Compare All Your Mortgage Options
Eight strategies costed on the same figures over the years you plan to stay. They appear in a fixed order, with keeping your mortgage first, and the page prices them without picking one. Each focused calculator covers one part of what is here.
Private by design. Your numbers stay on this device.
Educational estimates only. Not financial, tax, or lending advice.
Updated
Which eight strategies are on this page?
Keeping your current mortgage, a rate-and-term refinance, a cash-out refinance, a HELOC, a fixed home equity loan, a recast, extra principal payments, and keeping the mortgage while investing the difference. Every one is priced on the same balance, rate and horizon, so the figures can be compared directly.
Which of them costs least turns on how long you stay far more than on the rate. A refinance that saves $180 a month and costs $7,000 to close is a poor deal over four years and a good one over twelve.
Built for US mortgages. Every rate, cost and tax figure below is an editable example you enter, never a live quote.
Refinance decision
- Today
- $2,767/mo
- Rate & term refi
- $2,591/mo
- Break-even
- Month 31
- Staying
- 26 years
Your decision dashboard
Each card shows which scenario leads on one measure over your 26 years planned stay, and what you give up to get it. No single option is best, because these measures pull against each other.
Lowest monthly payment
Rate-and-term refinance
$2,591/mo all-in
Trade-off: A lower payment usually means a longer term or a bigger balance, which can raise what you pay in total.
Lowest cost over your planned stay
Rate-and-term refinance
$632,764
Trade-off: This counts payments made plus the balance still owed at the end of your stay, minus any cash you received. It can still carry a higher monthly payment.
Fastest payoff
Keep current mortgage
26 years
Trade-off: Paying off soonest normally requires the highest monthly outlay and ties up cash you cannot easily get back.
Lowest closing cash needed
Keep current mortgage
$0
Trade-off: Paying little or nothing upfront often means costs are financed into the balance, where they accrue interest.
The link carries these figures inside it, after the #. That part of a web address is never sent to any server, ours or anyone else’s, so sharing one transmits nothing. Anyone you send it to can read the figures in it.
Scenario by scenario
Keep current mortgage
Change nothing. No closing costs, no new loan, and your existing rate and payoff date stay exactly as they are.
- All-in monthly
- $2,767
- Cost over your stay
- $687,691
- vs keeping your loan
- Baseline
- Break-even
- —
Rate-and-term refinance
Replace your mortgage with a new 26-year loan at 5.75%.
- All-in monthly
- $2,591
- Cost over your stay
- $632,764
- vs keeping your loan
- +$54,927
- Break-even
- Month 31
Full comparison
Every measure, side by side, over the 26 years you expect to stay. Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen.
Compared over
the 26 years you expect to stay
Two break-even figures. The conventional figure counts only the monthly payment saving against the cash you pay upfront. Ours also counts what you still owe when you sell, which is why the two disagree.
| Leave it alone | Replace your mortgage | |
|---|---|---|
| Measure | Keep current | Rate & term refi |
| Interest rateThe rate on the new or largest loan in this scenario. | 6.875% | 5.75% |
| Starting loan balance | $320,000Low | $328,000 |
| Starting LTV (loan-to-value) | 71.1% | 72.9% |
| Principal & interest | $2,204 | $2,028Low |
| Extra principalVoluntary principal on top of the scheduled payment. Part of what you pay each month, so it belongs in the all-in figure. | — | — |
| PMI | — | — |
| Property tax + insuranceIdentical across every scenario for the same home, but a real part of the monthly bill. | $563 | $563 |
| Monthly HOA dues | — | — |
| All-in monthly payment | $2,767 | $2,591Low |
| Total closing costs | NoneLow | $8,000 |
| Cash you have to put inClosing costs paid in cash, plus any lump sum or one-time payment this option needs upfront. | NoneLow | NoneLow |
| Monthly commitment on topMoney you have to keep finding every month beyond the required payment: voluntary extra principal, or the same money invested instead. The required payment itself is the all-in figure above. | NoneLow | NoneLow |
| Cash received | None | None |
| Interest over 26 years | $367,691 | $304,764Low |
| Balance left after 26 yearsWhat you would still owe when you expect to sell or refinance again. | $0Low | $0Low |
| Equity after 26 yearsHome value less the balance owed. Uses your assumed appreciation rate, which is 0% unless you change it. It is never used to remove mortgage insurance early. | $450,000Low | $450,000Low |
| Invested balance after 26 yearsOnly the growth on this account is credited against net cost. The contributions are money you paid in, so counting the whole balance would count them twice. | — | — |
| Net cost over your planned stayCash closing costs + payments made + balance still owed − cash received. Excludes property tax, insurance and HOA, which are identical across scenarios. | $687,691 | $632,764Low |
| Savings vs keeping your mortgageThis is not the same as interest saved: it also counts the balance you still owe at the end of your stay and any cash you paid upfront. The row above reconciles the two. | Baseline | +$54,927Low |
| Why that differs from interest saved | — | $62,927 less interest, less $8,000 of extra balance you start out owing — leaving you $54,927 better off. |
| Break-even point, ours“Ahead from month 1” means there was no upfront cost to recover. “Never recovers” means the costs are never paid back. | — | Month 31 |
| Break-even point, conventionalUpfront cash divided by the monthly payment saving. This is the number most people mean by break-even, and it flatters a refinance: it ignores the principal you stop paying down when the term restarts. The equity-adjusted figure above is the one to rank on. | — | Nothing upfront to recover |
| Time to payoff | 26 yearsLow | 26 yearsLow |
| Total interest, full term | $367,691 | $304,764Low |
| Lifetime cost (interest + costs) | $367,691 | $312,764Low |
How to read this: “Low” marks the lowest figure among the scenarios shown and is not a recommendation. Net cost counts payments made plus the balance still owed at the end of your stay, minus cash received, which is what makes loans of different sizes and terms comparable.
Charts
What each scenario means
Keep current mortgage
- This is the baseline every other scenario is measured against.
Rate-and-term refinance
- A rate-and-term refinance replaces your entire existing mortgage balance with a new loan. No cash is taken out.
- Closing costs are financed, so you pay interest on them for the life of the loan and your balance starts higher than it is today.
Want the terminology behind these figures? The mortgage glossary defines every term used here, including break-even point, LTV and mortgage recast.
Full amortization schedule
Every payment, month by month: how much goes to interest, how much retires principal, and what you still owe afterwards. The last money column is the all-in cost (principal, interest, any extra you send, mortgage insurance, property tax, homeowners insurance and HOA dues), which is what leaves your account. Switch to the annual view for a year-by-year summary. Printing and the CSV both follow whichever view you are in, so a year-by-year download gives a year-by-year file, which opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers.
| Month | Payment date | Beginning balance | Payment | Principal | Interest | Extra principal | Ending balance | Cumulative interest | Mortgage insurance | Taxes & insurance | HOA | Total monthly cost | LTV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan 01, 2026 | $320,000.00 | $2,204.15 | $370.82 | $1,833.33 | — | $319,629.18 | $1,833.33 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 71.0% |
| 2 | Feb 01, 2026 | $319,629.18 | $2,204.15 | $372.94 | $1,831.21 | — | $319,256.24 | $3,664.54 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 71.0% |
| 3 | Mar 01, 2026 | $319,256.24 | $2,204.15 | $375.08 | $1,829.07 | — | $318,881.16 | $5,493.61 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.9% |
| 4 | Apr 01, 2026 | $318,881.16 | $2,204.15 | $377.23 | $1,826.92 | — | $318,503.93 | $7,320.53 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.8% |
| 5 | May 01, 2026 | $318,503.93 | $2,204.15 | $379.39 | $1,824.76 | — | $318,124.54 | $9,145.29 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.7% |
| 6 | Jun 01, 2026 | $318,124.54 | $2,204.15 | $381.56 | $1,822.59 | — | $317,742.98 | $10,967.88 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.6% |
| 7 | Jul 01, 2026 | $317,742.98 | $2,204.15 | $383.75 | $1,820.40 | — | $317,359.23 | $12,788.28 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.5% |
| 8 | Aug 01, 2026 | $317,359.23 | $2,204.15 | $385.95 | $1,818.20 | — | $316,973.28 | $14,606.48 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.4% |
| 9 | Sep 01, 2026 | $316,973.28 | $2,204.15 | $388.16 | $1,815.99 | — | $316,585.12 | $16,422.47 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.3% |
| 10 | Oct 01, 2026 | $316,585.12 | $2,204.15 | $390.38 | $1,813.77 | — | $316,194.74 | $18,236.24 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.3% |
| 11 | Nov 01, 2026 | $316,194.74 | $2,204.15 | $392.62 | $1,811.53 | — | $315,802.12 | $20,047.77 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.2% |
| 12 | Dec 01, 2026 | $315,802.12 | $2,204.15 | $394.87 | $1,809.28 | — | $315,407.25 | $21,857.05 | — | $562.50 | — | $2,766.65 | 70.1% |
Showing 1–12 of 312 payments
Download any scenario
Each file is generated in your browser, and nothing is uploaded. Scenarios with a second lien include a separate block for each loan.
Educational estimates only. Not financial, tax, or lending advice. Every rate here is an example you enter, never a live quote or an offer. Verify loan terms, closing costs, property taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance with qualified providers before deciding.
How an option is costed here
The same definition applies to all eight.
Every option is scored on net cost over the holding period you enter: the payments made, plus mortgage insurance and any closing costs paid in cash, plus the balance still owed at the end, minus any cash received.
Most comparisons leave out the balance, and that changes the answer. A longer term moves less cash each month but retires principal more slowly, so a comparison that counts only cash flow reports the longer loan as cheaper every time, however much more is owed at the end. Charging each option for the debt it leaves behind makes loans of different sizes and terms comparable.
| Counted | Why |
|---|---|
| Every payment made in the period | Money that left your account |
| Closing costs paid in cash | Charged up front; financed costs appear in the balance instead |
| Mortgage insurance, until it terminates | A real monthly cost with rules of its own |
| Balance still owed at the end | Debt is not saving; the longer loan owes more |
| Cash received, subtracted | A cash-out pays you money, which has value |
The same definition applies to all eight options. Nothing is scored on monthly payment alone.
Break-even follows from the same figure: the first month an option's running total falls to or below keeping the mortgage you have. This is deliberately different from the industry’s formula (upfront cost divided by monthly saving), which ignores the residual balance and produces no answer at all when the new payment is higher, as it is for a recast and for extra principal.
Why nothing here is marked as the best option
The figures don't contain enough information to name one.
The eight appear in a fixed order, with keeping your mortgage first. There is no ranking, badge or highlighted row, by design.
Cost over a horizon is only one measure. It cannot see how secure your income is, how much cash you need to keep reachable, whether a lower required payment is worth more to you than a lower total, whether a variable rate is something you can absorb, or whether you will still be in this house in seven years. An option that costs slightly more but cannot fail you may still suit you better, and the comparison takes no position on that.
Instead, the page shows the arithmetic, states what each option needs in cash and in monthly commitment, and still prices the options that are out of reach, alongside the reason they are.
Questions about this comparison
- How does this comparison decide what an option costs?
- Net cost over the holding period you enter: every payment made, plus mortgage insurance and closing costs paid in cash, plus the balance still owed at the end, minus any cash received. Charging the residual balance is what makes loans of different sizes and terms comparable. A longer term moves less cash each month but leaves more owed, and any comparison that ignores the leftover balance flatters the longer loan automatically.
- Why is there no winner marked on the results?
- Because the figures do not contain enough to name one. The comparison prices each option on cost over a stated horizon; it cannot see how secure your income is, how much cash you need to keep reachable, whether a lower required payment is worth more to you than a lower total, or whether you will still be in the house in seven years. Options render in a fixed order with keeping your mortgage first, and the arithmetic is shown rather than summarized into a verdict.
- Why does the holding period change the answer so much?
- Because upfront costs are recovered over time and residual balances are settled at the end, so both are scored against the horizon. A refinance costing $7,000 to close and saving $180 a month is a poor deal over four years and a good one over twelve, without a single rate changing. The horizon is the input most calculators omit and the one that most often reverses the result.
- Are these real rates?
- No. Every rate on this site is an example you can edit, and nothing here is fetched from a lender or a rate feed. A live rate would create the impression of a quote, and no calculator can know your credit profile, property type, loan-to-value or the pricing a particular lender would offer you today. Enter the figures from your own Loan Estimates and the comparison reflects options you can actually take.