15 years
Monthly total$3,538
Lifetime interest$181,758
Estimated payoff date
15- vs. 30-year mortgage calculator Is a 15-year mortgage worth the higher payment?
Compare 15- and 30-year mortgage options to see how the loan term changes your estimated monthly payment, lifetime interest, remaining balance, and payoff timeline. See how much extra you would need to pay on a 30-year loan to follow a 15-year payoff schedule.
Your mortgage details
Loan term
Use a name like 1234 Main St.. It appears on charts and shared links.
PMI assumption
Private mortgage insurance (PMI) is a lender-required cost that commonly applies to conventional loans with less than 20% down.
With your current inputs, we do not estimate PMI.
Mortgage
$2,773
estimated monthly total
$400K home$320K loan6.5% rate30 years20% down
Compare loan terms
30 yearsSelected
Monthly total$2,773
Lifetime interest$408,142
Estimated payoff date
Beanio's insight
The 15-year option costs $765 more per month but saves $226,385 in interest.
Explore 15- vs. 30-year mortgage tradeoffs
See how the loan term changes your required payment, lifetime interest, remaining balance, and payoff timeline.
Monthly mortgage payment versus lifetime interest
A shorter term raises the monthly payment but reduces the time interest can accumulate.
Mortgage
$400K home$320K loan6.5% rate20% down
Monthly totalLifetime interest
Beanio's insight
The 15-year option costs $765 more per month but saves $226,385 in interest.
| Term | Monthly total | Lifetime interest |
|---|
Mortgage balances over time by loan term
Compare the remaining balance at the same points in time. Home value changes are not included.
Mortgage
$400K home$320K loan6.5% rate20% down
15-year balance30-year balance
Beanio's insight
At year 10, the estimated balance is $142,468 on the 15-year loan and $271,284 on the 30-year loan, a difference of $128,816.
| Year | 15-year balance | 30-year balance |
|---|
Extra payments needed for a 15-year payoff
See how much more principal and interest the 30-year payment would need each month to follow the 15-year payoff schedule at the same rate.
Mortgage
$400K home$320K loan6.5% rate20% down
Add this to the 30-year payment
The amount applies to principal and interest only.
Beanio's insight
Adding $765 per month to the scheduled 30-year principal and interest payment raises it from $2,023 to $2,788, matching the 15-year payoff schedule.
Understand your mortgage term comparison
Learn what the shorter term buys you and what the longer term keeps flexible.
Why does a 15-year mortgage cost more each month but less overall?
A 15-year term requires the principal to be repaid faster, which creates a higher required monthly payment.
The shorter payoff period gives interest less time to accumulate, so total interest is generally lower when the other loan assumptions are the same.
Can you pay a 30-year mortgage like a 15-year mortgage?
A 30-year mortgage has a lower required payment and may allow voluntary extra-principal payments.
Those extra payments only create a faster payoff if they are actually made and correctly applied to principal. Check the loan terms and servicer instructions before relying on that approach.
Do 15- and 30-year mortgages have the same interest rate?
This calculator compares both terms using the same selected interest rate so you can isolate the effect of the loan term.
Actual lender quotes may offer different rates for 15- and 30-year mortgages.
Mortgage loan term definitions
Get a plain-language definition of each input and result used in this estimate.
Definitions of terms
- Loan term
- How many years you have to pay off the loan, 15 or 30 here. A 30-year term spreads payments out further, so each monthly payment is smaller, but you pay more in total interest because you're borrowing the money for longer. A 15-year term does the opposite: higher monthly payments, less total interest.
- Home price
- The price you're paying for the house: the number on the purchase agreement, before any down payment is subtracted. This is the starting point every other number on this page is built from.
- Down payment
- The portion of the home price you pay upfront, in cash, rather than borrowing. You can enter it as a dollar amount or a percentage; they stay in sync. The rest becomes your loan amount. A bigger down payment means a smaller loan, which lowers both your monthly payment and the total interest you'll pay over time.
- Annual property tax
- The yearly tax your local government charges based on your home's assessed value. Lenders typically collect this monthly along with your mortgage payment and hold it in escrow, then pay the tax bill on your behalf. So even though the bill itself is annual, we divide it by 12 to show you the monthly share.
- Annual insurance
- Your homeowners insurance premium for the year, covering things like fire, theft, and storm damage. Like property tax, it's usually collected monthly through escrow, so we divide the annual premium by 12 here too.
- Interest rate
- The annual cost of borrowing the loan amount, expressed as a percentage. This is set by your lender based on market conditions, your credit, and your loan details. This calculator lets you plug in a rate so you can see its effect, but it doesn't estimate what rate you'd actually qualify for.
- Principal + interest
- The core loan payment: the portion that pays down what you borrowed (principal) plus the cost of borrowing it (interest). This is calculated with the standard fixed-rate amortization formula and stays the same every month for the life of the loan. What changes month to month is how much of it goes to each piece.
- Private mortgage insurance (PMI)
- An added cost that commonly applies to conventional loans when you put less than 20% down. It protects the lender, not the borrower, if the loan goes into default. The amount shown here is an estimate based on the adjustable PMI rate. Your actual cost and cancellation timing depend on your loan and servicer.
- Estimated monthly total
- Also called: house payment, monthly mortgage payment
- Principal + interest, plus your monthly property tax and insurance shares and estimated PMI when it applies. This gives you a more complete estimate of what the house will cost each month, not just the loan payment alone.
More money questions
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About this loan term comparison
Review what is included, what stays fixed, and how this comparison is calculated.
What’s included
Principal and interest, property tax, homeowners insurance, and estimated PMI below 20% down.
What stays fixed
The home price, down payment, annual property tax, annual homeowners insurance, selected interest rate, and PMI rate stay fixed while the term changes.
How it works
Results use the same fixed-rate mortgage model and shared assumptions as the other Beanios mortgage calculators.
Updated date and disclaimer
Updated August 11, 2026. This estimate is educational and is not a loan quote, approval, or financial advice. See the full disclaimer.