What’s the Difference Between Snowball and Avalanche?

When you’re paying off debt, there are two popular strategies:

  • Snowball Method → You pay off the smallest balance first, while making minimum payments on everything else. Once that small debt is gone, you roll that payment into the next smallest. It’s motivating because you see “quick wins” early.
  • Avalanche Method → You pay off the highest-interest debt first, while making minimum payments on the rest. This saves you the most money in interest over time, even though it may take longer to see your first debt fully disappear.

Think of Snowball as “fast motivation” and Avalanche as “maximum savings.”a payments each month.

How to Use This Calculator

  1. Enter the balance, interest rate (APR), and minimum payment for up to three debts.
  2. (Optional) Add any extra monthly payment you can afford beyond the minimums.
  3. Hit Calculate to see results for both methods.
  4. Compare:

Snowball Results → how long until you’re debt-free and total interest paid.

Avalanche Results → same, but focusing on highest-interest debts first.

💡 Tip: Try adding different extra payment amounts to see how much faster you can be debt-free.

Scroll to Top