Mortgage Lender Comparison Calculator
Compare up to 3 mortgage offers side-by-side. Enter loan amount once, then add each lender's rate, points, and fees to see true APR, monthly payment, and 5-year total cost. The cheapest headline rate is not always the cheapest loan.
How Lender Comparison Works
A mortgage lender comparison calculator evaluates competing loan offers side-by-side, computing each lender's true cost over the life of the loan. The headline rate alone is misleading — discount points, origination fees, and other lender charges can make a "lower" rate cost more than a slightly higher rate with no points and small fees.
This tool computes the monthly principal-and-interest payment for each lender, total cost over the full term and the first 5 years, and the loan's effective APR (Annual Percentage Rate) which incorporates upfront fees as a percentage cost. The CFPB recommends getting at least 3 quotes before choosing a lender (source: consumerfinance.gov).
Why Compare 3+ Lenders
Freddie Mac research shows that getting 5 quotes saves the typical borrower over $3,000 over the life of the loan, and just 1 extra quote saves about $1,500 (source: freddiemac.com research). Yet according to the same study, nearly half of borrowers only get one quote.
Lenders set their own pricing based on overhead, profit margin, and risk appetite. The same borrower with the same credit profile can receive quotes that differ by 0.5 percentage points or more on the rate alone. On a $350,000 30-year loan, that 0.5% difference is over $40,000 in lifetime interest.
Discount Points — When They Pay Off
One discount point equals 1% of the loan amount and typically reduces the rate by about 0.25 percentage points. Whether points pay off depends on how long you keep the loan. Use the points break-even formula: points cost ÷ monthly savings = months to recoup. If you sell or refinance before then, points were not worth it.
For a deeper analysis of points alone, use our discount points cost calculator. To compare loan types, see FHA vs conventional or 15-year vs 30-year.
Reading the Results — Best Loan vs Lowest Rate
The calculator highlights the best total-cost lender, which may not be the lowest-rate lender. Common patterns: a lender with a slightly higher rate but no points often wins for borrowers planning to move within 5-7 years. A lender offering a low rate with high points wins for borrowers staying long-term. The 5-year cost column makes this trade-off explicit.
Last updated April 2026. Sources: cfpb.gov, freddiemac.com.