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Should I use a HELOC to pay off high-interest debt?

A HELOC can cut a 25% credit card rate to single digits, which is why it looks like breathing room. What it ends up costing depends more on how you pay it than on the rate. Here is what each way of paying it actually does.

The debts you'd pay off

TICK WHAT THE HELOC COVERS
$
%
$

The home

EQUITY
$
$

The HELOC

OFFER
%
yrs
yrs
$

Optional. The panels below already cover the three that matter; anything else you enter appears beside them.

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Add at least one debt with a balance and minimum payment, then the HELOC's rate, draw period and repayment period.

Save or send these numbersEmail

All four happen in your browser. Your figures are not sent anywhere — the email opens in your own mail app, already filled in.

What an interest-only draw period really doesA written guide to the rules behind this calculator →
For educational purposes only, and not a commitment to lend. HELOC rates are usually variable, so the payments shown can rise, and the rate you are offered depends on your credit and your equity.