What this site is
Debt Snowball Tool is a free website that hosts one calculator covering both debt payoff strategies: the debt snowball method and the debt avalanche method. You enter your debts, your minimum payments, your APRs, and any extra you can pay each month, then pick which method you want. The calculator shows you the order your debts will be paid off, how long until you're debt-free, and the total interest you'll pay — and it runs both methods on the same numbers so you can see the difference side by side. It also exports the full month-by-month plan as a CSV file you can open in Excel or Google Sheets.
Who runs it
This is an independent project published under the site name Debt Snowball Tool. It is not affiliated with Dave Ramsey, Ramsey Solutions, Bankrate, Calculator.net, Credit Karma, FINRED, Ameriprise, Intuit, Ally, UMCU, Prudential, or any other brand that publishes debt-payoff content. The debt snowball method itself is a generic personal-finance strategy; this site is an independent calculator built around it.
Why it's free
The page runs entirely in your browser. There is no server processing your numbers, no database storing your debts, and no account required to use the tool. The cost of hosting is low enough that the site can stay free. In the future, the site may display advertising from third-party ad networks; that will be disclosed on the privacy page. The calculator itself will stay free and the inputs you type will never leave your browser.
What "runs in your browser" means
When you type a balance or an APR into the calculator, that number stays on your device. The math is done by JavaScript that runs inside your browser tab. There is no request to a server that says "user X owes $4,800 at 22.99%." Refresh the page and everything you typed is gone. The only thing that ever leaves your device is the CSV file you choose to download — and that file contains only the numbers you typed in.
The two payoff methods, briefly
The debt snowball method, popularized by Dave Ramsey, orders debts from smallest balance to largest. You pay the minimum on every debt, then throw every extra dollar at the smallest one. When that one is paid off, you take the payment you were making on it and roll it into the next-smallest debt. Each paid-off debt gives you more cash flow to attack the next one. That's the whole strategy.
The avalanche method runs the same way with one change: it orders debts from highest APR to lowest instead of smallest balance to largest, and pays the highest-rate debt off first. If your goal is the lowest total interest, avalanche usually wins; if your goal is momentum and quick wins, snowball tends to work better psychologically. This page does both, from the same inputs, and shows you what the difference is worth in your own numbers rather than making you pick on faith.
Who this site is for
People carrying multiple debts (credit cards, store cards, personal loans, medical, auto, student loans) who want a clear payoff plan and a spreadsheet they can take with them. Not for mortgage payoff modeling, not for investment advice, not for credit counseling. If you're in financial distress, contact a nonprofit credit counselor licensed in your jurisdiction.
That spreadsheet is here as a separate page: a free debt snowball spreadsheet with 15 debt rows and live formulas, which works out the payoff month and total interest for each debt and downloads as Excel, Google Sheets or a printable PDF. No signup, no email.