Refinance Comparison Calculator

It compares the loan you have now against one or more refinance options side by side — not just by monthly payment, but by the total money you actually lose to interest, mortgage insurance, and closing costs over time.

Most refinance calculators stop at “your new payment is lower, so refinance.” That can be misleading, because a lower payment often comes from restarting the clock on a brand-new 30-year loan. This tool goes further. For your current loan and each option you enter, it tracks:

• Monthly outgo — principal, interest, mortgage insurance, plus any other debts you choose to roll in.
• Money gone — the cumulative interest, mortgage insurance, and closing costs you never get back. Principal is not “gone” — it pays down your balance — so we exclude it from this metric.
• Break-even — both the simple cash break-even and the true equity break-even (explained below).
• Payoff date and total interest over the life of each loan.

You can also model debt consolidation, cash-out, rolling closing costs into the loan, and a “keep paying your old payment” acceleration scenario. The result is an honest apples-to-apples picture instead of a single feel-good number.

The break-even point is when refinancing has paid for itself — and our calculator shows two versions of it, because the popular one can lie to you.

There are two honest ways to measure it, and we display both:

Why the difference matters. Cash break-even only looks at payment. If your new payment is $200 lower but you reset to a fresh 30-year term, you may be paying that lower amount for far longer — so you can “break even” on paper while still losing more interest over the life of the loan. The true break-even compares the actual money each loan burns (interest + MI + closing costs), month by month, and finds the first month the refinance pulls ahead. If the curves never cross, the calculator says so honestly — that refinance never truly pays off.

Refinance closing costs are the lender, third-party, and government fees to originate the new loan — typically 2% to 5% of the loan amount, or roughly $4,000 to $12,000 on a $300,000 refinance.

They are similar to the costs on your original mortgage. The common line items:

In the calculator you enter your total closing costs and any lender credit separately. We use the net figure — closing costs minus lender credit — everywhere it matters, including the break-even math. You can also choose to roll the costs into the loan instead of paying cash; the calculator will finance them and show the higher balance and interest that result.

Monthly savings is how much less you pay each month after refinancing — but a lower payment is not the same as paying less, because refinancing usually restarts your loan’s clock.

Say you are 8 years into a 30-year loan. You have 22 years left, and a growing share of every payment now goes to principal. Refinance into a fresh 30-year loan and three things happen:

• Your payment drops — partly from a lower rate, partly because the balance is now stretched over 30 years again instead of 22.
• You restart at the front of the amortization schedule, where almost every dollar goes to interest, not principal.
• You add 8 years of payments back onto the tail of the loan.

That is why our calculator ranks options by money gone (lifetime interest + MI + fees), not by payment. A loan can have a lower payment and still cost you tens of thousands more in total interest. To neutralize the “reset the clock” trick, the tool offers a same-payment scenario: keep writing your current payment toward the new, lower-rate loan. You pocket the rate savings as a faster payoff instead of a smaller bill — often retiring the loan years sooner and saving far more interest.

A 15-year refinance usually carries a lower rate and saves enormous interest, but the monthly payment is higher — it is the best move if you can comfortably afford it and want to be debt-free sooner.

Here is a 15-year vs. 30-year comparison on a $300,000 refinance, using illustrative rates:

The 15-year costs about $595 more a month but saves roughly $234,000 in interest and frees you a full 15 years earlier. If the higher payment is tight, the same-payment scenario in this calculator is a flexible middle ground: take the 30-year loan for a lower required payment, then voluntarily pay extra. You keep the safety net of the lower payment in a hard month while still paying off early when you can.

A no-closing-cost refinance means you pay no cash at the table — but the costs do not vanish; they are paid through a slightly higher interest rate (a lender credit) or rolled into your loan balance.

There is no free refinance. The costs land somewhere, and the calculator lets you model exactly where:

• Lender credit — the lender pays your closing costs in exchange for a higher rate. Enter the credit, and the tool nets it against your closing costs. A higher rate means a higher payment, so check whether the credit is worth it.
• Roll into the loan — toggle “roll closing costs in” and the costs are financed into the new balance. No cash up front, but you pay interest on those costs for the life of the loan.

A no-closing-cost refinance can be the right call if you expect to move or refinance again within a few years — you avoid sinking cash you would never recover. If you are staying long term, paying costs up front for a lower rate usually wins. Run it both ways here and compare the true break-even.

Refinancing makes sense when your true break-even comes well before you plan to sell or refinance again — the old “1% rate drop” rule is only a rough starting point.

Three factors decide it, and this calculator quantifies all three:

• How far the rate drops. A common rule of thumb is that a refinance is worth a serious look once you can cut your rate by about 0.5% to 1%. But a rule of thumb is not a decision — a 0.75% drop with low costs can beat a 1.5% drop loaded with points.
• How long you will stay. If you sell or refinance before break-even, you lose money. This is the single most important question.
• What it costs. Lower net closing costs mean a faster break-even and more margin for error.

Not sure how long you’ll stay or which rate you qualify for? Start with our What Can I Afford calculator, then bring real numbers here.

A rate-and-term refinance only replaces your existing loan to get a better rate or term, while a cash-out refinance gives you a larger loan and hands you the difference in cash.

In the calculator, leave cash out at $0 for a straight rate-and-term refinance. Enter a dollar amount to take cash out — the tool adds it to your new loan balance, so your payment and lifetime interest rise accordingly. You can also roll in and consolidate other debts (credit cards, a car loan), which behaves like a targeted cash-out used to pay those balances off. VA borrowers should note the calculator applies the correct funding fee — 0.5% for a streamline IRRRL versus 2.15% (or 3.3% on a subsequent use) for a VA cash-out — because that fee is a real cost folded into your balance.

No — it focuses on principal, interest, and mortgage insurance, because those are the parts a refinance actually changes.

Property taxes and homeowners insurance are tied to your home and your area, not to your loan, so they stay roughly the same whether or not you refinance. Leaving them out keeps the comparison clean and makes the real driver — interest and mortgage insurance — easy to see. Mortgage insurance is included, since refinancing is one of the main ways to remove it: the calculator models conventional MI dropping at your loan-to-value threshold and FHA MIP’s duration rules. For a full monthly budget including taxes and insurance, use our What Can I Afford calculator.

Enter your current loan, add one or more refinance options, and read the side-by-side results — money gone, monthly savings, and both break-even points update instantly.

• Fill in your current loan: balance, rate, months remaining, home value, and any mortgage insurance you pay now.
• Add a refinance option: new rate, term, closing costs, and any lender credit. Toggle roll costs in if you don’t want to pay cash.
• For cash-out, enter the cash out amount; to consolidate, mark other debts to roll into the refi.
• Compare options on money gone and true break-even, not just the payment, and check the same-payment scenario to see how much sooner you’d be debt-free.

Everything here is an estimate for planning — final terms depend on your credit, income, appraisal, and a lender’s approval, and you qualify at the note rate, not a teaser. When you’re ready for exact numbers, we’ll pull a real quote.