Enter up to four cards and your total monthly budget. See the payoff order, debt-free date, and total interest for the snowball (smallest balance first) and avalanche (highest APR first) — side by side. Runs in your browser; nothing is stored.
| Card | Balance ($) | APR (%) | Min payment ($) |
|---|
Your budget doesn't cover the minimums plus interest — the balances never reach zero.
The avalanche (highest APR first) always pays the least total interest — that's arithmetic, not opinion. The snowball (smallest balance first) usually costs a little more but delivers a paid-off card sooner, and that psychological win is why researchers keep finding snowball users are more likely to finish. The honest answer: the dollar difference between methods is often smaller than people expect, so pick the one you'll actually stick with. The calculator above shows the exact gap for your cards, so the choice stops being theoretical.
Pay minimums on everything; all extra money attacks the smallest balance. When it dies, its payment rolls into the next — the payment "snowballs."
Same rolling structure, but extra money attacks the highest-APR debt first. Mathematically optimal, always.
Avalanche on math, snowball on motivation — and the gap is usually a few hundred dollars or less. The one you finish is the better one.
Anything above the minimums helps visibly. An extra $100–200/month on a typical $7,000 total cuts years off the timeline — try it in the budget field above, or see our payoff calculator for a single card.
Estimates for information only — not financial advice.