What does a personal loan really cost?
Count interest and required fees. Keep cash received separate from the amount placed on the loan.
Total borrowing cost equals the cash you pay minus the cash you receive. A deducted fee raises cost and can leave you short.
- Monthly payment is a budget number, not the full price.
- A longer term usually adds interest.
- A deducted fee lowers the money that reaches you.
- The catch: two loans with the same payment can have very different costs.
Start with cash in and cash out
The calculator uses the fixed payment schedule and the fee treatment you enter.
Find cash received
Subtract a deducted fee from the gross loan amount.
Add cash paid
Count scheduled payments and any fee paid upfront.
Find the cost
Subtract cash received from all cash paid.
A lower payment may cost more
More months can ease the payment
A longer term leaves more room in one month.
More months can add interest
The smaller payment can produce a larger full-term cost.
Compare terms by total cost first
Use payment as a fit check. Use total cost to compare the price.
More likely to fit
- You have a fixed need and a payment that fits beside your bills.
- The full cost beats the realistic alternative.
- The loan has a clear end date and no collateral risk.
Less likely to fit
- The payment only works if nothing else goes wrong.
- Fees leave you short of the cash you need.
- A lower-cost option can solve the same problem.
Short answers before you choose
What does a deducted fee do?
It reduces the cash sent to you while the full principal still drives the payment.
Does Rung calculate APR?
No. Use the APR in the lender disclosure. The tool models payment and total cash cost.
Should I borrow extra to cover a fee?
Only after you model the larger balance, payment, and total cost.
What fees are outside the tool?
Late fees, optional insurance, and event-based charges stay outside unless the method names them.
Sources and method
Sources checked August 28, 2026. Provider prices and rankings are outside this page’s scope.
- CFPB: Personal installment-loan fees. Common required and optional charges and the need to compare disclosures.
- CFPB Regulation Z Appendix J. The official actuarial framework for closed-end APR computations.
- Rung personal-loan cost method. Fixed-payment and fee method personal-loan@2026-08-28.1.
Claim record: personal-loan-pod@2026-08-28.1. No individual score result is predicted.