--- title: "Australian personal loan calculator with comparison rate | AumnI tools" description: "Calculate the repayment, interest and total cost of an Australian personal loan with an upfront fee, and see how the comparison rate in an ad is built." url: https://aumnitools.com/au/tool/personal-loan-calculator category: "Financial" country: "Australia" updated: 2026-11-08 --- # Personal Loan Calculator An Australian lender has to show a comparison rate beside the interest rate, and it already folds most fees into one number. This calculator takes your loan amount, rate, term and upfront fee and shows the monthly repayment, total interest, the rate with the fee included and the cost over the full term. ## Australia rules and figures - Credit providers advertising fixed-term consumer credit must show a comparison rate, no less prominent than the interest rate, with a warning that it is accurate only for the example given. - The comparison rate combines the interest rate with most fees and charges. - It leaves out government charges and fees that apply only in some cases, such as early repayment. - ASIC consulted in 2025 on dropping the requirement for advertisements. Whether that was adopted was not confirmed when checked. - Because the comparison rate rests on a set example, a different amount or term can give a different comparison rate for the same loan product. Sources: [ASIC: National Credit Code](https://www.asic.gov.au/regulatory-resources/credit/credit-general-conduct-obligations/national-credit-code) (checked 2026-11-08); [ASIC: RG 234 Advertising financial products and services](https://download.asic.gov.au/media/cvcjdpy5/rg234-published-09-june-2026.pdf) (checked 2026-11-08) ## How the personal loan calculator works Repayments are equal and monthly. Interest is charged at one twelfth of the yearly rate on the remaining balance, so each payment pays off more principal than the one before. An upfront fee leaves the repayment unchanged but is added to the total cost and pushes the APR figure above the stated rate. Formula: `repayment = amount × c × (1 + c)^months ÷ ((1 + c)^months − 1), with c the annual rate divided by 12` - The rate box is labelled Comparison rate (%) and is used as the loan's interest rate in the calculation. - The APR result uses the amount you actually receive after the fee, so it is higher than the typed rate whenever a fee applies. - Terms are entered in years plus months; 3 years is 36 repayments. - The comparison rate for an advert depends on its own example loan, so it only matches your result for a similar amount and term. - A 0% rate is accepted, in which case the repayment is the amount divided by the months. ## How to use the personal loan calculator 1. **Enter the amount and rate.** Type the amount to borrow and the comparison rate or interest rate on the offer. 2. **Set the term.** Enter years in the first box and any extra months in the second. 3. **Add the upfront fee.** Put in the application or establishment fee as a dollar amount, or 0 if there is none. 4. **Compare the results.** Read the monthly repayment, the interest, the APR from your numbers and the total cost with the fee. 5. **See the first twelve repayments.** The amortization tab shows the interest and principal in each of the first twelve repayments. ## Example: A $20,000 loan at 9.5% for five years plus a $400 establishment fee Over 60 months you repay $420.04 a month, paying $5,202.23 in interest, which with the fee brings the total to $25,602.23. In the first repayment $158.33 is interest and $261.70 is principal. The APR from these figures is 10.37% against the 9.5% rate, and without the fee it would equal 9.50%. A 3-year term raises the repayment to $640.66, lowers interest to $3,063.72 and gives an APR of 10.89%. ## When to use the personal loan calculator - **Seeing what a fee really costs.** Enter the same loan with and without the fee to see the APR and the total cost change. - **Choosing between 3 and 5 years.** Compare the repayment and interest for each term on one loan. - **Checking a comparison rate.** Compare the APR from your own amount, term and fee with the comparison rate in an advert. - **Setting a repayment budget.** Try different amounts until the monthly repayment fits what you can afford each month. ## What the personal loan calculator does not do - The APR comes from your figures alone. A lender's comparison rate follows the National Credit Code and its own example, so it can differ. - Only the first twelve repayments are shown in the schedule table. - Fixed-rate loans paid on time are modelled; late fees, early repayment charges and variable rates are not. - Ongoing account fees are not included unless you add them into the upfront fee box. - Whether ASIC dropped the advertising requirement for comparison rates was not confirmed, so the current wording of ads may differ. ## When something else is a better fit - **When you want to repay a loan early**, use the [Early Payoff Calculator](https://aumnitools.com/tool/early-payoff-calculator.md). - **When you are weighing several loans**, use the [Loan Comparison Tool](https://aumnitools.com/tool/loan-comparison-tool.md). - **When you need the exact comparison rate for a product**, use the credit guide and loan contract from the lender. ## Questions about the personal loan calculator ### What is a comparison rate? It combines the interest rate with most fees and charges into one yearly figure, based on an example loan. It excludes government charges and fees that apply only in some cases, such as early repayment. ### How much a month for a $20,000 loan at 9.5% across 5 years? $420.04 a month, with $5,202.23 of interest over 60 months. Adding the $400 fee takes the total cost to $25,602.23. ### Why is the APR higher than 9.5%? The fee comes out of what you receive, so you get $19,600 but repay on $20,000. That lifts the APR to 10.37%, and a shorter 3-year term lifts it to 10.89%. ### Does a fee change the repayment? No. The repayment depends on the amount, rate and term. The fee raises the total cost and the APR. ### Is the comparison rate rule still in force? It applied when checked. ASIC consulted in 2025 on dropping the requirement for advertisements, and whether it was adopted was not confirmed. ## Related tools - [Loan Comparison Tool](https://aumnitools.com/tool/loan-comparison-tool.md): Compares loan offers side by side on monthly payment, total interest and total cost - [Early Payoff Calculator](https://aumnitools.com/tool/early-payoff-calculator.md): Shows how much time and interest an extra monthly payment saves on a loan - [Debt Payoff Calculator](https://aumnitools.com/tool/debt-payoff-calculator.md): Compares avalanche and snowball debt payoff by months to payoff and total interest ## About this page Runs in your browser: what you enter is processed on this device and is not uploaded. Estimates for planning only, not financial, tax or legal advice. Check figures that matter with a qualified professional. Last checked against the tool's code on 2026-11-08. Interactive version: https://aumnitools.com/au/tool/personal-loan-calculator