you target the smallest balance first instead of the highest rate. You clear individual accounts faster, which is motivating, though you usually pay a bit more interest overall.
Usually, yes. Increasing your monthly extra shortens both plans far more than the choice between them. Pay as much extra as you sustainably can — while keeping a starter emergency fund so a surprise doesn't send you backward.
Usually a small starter cushion first, then high-interest debt, then finish your fund. The card vs savings calculator and the emergency fund calculator help you balance the two.
Connect your accounts and Thryvest builds the payoff plan from your actual balances and rates — then tracks it as you go.
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