Payday Loan Calculator: Fees, Payoff, and True APR

Price any fee-based offer before it prices you: the tool turns an amount, a fee, and a term into the payoff you would owe and the annual rate the fee really represents.

This calculator prices any offer built on a flat fee: enter the amount, the fee, and the term, and it returns the payoff due on the due date plus the annualized rate the fee represents. The defaults describe the most common online offer in this market, $300 at $15 per $100 for 14 days. That is a $45 fee on a $345 payoff, an annual rate of about 391%. Change any input and every figure recomputes instantly.

Two numbers come out of every run, and they answer different questions. The payoff is what must be in your account on the due date; plan for it now, not on the morning it clears. The APR is the price of the time you are buying, and it is the only figure that compares fairly against alternatives such as a credit union PAL capped at 28% APR or a licensed Virginia or Illinois installment loan at the 36% cap.

The regional reality is worth restating. Three of the six jurisdictions this site covers, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC, license no storefront product at these terms, so most offers at this pricing arrive from unlicensed online lenders or tribal lenders working under sovereign charters, where schedules can run 400% to 800% APR over months rather than weeks. Residents of Virginia and Illinois should price the licensed 36% market first, because the gap between 36% and 391% is the entire argument for checking. Delaware licenses advances up to $1,000 with no fee cap, so two contracts at the same amount can carry very different prices; run both through the calculator before signing either.

Loan amount ($100-$1,000) Fee per $100 ($10-$30) Term in days (7-31)

Fee

Total due on payday

Annualized APR

The defaults show the market's common case: $300 borrowed at $15 per $100 for 14 days, a $45 fee on a $345 payoff. Each state's rulebook is summarized on our rates and fees page.

When the math on an offer worries you, compare the licensed routes on our rates and fees page, or start a no-fee request through the application page and see what comes back in writing.

Line items: common questions, answered straight

How is the APR computed from a flat fee?

The formula is fee divided by amount, times 365, divided by the term in days. On the default inputs that is $45 divided by $300, times 365, divided by 14, which lands at about 391%. The same $45 spread over 30 days would annualize far lower, which is why the term field matters as much as the fee field.

Why does shortening the term raise the APR?

Because the fee buys less time. A $45 fee on $300 is 15% of the principal whether you hold it for 14 days or 30, but 15% for 14 days annualizes to about 391% while the same percentage for 30 days works out near 182%. Nothing about the offer changed except the clock, and the yearly rate moved by more than half.

Does the calculator apply my state's caps?

No. It prices exactly what you enter, which is the honest way to evaluate a specific offer in front of you. What each state actually licenses, from the 36% all-in figure in Virginia and Illinois to Delaware's uncapped contract pricing, is covered on our caps page instead. Enter a real agreement and the tool tells you what it costs; check the rulebook to learn whether a licensed lender can offer it at all.

Does this include rollovers and renewals?

No. Each run prices one cycle only, a single fee for a single term. Renewal rules differ sharply across the region: rollovers are barred in Maryland, Virginia, and Illinois, while Delaware permits up to four. If a lender offers to extend, run the stacked fees through the APR calculator before agreeing, because extensions are where cheap-looking loans become expensive ones.

Reviewed by Lena Pindell, Reviewer, credit counseling background. Every fee, cap, and formula on this page was checked against the linked statutes and the regulator that enforces them.

Last reviewed: 2026-10-20