Annual percentage rate
What a loan actually costs
The interest rate is only part of the price. APR.net explains the annual percentage rate, calculates it the way Regulation Z requires, and shows what borrowing really costs over the years you will hold the loan.
The rate is not the price
Every loan is advertised by its interest rate, and the interest rate leaves out most of what you pay. Points, origination fees, underwriting charges and mortgage insurance are all costs of borrowing, and none of them appear in the number on the billboard.
The annual percentage rate exists to put them back in. Federal law (the Truth in Lending Act, implemented as Regulation Z) requires lenders to disclose it precisely so two offers can be compared on one number instead of five.
It works — but only if you know what the number does and does not include, and only if you compare loans you would actually hold for the same length of time. A 5.75% rate with three points is cheaper than 6.5% with none, right up until you sell in year four, at which point it was never cheaper at all.
That is the whole subject of this site: what a loan really costs, and how to tell before you sign.
Start here
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Compare two loan offers
Which offer is cheaper over the years you will actually keep the loan — not over thirty.
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What your credit score costs
The published grid of price adjustments — and how much the next step of score or deposit is worth.
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APR calculator
Turn a rate plus points and fees into the APR a lender would disclose.
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Analysis of what borrowing really costs
What 6.8 million mortgages show: the rate barely moves between lenders, the fees move fourfold.
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What borrowers actually paid
Median rates and lender fees from public filings — including fees that differ by thousands between lenders.
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What is APR
What the number includes, how it is derived, and the three places it misleads.
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APR vs interest rate
Why your disclosed APR is higher than the rate you were quoted.
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Credit card APR
Several rates, none of which include the annual fee — and the grace period that beats them all.
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0% APR offers
True promotions versus deferred interest, which bills you retroactively.
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APR vs APY
One counts compounding, the other does not. Convert between them.