PMI Calculator
What PMI costs and the exact month it can be cancelled and must be removed. 100% free, no signup. Everything runs in your browser.
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This PMI calculator tells you what private mortgage insurance costs you every month and, more usefully, exactly when it stops. Enter the home price, down payment, interest rate, loan term and the annual PMI rate your lender quoted, and you get the monthly PMI amount, the payment number and calendar date when you can request cancellation at 80 percent loan to value on the original amortization schedule, the later point where the lender must automatically terminate it at 78 percent, the total PMI you will have paid by each of those dates, and how much extra you would need to pay each month to reach 80 percent sooner.
I built it because when I asked a servicer when my PMI would end, the answer was that it would come off automatically, with no date attached. That is technically true and useless for planning. This runs entirely in your browser, nothing is uploaded, and it is arithmetic on your assumptions, not financial advice.
How to use
- Enter the home purchase price and your down payment, in dollars or as a percentage.
- Enter the interest rate and loan term so the tool can build the amortization schedule behind the results.
- Enter the annual PMI rate your lender quoted, typically somewhere between 0.3 percent and 1.5 percent of the loan amount depending on credit score and loan to value.
- Read the monthly PMI figure, which is that annual rate divided across twelve months.
- Check the two dates: the month you can request cancellation at 80 percent, and the month the lender must terminate it at 78 percent.
- Compare the total PMI paid to each date to see what the waiting period actually costs you.
- Add an extra monthly principal payment and watch the 80 percent date move earlier.
Why use our pmi calculator?
Showing two dates instead of one is the whole point. Under the Homeowners Protection Act you may request cancellation once the balance reaches 80 percent of the original value, but the lender is only required to terminate automatically at 78 percent, and the gap between those two points is often more than a year of payments you did not have to make. Nobody sends you a reminder at 80 percent. You have to ask.
The extra payment field exists because it is the one lever fully under your control. Principal only payments shrink the balance faster than the schedule, and the tool shows how many months earlier your 80 percent date arrives. Sometimes an extra hundred dollars buys back most of a year of premiums.
The number I got wrong first was assuming rising home values automatically end PMI. They do not, at least not by themselves. The cancellation schedule here follows the original value, exactly as the statute does. If your home has appreciated and you want that recognized, you have to ask your servicer, meet their seasoning requirements and usually pay for a lender approved appraisal. That path is real, but it is a separate process from the schedule.
This tool covers conventional loans. FHA mortgage insurance works under different rules, and for most FHA loans originated with a low down payment the annual premium lasts the life of the loan, which is why so many FHA borrowers refinance into a conventional loan instead of waiting. If you have an FHA loan, treat these dates as a comparison, not your own schedule. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains the conventional rules plainly in its guide to private mortgage insurance.
What I refuse to add is a quote form. There is no lender matching, no credit pull, no email capture and no account. Your price, income assumptions and loan details never leave the browser tab.
Who is this tool for?
Deciding how much to put down is the first use, and it belongs before you make an offer rather than after. Compare 10 percent down against 15 and 20, and weigh the total PMI in each case against the larger cash outlay. The down payment calculator works the same question from the savings side.
Budgeting the real monthly payment matters because PMI is one of the four pieces people forget, alongside taxes, insurance and HOA dues. Get the principal and interest figure from the mortgage payment calculator, add the PMI number from here, and you have a payment that will not surprise you at closing.
Planning your exit from PMI is the use I would push hardest. Find the 80 percent date, put it in your calendar with a reminder a month before, and write down what your servicer requires: a written request, a good payment history, no second lien, and possibly a current appraisal. Requesting on time is often worth more than any rate negotiation you will have that year.
Testing whether a refinance is worth it is the last one. Dropping PMI is a real saving, but it only counts if the new rate and closing costs do not eat it, so run both sides in the refinance calculator before deciding. Watching the balance fall against the schedule in the amortization schedule is a good companion view.
Frequently asked questions
Private mortgage insurance is coverage a lender requires on a conventional loan when you put down less than 20 percent. You pay it, and it protects the lender if you default. It buys you access to the loan, not protection for yourself.
Use the figure on your loan estimate if you have one. Otherwise annual rates commonly fall between 0.3 percent and 1.5 percent of the loan amount, with a stronger credit score and a larger down payment landing you at the low end.
Generally when the balance reaches 80 percent of the original value, based on the original amortization schedule. The request must be in writing, your payment history has to be good, and the lender may have other conditions such as no junior liens.
At 78 percent of original value by the original schedule, provided you are current on payments. There is also a midpoint rule that ends it halfway through the loan term for borrowers who are not there yet.
Not automatically. Appreciation can support an early cancellation request, but the servicer sets the requirements and usually wants a lender approved appraisal at your expense. The schedule in this tool follows original value, which is what the statute uses.
No. FHA mortgage insurance follows separate rules and, on most low down payment FHA loans, lasts for the life of the loan. Refinancing into a conventional loan is the usual way out.
Sometimes. Waiting years to save 20 percent has its own cost if prices and rents move against you, and PMI is not permanent. Run both paths with real numbers instead of accepting either slogan.
No. The whole calculation runs in your browser, nothing is stored or transmitted, and there is no signup.