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Bi-weekly Payment Savings Calculator

What paying half your mortgage payment every two weeks actually saves. Twenty-six half-payments a year is thirteen monthly payments, and that thirteenth one is what retires the loan years early.

Also called: biweekly mortgage calculator, bi-weekly payment calculator, payment frequency calculator, accelerated mortgage payoff.

$

Type "250k", "1.2m" or the plain number, all of them parse.

%
years
Payment frequency

Paying quarterly or yearly instead of monthly changes the interest, not just the instalment.

Fewer, larger instalments means the balance sits higher for longer, so total interest rises even though each payment covers more principal.

Prepayments and extra payments

A lump sum, a standing extra amount, or both. The schedule and the saving are recomputed against them.

$

A standing amount on top of the payment. This is what a round-up-your-mortgage plan does.

$

Leave at 0 if you are not making a lump-sum prepayment.

Fees and ongoing charges

Processing fees raise your effective rate; insurance and maintenance raise your real monthly outgo.

$

Deducted from what you receive but charged on the full loan, so they raise your APR without changing the instalment.

$

Not part of the loan, but part of what leaves your account each month.

Interest-only period before repayment

Months before repayment starts, and whether the interest accruing in them is capitalised. The same arithmetic covers a study-period holiday, a deferment and a payment pause.

If you do not, it is added to the loan, which is why an education loan is often larger when repayment begins than the amount that was disbursed.

Monthly instalment
$525.05

$525.05 a month for 5 years. Over the full term you repay $31,502.79, of which $6,502.79 is interest. 26.01% of what you borrowed.

Total interest
$6,502.79
Total repayment
$31,502.79
Interest as % of principal
26.01%
Interest in period 1
$197.92
Principal in period 1
$327.13
How this is calculated

An estimate, not an offer or a guarantee. Projected returns assume the rate you entered holds for the whole term, which no market does.

Where your money goes

Total$31,502.79
Principal $25,000 (79%)Interest $6,503 (21%)

Outstanding balance

Hover or drag for values
$0.00$6,168.22$12,336.44$18,504.65$24,672.87Month 1Month 60
Outstanding balance
60 rows
MonthPaymentInterestPrincipalBalance
1$525$198$327$24,673
2$525$195$330$24,343
3$525$193$332$24,011
4$525$190$335$23,676
5$525$187$338$23,338
6$525$185$340$22,998
7$525$182$343$22,655
8$525$179$346$22,309
9$525$177$348$21,961
10$525$174$351$21,610
11$525$171$354$21,256
12$525$168$357$20,899
Method and background

This is what the calculation gives for the numbers you entered. It is an estimate, not advice, and it knows nothing about your situation beyond those numbers. Rules for United States change on a published schedule; the effective date is shown on every rule-based tool.

How this is calculated

Choosing "every two weeks" charges half the monthly payment twenty-six times a year. Twenty-six halves is thirteen wholes, so one extra monthly payment goes to principal every year without ever feeling like an extra payment, and because it lands on the balance rather than on interest it compounds: the balance is lower every fortnight thereafter, so every later payment retires more principal too. On a 30-year loan the loan clears around six years early. The other frequencies here work the opposite way. Quarterly or yearly instalments leave the balance sitting higher for longer, so the same loan costs more.

E = P * i * (1+i)^n / ((1+i)^n - 1)
E
The equal periodic instalment (currency)
P
Principal: the amount borrowed (currency)
i
Monthly interest rate = annual rate ÷ 12 ÷ 100 (decimal)
n
Total number of monthly instalments (months)

Worked examples

Each of these is asserted on every build. If a change to the engine ever moved one of these answers, the build would fail before the page could print it.

the classic 30-year, paid every two weeks

Loan amount
$400,000.00
Interest rate (per year)
6.9%
Tenure
30 years
Instalment frequency
Every two weeks (half the monthly payment)

Monthly instalment$1,317.20

independent simulation: PMT(6.9%/12, 360, -400000) = 2634.4005, half of it is 1317.20, and 619 fortnightly payments at 6.9%/26 clear the balance. Verified against a separate Python amortisation run.

Open this example

against the monthly baseline it replaces

Loan amount
$400,000.00
Interest rate (per year)
6.9%
Tenure
30 years
Instalment frequency
Monthly

Monthly instalment$2,634.40

PMT(6.9%/12, 360, -400000) = 2634.4005; interest is 360 payments less principal. The 133,606.64 difference against the biweekly case is the saving the page claims.

Open this example

yearly instalments cost the most

Loan amount
$400,000.00
Interest rate (per year)
6.9%
Tenure
30 years
Instalment frequency
Yearly

Monthly instalment$31,911.36

independent simulation at 1 period/year: 30 annual payments of 31,911.36, against 548,384.19 for monthly. Paying less often costs more, which is the opposite of what paying more often does.

Open this example

Method and limits

What it assumes

  • Interest compounds monthly on the reducing balance.
  • The rate stays fixed for the whole term. Floating-rate loans reset periodically.
  • Processing fees, insurance and statutory charges are excluded.

What it deliberately does not model

  • Does not model rate resets on floating-rate loans. Most lenders hold the instalment steady and extend the term instead, so a rate rise can add years without changing what leaves your account each month.
  • Does not include property insurance, maintenance or association dues, or any lender fee.
  • Assumes every instalment is paid in full and on time.
  • Models the accelerated plan: half the monthly payment, twenty-six times a year. Some lenders instead re-amortise over twenty-six periods, which collects the same amount per year and saves almost nothing. Check which one is on offer before signing up.
  • Many servicers charge a setup or per-transaction fee for a biweekly plan, and some hold each half payment until the second arrives before crediting it, which removes most of the benefit. Paying one thirteenth extra with each monthly payment achieves the same result for free.

Formula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · United States · Report a problem with this calculator

Frequently asked questions

How many years does biweekly actually take off a 30-year mortgage?
On a 400,000 loan at 6.9% it clears in 23 years 10 months rather than 30, so a little over six years early, and the interest falls from 548,384 to 414,778. The saving grows with the rate and with the term, because both make the thirteenth payment worth more.
Is this the same as just paying extra each month?
Almost exactly, and paying extra is usually the better deal. Adding one twelfth of your payment to every monthly payment puts the same thirteenth payment against the principal each year, costs nothing to set up, and stops whenever you need it to. Biweekly plans sold by a servicer often carry a fee.
Why is my payment almost all interest in the early years?
Interest in any period is the rate times the previous balance, and the balance starts at its maximum. On a 30-year loan at 6.9% the first year is about 86% interest. The only way to change that shape is to attack the balance early, which is exactly what the thirteenth payment does.