An EMI is a single fixed monthly payment that covers both interest and principal, arranged so the loan lands exactly at zero on the final month. The number itself is easy to get from any bank. What the bank tends not to lead with is the total interest, which is the number that actually tells you what the loan costs.
This calculator gives you both, along with the full repayment. It runs in your browser, so your figures are never uploaded and no lender ends up with a record of what you were considering.
How to convert your file to the new format
- Enter the loan amount. The principal: what you are actually borrowing, after any down payment.
- Enter the rate and term. The annual interest rate, and the term in months or years. Use the rate the lender quotes, not a promotional headline figure.
- Read the totals. You get the monthly EMI, the total interest across the life of the loan, and the total amount repaid.
The number to compare is the total, not the EMI
Loans are almost always sold on the monthly payment, because it is the number that has to fit a budget. It is also the number most easily manipulated: extend the term and the EMI falls, while the amount you hand over rises.
Run each offer through here and compare total interest instead. Two loans with nearly identical monthly payments can differ by a large sum across their lives, and that gap is the actual price difference between them.
Frequently asked questions
- How is the EMI actually calculated?
- EMI = P x r x (1+r)^n / ((1+r)^n - 1), where P is the principal, n is the number of monthly instalments and r is the monthly interest rate, which is the annual rate divided by 12 and by 100. It is the standard amortisation formula every lender uses; there is nothing proprietary about it.
- Why does the total interest look so high?
- Because interest accrues on the outstanding balance for the whole term, and early payments are mostly interest rather than principal. Over 20 years, a modest-looking rate can add up to a substantial fraction of the original loan. This is exactly the number worth seeing before signing, and exactly the one that rarely leads the advertisement.
- Does a longer term make the loan cheaper?
- It makes the monthly payment smaller and the loan more expensive. Stretching a term reduces the EMI but extends the period over which interest accrues, so the total paid rises, often sharply. Try the same loan at two terms here and compare the total interest rather than the EMI.
- Will my real EMI match this exactly?
- It should be very close, but treat it as an estimate. Lenders add processing fees, insurance and occasionally a different day-count convention, and a floating rate will change over the term. Use this to compare offers and understand the shape of the loan, not as a quote.
- Are my figures sent anywhere?
- No. The whole calculation is a few lines of arithmetic running in your browser. Nothing about what you are borrowing, or considering borrowing, leaves your device.