By Evelyn Waugh
Edited by Peggy BennettAPR vs. Interest Rate: What’s the Difference?
By Evelyn WaughEdited by Peggy Bennett
Quick Answer
Annual percentage rate (APR) and interest rate both tell borrowers the cost to borrow, and both are represented as a percentage of the amount borrowed. However, a loan’s interest rate doesn’t include loan fees, while its APR tells you the full cost you’ll pay to borrow on an annual basis, including fees.
Getting a loan typically means paying interest—it's the cost of borrowing money. And shopping for the least expensive loan or credit card option involves comparing the cost to borrow among various lenders. But if you simply look at the interest rate, are you truly making an accurate comparison? Not necessarily.
While you may sometimes see them used interchangeably, the key difference between an interest rate and annual percentage rate (APR) is that APR represents not only the debt product's interest rate, but also any additional fees and costs associated with it. That makes APR the more revealing number to look at when you need an apples-to-apples comparison of two offers. The only exception is credit cards: With these, interest rate and APR are the same thing.
Here's what you need to know about the differences between interest rates and APRs.
| Interest Rate | APR | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The cost of borrowing expressed as a percentage | The total cost of borrowing, including interest and fees, expressed as an annualized rate |
| Includes fees? | No | Yes |
| Can be fixed or variable? | Yes | Yes |
| Purpose | Shows the base cost of the loan | Gives a more complete picture of the loan's true cost |
| Helps compare loans? | Not always, since fees vary | Yes, more accurate for comparing loan offers |
What Is Interest?
Interest is the cost a borrower pays to borrow money. You'll usually see it expressed as a percentage of the amount borrowed.
Whatever type of loan you're getting —whether it's an installment loan such as a mortgage, auto loan, student loan or personal loan, or revolving credit such as a credit card—you'll typically pay interest on your balance until it's fully repaid.
Learn more: What Is Interest? How It Works for Borrowing, Deposits and Investing
How Are Interest Charges Calculated?
Interest charges are calculated as a percentage of your loan amount.
Example: If you borrowed $30,000 to buy a car at an interest rate of 8% over 60 months, you would pay a total of $6,498 over the life of the loan.
Calculating interest on a credit card can be a little more complicated. Credit card interest is charged based on your average daily balance and the daily interest rate, which is your card's annual rate divided by 365 (the number of days in a year). To make this easier, you can use a credit card payoff calculator to figure out your interest charges.
Tip: The interest rates you receive when you apply to borrow money depend on your creditworthiness and other factors such as income. Interest is also impacted by market conditions and by benchmark rates influenced by the Federal Reserve.
What Is APR?
An annual percentage rate, or APR, is the true cost to borrow money with credit cards or an installment loan such as a mortgage, student loan, auto loan or personal loan. APR factors in a loan's interest rate plus any other charges, such as:
Credit cards typically do not add extra fees when calculating your APR, which is why a credit card interest rate and APR are usually interchangeable.
Tip: Because APR includes fees and interest bundled into one number, it can help you better understand the total cost to take out a loan. You can look at the APR when comparing rates between loans to find the cheaper option.
Learn more: What Is a Good APR for a Credit Card?
How Is APR Calculated?
Just like with interest, APR is represented in the form of a percentage of the amount borrowed. Unlike interest, however, calculating a loan's APR takes into account all other costs associated with the loan.
For an installment loan, APR is calculated by adding all fees associated with the loan to the interest. You can use the APR calculator below to crunch your own numbers and see how financing charges combine with interest to affect the total cost to borrow.
Example: A $10,000 personal loan with an interest rate of 16% and an origination fee of $500 repaid over a term of three years has an APR of 19.51%.
APR calculator
For credit cards and other types of revolving credit such as home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), APR is the same as the loan's interest rate and doesn't include fees. In these cases, the terms APR and interest rate are interchangeable and either can be used to compare credit rates.
What's the Difference Between Interest and APR?
While both the interest rate and APR reflect the cost to borrow, APR gives you more direct information about what you're paying—except in the case of credit cards.
Generally speaking, the two biggest factors that dictate what you'll repay when you take out a loan are the principal borrowed and the interest rate that applies to the loan. In reality, however, you'll also want to consider costs such as origination fees and other lending fees since they also impact what you will ultimately repay. Instead of looking at interest alone, APR helps you see all these costs at a glance.
This makes APR a more accurate way to understand a loan or to compare two loans. For example, if two loans have the same interest rate but different APRs, the loan with the lower APR will often be the better deal.
Learn more: How to Compare Credit Card Interest Rates
Frequently Asked Questions
The Bottom Line
Knowing the difference between interest and APR can help you evaluate the best loan for you. Your credit report and score play a large part in what APR lenders will charge you. Before you explore loan options, check your FICO® ScoreΘ for free for an idea of where your score falls now.
You can also sign up for free credit monitoring through Experian to receive regular updates and pinpoint areas where you may be able to improve your credit. Taking these steps now can help you save money when you're ready to borrow.
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About the author
Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh is a personal finance writer covering credit, budgeting, saving and debt at Experian. She has reported on finance, real estate and consumer trends for a range of online and print publications.
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