Path A
Illustrative installment structure
$554total over 6 months
Example assumes a 35.99% APR and equal monthly payments. Each payment reduces the outstanding principal.
Borrowing, with the math visible
Know the cost before the commitment.
See your monthly payment, fees, and total repayment in dollars. Compare two offers or work out what fits your budget — free, without signing up.
StraightSum is not a lender and does not make credit decisions. Estimates are educational and are not offers of credit.
Estimate 01
USDYour payment estimate
Estimated monthly payment$120.55Illustration: 36% interest, no fees
Estimated total$1,446.64
Estimated cost$246.64
Fixed monthly payments. This example is not a loan offer. Open the full calculator to change the rate and add an origination fee.
Free tools
Free tools. No signup. Your figures stay on your device.
Each answers a different question, and the first two are the ones worth reaching for before you borrow anything at all.
Total cost
Monthly payment, estimated APR with fees folded in, and the full amortization schedule.
Compare two offers
Which is genuinely cheaper — including when the smaller monthly payment is the dearer one.
Paycheck planner
How much you can safely spend each day until payday. Often the loan turns out to be avoidable.
Debt-to-income
Whether another payment genuinely fits, before a lender decides that it does.
Payoff accelerator
What an extra $25 or $50 a month actually removes in interest and in months.
Debt tracker
Balances, due dates, and which loan to clear first. Stored on your device, no account.
By amount
Start with what you need, not what you might be approved for.
An approved maximum is a ceiling, not a recommendation. Each page below shows the payment and total across every realistic term.
| Amount | Term | At APR | Monthly | Total interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $500 | 9 mo | 75% | $74.31 | $169 |
| $1,000 | 12 mo | 60% | $112.83 | $354 |
| $1,500 | 18 mo | 60% | $128.32 | $810 |
| $2,000 | 18 mo | 50% | $160.13 | $882 |
| $3,000 | 18 mo | 40% | $224.32 | $1,038 |
| $5,000 | 18 mo | 35% | $360.99 | $1,498 |
Illustrative, fee-free arithmetic at example rates. Not offers. An origination fee raises the real cost above the interest rate before fees — the amount pages work that through in dollars.
Cost anatomy
A fee can look small until it starts repeating.
Instead of a conventional rate table, follow the money. Adjust the amount and the renewal pattern to see how repeated fees change the final repayment.
Illustrative installment and payday-style cost comparison
Path B
Repeating payday-style fee
$725after 3 fee cycles
Example uses a $15 fee per $100 for each cycle. It is an educational illustration, not a statement that this product is legal or available in your state.
Difference in this illustration$171 more
State rules
Check the rules where you live.
Payday loan availability and fee limits vary by state. The applicable rules also depend on the type of loan and lender. Our state guides distinguish verified information from entries still awaiting review.
A state limit is not a universal ceiling for every lender and product. Ask your regulator which rules apply to the loan you are considering. Read the CFPB overview of payday loans and state differences.
Where to get an authoritative answer
We are not going to print a rate ceiling we have not read from the statute ourselves — getting that wrong could cost you money. Use these directories to find the regulator and check a lender’s licensing record.
The smallest useful number
Borrow for the gap, not the maximum.
A larger approved amount is not a better outcome. Compare the payment against your actual budget with rent, food, and existing debts already deducted — and if it only fits in a month where nothing goes wrong, it does not fit.
In order
Four steps. One decision stays yours.
We can help begin a matching process. The lender — not StraightSum — controls underwriting, disclosures, funding, and servicing.
- 01
Work out the cost first
Estimated APR, total repaid, and whether the payment fits your budget — before anyone asks for your details.
- 02
Check what your state allows
Rate ceilings vary enormously. Your state regulator can tell you what applies where you live, free.
- 03
Submit an inquiry, if it still makes sense
Basic information goes to lenders licensed in your state. This is free and commits you to nothing.
- 04
Read the disclosure, then decide
The lender must state the APR, finance charge, total of payments, and schedule in writing. Declining costs nothing.
Personal dashboard
Track your debt, locally.
Add balances, APRs, and due dates to see the whole picture. It identifies your most expensive debt, calculates what an extra payment would save, and exports your due dates to your calendar.
No accounts, no login
Data you enter into the Dashboard and Planner is stored in your browser using the Web Storage API. It is not transmitted to our servers. Two consequences follow, and both are worth knowing: we cannot see your figures, and we cannot recover them either.
Export, so nothing is lost
Because clearing your browser data deletes it permanently, the tracker offers a one-click backup file — and a calendar export for your payment dates.
Example view
Next payment
Aug 12
Total debt
$750.00
Lender A
$500.00
Lender B
$250.00
An extra $50 a month against the higher-rate balance clears it sooner and saves interest — the dashboard calculates how much from your own figures.
Plainly
How this site makes money, and what that means for you.
Worth stating outright, because the answer shapes everything else you read here.
01
Lenders pay us, you do not
Our tools and referral service are free to use. Partners pay us for completed forms submitted through /apply-now/. Whether a submission qualifies for payment, and the amount paid, depend on the partner's criteria. A completed form is not a loan approval or a promise of funding. Compensation does not change our calculator results.
02
Our commercial interest
We benefit when a completed form qualifies for partner payment. This creates a commercial incentive to refer visitors. Compare costs and alternatives first; submitting a form does not guarantee approval or a suitable offer.
03
The cheapest answer often pays us nothing
Credit union PALs, biller payment plans, and employer wage advances earn us no fee. They lead most of our recommendations anyway, because at small amounts they are simply cheaper.
What we cannot do
- Tell you whether you will be approved. No honest party can, before a lender verifies your details.
- Quote the rate you personally would receive. Published ranges are network-wide, and yours depends on underwriting.
- Change, pause, or discuss an existing loan. Once a lender funds it, they are the only party who can act on it.
- Guarantee funding times. Verification, cut-offs, weekends, and your own bank all affect it.
Numbers checked?
Continue only if the payment fits.
An inquiry is free and takes about three minutes. Submitting an inquiry is free and does not guarantee a match, approval, funding, a specific amount, APR, or repayment term.
If you have not yet run the figures, do that first — it is the one step that cannot be undone later, and it costs nothing now.