Personal Loan EMI Calculator

What this calculator does

EMI stands for Equated Monthly Instalment — a fixed monthly payment that covers both principal and interest under standard amortisation. This calculator takes three inputs (loan amount, annual interest rate, term in months) and returns four numbers: the monthly EMI, total amount paid across the loan life, total interest paid, and total interest expressed as a percentage of the original loan. The output uses the standard amortisation formula EMI = P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)⁻ⁿ), where r is the monthly rate (annual rate ÷ 12 expressed as a decimal) and n is the term in months.

Worked example

For a loan of 10,000 at a 10% annual rate over 36 months, the monthly rate is 10 ÷ 12 = 0.833%. The formula produces an EMI of approximately 322.67. Total paid across the term is 322.67 × 36 ≈ 11,616.19. Total interest is 11,616.19 − 10,000 = 1,616.19, or about 16.16% of principal. Reducing the term to 24 months at the same rate raises the EMI to approximately 461.45 but cuts total interest to about 1,074.65. Extending the term in the other direction lowers EMI but raises total interest.

The term-length trade-off

A shorter term raises the monthly figure but cuts the total interest paid. A longer term does the opposite: lower monthly figure, higher total interest paid across the longer life. The trade-off depends on what is constraining the borrower — if cash flow has slack, a shorter term saves money on the total cost; if cash flow is tight, a longer term may keep payments affordable enough to avoid late or missed payments. The calculator surfaces both monthly and total figures so the trade-off is explicit at the inputs entered.

How rate, term, and amount each move the result

Three inputs drive the result and they don't pull with equal force at the typical settings of a personal loan. Rate has the largest effect proportionally — a 1-percentage-point change in annual rate moves total interest noticeably more than a 1% change in principal. Term has a strong effect on total interest because it directly multiplies the months over which interest accrues. Amount changes the absolute size of every output linearly. The fastest way to see this is to change one input at a time and watch the four output figures recalculate.

What this calculation does not capture

The figure assumes a fixed annual rate held constant across the full term and a single, full disbursement of the principal. It does not model origination or processing fees (commonly deducted at disbursement or added to principal), late-payment fees, prepayment penalties on loans where they apply, autopay or relationship discounts, GST or other taxes added to fees in some jurisdictions, or variable-rate personal loans where the rate moves during the term. The output is a planning figure for the standard fixed-rate, fixed-term EMI structure.