Biweekly Mortgage Calculator
On a $300,000, 30-year loan at 6.5%, biweekly payments end the mortgage about 70 months sooner. Enter your balance, rate, months left and any plan fees in the biweekly mortgage calculator below to see the result for your own loan. It returns the months saved, the interest saved and the half-payment, and it also shows the same 13th payment made with no biweekly plan.
Take a $300,000 balance at 6.5% with 360 months left. At ModernWallet, we ran that loan three ways in an internal calculation: monthly, biweekly, and monthly with 1/12 of a payment added. The monthly payment is $1,896.20, and biweekly half-payments of $948.10 save $88,121.78 in interest. Adding $158.02 a month instead saves $87,256.29, which is $865.49 less and needs no plan. You can check every figure by changing the inputs in the calculator.
How it works
The biweekly mortgage calculator sets the monthly payment with payment = balance × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−n), where r is the annual rate divided by 12 and n is the months left. A biweekly plan pays half that amount every two weeks. That is 26 half-payments a year, or the value of 13 monthly payments. Each two-week period is charged the annual rate divided by 26 in interest, and each half-payment is applied the day it is paid. On the example loan, the biweekly schedule takes 628 half-payments, about 289.8 months. Total interest falls from $382,633.47 to $294,511.68. The calculator covers fixed-rate loans and shows principal and interest only, so taxes, insurance and escrow are not included.
The calculator assumes your servicer applies each half-payment the day it arrives, and a servicer may hold it instead. Regulation Z, at 12 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1026.36(c)(1), says a servicer must credit a full periodic payment as of the date it is received. A half-payment is a partial payment, so the servicer may hold it in a suspense or unapplied-funds account and show it on the periodic statement. Once enough builds up to cover a full payment, the servicer must treat the funds as a payment received. If your servicer holds half-payments, the real saving is somewhat smaller than the calculator shows, so ask your servicer whether it applies each half-payment on arrival.
You can get almost the same result with no plan by adding 1/12 of the monthly payment to each monthly payment. That path also adds 13 payments' worth a year, and it does not depend on when the servicer applies a half-payment. On the example loan, the extra is $158.02 a month. The loan ends in 290 months, 70 months sooner, with $87,256.29 saved in interest. That is $865.49 less than the biweekly saving.
Plan fees come out of the interest you save, and the calculator shows the plan fees over the loan and the interest saved after fees. As an illustration, take a $400 setup fee plus $2.50 per debit. Over 628 debits, those fees cost $1,970. That leaves $86,151.78 saved after fees, which is less than the $87,256.29 the free 1/12-extra path saves. A lower rate also shrinks the saving: take the same $300,000 at 3% for 360 months. The payment is $1,264.81, and biweekly saves $20,637.30 in interest. At 0% interest, biweekly saves $0.
Skip a paid biweekly plan if your rate is low, if your servicer holds half-payments, or if the fee is larger than the gap between the plan and the 1/12-extra path. If your servicer applies each half-payment the day it arrives and charges no fee, its biweekly option saves $865.49 more than the 1/12-extra path on the example loan. Based on our internal calculation, biweekly payments end the example loan about 70 months sooner, and adding 1/12 of a payment each month comes within $865.49 with no plan. That saving depends on the rate, falling to $20,637.30 at 3% and $0 at 0%. To test a different extra amount, use the mortgage extra payment calculator, and to decide whether to prepay at all, use the pay off mortgage or invest calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How much faster will biweekly payments pay off my mortgage?
Biweekly payments end the example loan about 70 months, or 5 years 10 months, sooner. The example is a $300,000 balance at 6.5% with 360 months left. It takes 628 half-payments, about 289.8 months, instead of 360 monthly payments. Enter your own balance, rate and months left to see your result.
Does paying biweekly really save money?
Yes, when the loan charges interest. On the example loan, biweekly payments cut total interest from $382,633.47 to $294,511.68, a saving of $88,121.78. At 0% interest, biweekly saves nothing. A plan fee, or a servicer that holds half-payments, lowers the saving.
Is a biweekly plan better than paying extra each month?
The two give almost the same result. Adding 1/12 of the payment each month, $158.02 on the example loan, saves $87,256.29. Biweekly saves $865.49 more when the servicer applies each half-payment the day it is paid and charges no fee. The 1/12-extra path needs no plan and does not depend on when the servicer applies a payment.
Can my servicer hold my half payments?
Yes. Under Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.36(c)(1), a servicer may hold a payment smaller than a full periodic payment in a suspense or unapplied-funds account. It must show those funds on the periodic statement and treat them as a payment once they cover a full payment. If your servicer holds half-payments, the real saving is somewhat smaller than the calculator shows, so ask the servicer how it applies them.
Is a biweekly mortgage plan worth a fee?
A plan fee is worth paying only if it stays below the gap between the biweekly saving and the free 1/12-extra saving. On the example loan, that gap is $865.49. A sample $400 setup fee plus $2.50 per debit costs $1,970 over the loan. That leaves $86,151.78 saved after fees, which is less than the $87,256.29 the free path saves.
Is biweekly worth it on a low-rate mortgage?
The saving is much smaller on a low-rate loan. Take $300,000 at 3% for 360 months. There, biweekly saves $20,637.30, against $88,121.78 at 6.5%. At 0% it saves $0.
How much extra do I pay each year with biweekly payments?
Biweekly payments add one monthly payment's worth each year. The 26 half-payments equal 13 monthly payments. On the example loan, the extra is one payment of $1,896.20 a year. Spread over 12 months, that is $158.02 a month.
Does the calculator include taxes and insurance?
No. The calculator covers fixed-rate loans and shows principal and interest only, so taxes, insurance and escrow are not included. Copy the balance, rate and months left from your mortgage statement to get your own figures. To work out a monthly payment from a loan amount, use the mortgage payment calculator.