If your goal is paying less interest overall, shorten the term: the instalment stays the same, the balance falls faster, and the saving compounds over every remaining month. Lowering the instalment frees up cash every month but saves considerably less in total. The calculator shows both outcomes for the same extra payment, so you can compare them on your own numbers rather than take anyone's word for it.

More than most people expect, and the earlier it lands, the more it saves. Money paid into the principal in year two stops accruing interest for the entire remaining life of the loan. On a typical 30-year mortgage, a single extra payment of around 5% of the balance made early can remove years of payments. Enter your own figures above and the exact saving, in money and in months, appears immediately.

The APRC (annual percentage rate of charge) is the effective yearly cost of the loan with fees included, computed by the formula in Annex I of EU Directive 2014/17. It is higher than the nominal rate for two reasons: monthly compounding, and every fee the lender charges. Lenders are legally required to publish it, which makes it the only number on which two offers can be compared fairly.

Usually yes, and the maths is checkable. EU law caps early-repayment compensation, commonly around 0.5 to 1% of the amount repaid, while the interest that amount would have cost over the remaining years is typically far larger. Add the fee in the calculator and compare the total saving with and without it; the gap closes only on loans very near their end date.

Nowhere. There is no account and no database; the entire calculation runs in your browser. The figures are written into the page address so you can bookmark or share a scenario, and that link is the only way they ever leave your device, if you choose to send it to someone.