Enter your details to see the total loan cost, including APR.
Warning: Payday loans are a high-cost form of credit. A payday loan for $500.00 for 14 days with a total cost of borrowing of $70.00 has an annual percentage rate (APR) of 365%. This tool provides estimates only. Before you borrow, consider lower-cost alternatives like a bank loan, cash advance or line of credit.
How to use this payday loan calculator
Select your province.
Input the amount you want to borrow.
Input the loan term (i.e., the number of days between the day you apply and your next payday).
Alternative to payday loans: KOHO cash advance
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Payday loans in Canada cost $14 for every $100 borrowed, reaching annual percentage rates (APRs) in the triple digits.
What is APR?
A payday loan APR represents the yearly cost of borrowing. It often reaches nearly 300%–400%+ because high, short-term fees accumulate drastically over a full year.
How does the cost of a payday loan compare to other loans?
Here’s how the cost of payday loans compares to those of cash advance apps, personal loans and credit card cash advances, for a $250 loan.
Payday loan
Credit card cash advance (23% APR + 5% fee)
Cash advance app (free 3-day delivery)
Cash advance app (instant)
Loan amount
$250
$250
$250
$250
Loan term
30 days
30 days
30 days
30 days
Fee
$35
$4.73 + $12.50 = $17.23
$0
$11.99/mo (cancel before the 2nd month)
Total loan cost
$285
$267.23
$250
$261.99
APR
170.33%
83.8%
0%
58.3%
As we can see in this table, payday loans have the highest yearly cost of borrowing.
Alternatives to payday loans that don’t involve more debt
Leanne Escobal is a senior publisher at Finder with more than 13 years of experience in financial products and services, with a focus on content strategy and marketing. She has completed the Canadian Securities Course (CSC®) as well as the Personal Lending and Mortgages course through the Canadian Securities Institute. Leanne holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English literature and creative writing from Western University.
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Watch out for these payday loan scams that prey on those who need quick cash, and see which lenders are legitimate.
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Finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which Finder receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. Finder compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
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