Debt payoff planner — avalanche vs snowball
List your debts and a monthly budget. See the two orderings run side by side — the math and the tradeoff.
Nothing you type leaves the browser. No accounts, no sign-in, no saved history — a calculator that does not know who you are.
Side by side
The avalanche saves about $188 in interest and 1 month compared with the snowball. The snowball gives you a closed account faster, which some people find easier to stick with. Either beats spreading extra payments across everything.
Why this is true
Both strategies pay the minimum on every debt each month and then put the remaining budget toward one target. The avalanche targets the highest APR first, because interest is the cost of the debt. The snowball targets the smallest balance first, because a closed account gives you visible proof the plan is working.
When the target debt closes, the remaining budget rolls onto the next priority the same month — the money never sits idle. The avalanche is always at least a little cheaper in dollars; the snowball is often easier to stick with. If your rates are within a few points of each other, the difference between the two shrinks toward nothing. If one debt carries a rate dramatically higher than the rest, the avalanche’s edge grows.
The simulator handles up to eight debts and accrues interest on the outstanding balance monthly. If your total budget is below the sum of minimums, the tool says so — that is a plan-doesn’t- fit signal, not a calculation error.
When your cards and loans are connected, Plumbshows every debt’s live APR and balance side by side, so this comparison is a ten-second look rather than a spreadsheet.
Plumb is financial education, not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice.