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Should I get a HELOC or a cash-out refinance?
Both raise cash from your home. A cash-out refinance replaces your whole mortgage with one new fixed-rate loan; a HELOC keeps your mortgage and adds a variable-rate line beside it. The deciding question is what happens to the rate you already have.
Your mortgage today
KEEP OR REPLACEThe cash
SAME FROM EITHERCosts are compared over this horizon: interest and fees, with what is still owed shown beside them.
Cash-out refinance
FIXEDHELOC
VARIABLEUp-front costs: application, appraisal, closing. Paid once.
Bank prime rate: 7% as of October 2, 2026 (Federal Reserve H.15, via FRED). HELOCs are usually priced at prime plus a margin the lender sets, so use the rate you are quoted, not this. This product uses the FRED® API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Add your mortgage, the home's value, the cash you need and how long you expect to keep the loans, then the cash-out rate and the HELOC's starting rate.
All four happen in your browser. Your figures are not sent anywhere — the email opens in your own mail app, already filled in.
Related calculators
Should I use a HELOC to pay off debt?
Trade a high rate for a lower one — and see the payment jump when the draw period ends.
Should I refinance to pay off debt?
Roll high-rate debts into a new mortgage and see the blended rate, the monthly saving, and what it costs over the full term.
Should I refinance?
See if refinancing saves money, when you break even, and what it costs to reset the clock.
What's my blended rate?
Weight every rate by its balance, and see which debts the interest really comes from.