Debt snowball vs avalanche
The answer
3 debts totalling $15,350.00 are paid off in 3 yr — around Sep 2029 — with $5,233.82 in interest.
Of the first $575.00, $255.89 is interest and $319.11 comes off what you owe.
On these numbers avalanche costs $1,182.01 less in interest, and finishes 2 months sooner.
- Total interest
- $5,233.82
- Total paid
- $20,583.82
An estimate from the inputs shown, not a promise of a particular date. How we calculate this.
Avalanche attacks your highest interest rate. Snowball attacks your smallest balance. Everything else about them is identical — same total paid each month, same minimums, same arithmetic.
The conclusion above and the table below are computed from the debts in the fields. Neither asserts a difference that is not there: when the orders come out equal, they say so.
Your debts
Medical bill
Credit card
Personal loan
Toggle the method to compare. The inputs do not change — only the order the leftover money is applied in.
Estimated result
3 yr
Estimated debt-free date Sep 2029
Total interest
$5,233.82Total paid
$20,583.82Assumptions
- Interest accrues once a month, before that month's payment.
- The APR stays at the rates entered for the whole term.
- No new spending, fees, penalty rate or promotional rate.
- You pay every minimum, plus the extra in full, on time, every month.
A 7-day free trial, then $2.99 a month. No bank login, ever.
Method comparison
| Method | Term | Debt-free | Total interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche | 3 yr | Sep 2029 | $5,233.82 |
| Snowball | 3 yr 2 mo | Nov 2029 | $6,415.83 |
On these numbers avalanche costs $1,182.01 less in interest, and finishes 2 months sooner.
When the difference is small — or nothing at all
If your smallest balance happens to carry your highest rate, both orders pick the same debt every month and come out exactly equal. That is not a rounding artefact; it is the same plan under both names. The sentence at the top of this page is computed from whatever is in the fields above, so it will say so when that is what your numbers do.
When it is not small
A large balance at a low rate sitting next to a small balance at a high rate is the case where the orders diverge most: avalanche clears the expensive debt, snowball clears the quick debt, and the interest gap can run to real money over a long plan.
The order you will actually keep
A cheaper plan you abandon early costs more than a slightly dearer plan you finish. That is not a reason to ignore the interest figure — it is a reason to look at both numbers before choosing, which is what this page is for.
Related
Reviewed 2026-09-17. Every figure on this page is produced by the same payoff engine the Dang! Payoff app runs, from the inputs shown, and is an estimate that holds only if the stated assumptions hold. The dates printed here were computed from a plan starting September 2026; the calculator re-anchors to the current month in your browser, so a date you read with JavaScript disabled is the one for that starting month rather than for today.
Dang! Payoff is a manual-entry debt payoff planner and tracker from Dang Apps LLC. It is not a lender, credit counselling agency, debt-relief, debt-management or debt-settlement service, and nothing here is financial, legal or tax advice or a recommendation about your situation. Your issuer’s or lender’s own terms govern your account.
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