On average, student loan borrowers take about 20 years to pay off their loans. Living with debt hanging over your head for so long can be incredibly stressful. It also hampers your ability to spend your hard-earned money on fun things. Paying off student loans earlier rather than later can be a huge relief. As an added benefit, you’ll also pay less interest on the shorter loan term.
Fortunately, there are several apps to help pay off student loans faster. Each of these student loan apps is designed differently. Some help you create and adhere to a budget. Others help you create a payment strategy. Still others are deigned to help you save or invest. The one thing they all have in common is they help you pay off your student loan debt as quickly as possible.
These are the 10 best student loan apps to help pay off debt faster. Look through these and choose one that best fits your short- and long-term financial goals and your lifestyle.
1. Debt Payoff Planner
Debt Payoff Planner is among the most widely used student loan apps. It’s designed to help you create an effective payment strategy to pay off your student loans as quickly as possible.
When you enter all your loans into the app, you will be able to easily compare the different debt payout strategies. You can then choose which strategy works best for you. With the debt avalanche strategy, you pay off the student loans with the highest interest first. With the snowball strategy, you pay off the student loans with the lowest balance first. You also have the option of creating a custom plan that includes making additional payments to eliminate your debt even faster.
The Debt Payoff Planner app has some useful visuals that indicate your payment progress and other parameters. This is great for helping you stay on track with your loan payments. This student loan app is free for the basic version. The premium version, which offers additional features such as payment reminders and planning templates, costs $1 a month.
2. ChangEd
Another very popular student loan app, ChangEd works differently from the Debt Payoff Planner app. This is a good choice for you if you’re looking to take advantage of micro-savings. The ChangEd app works by helping you save on everyday purchases and putting those savings towards early repayment.
You link a debit or credit card to the app. The app then tracks all purchases you make on the linked cards and rounds up each transaction to the nearest dollar. The difference goes directly into your ChangEd account. These small savings add up and when the balances reach $50, it is automatically transferred as repayment towards your designated student loan. Those recurring $50 early payments can help you pay off debt faster and also save you money in interest.
The app also has a feature allows you to transfer larger deposits towards repayment whenever you have extra cash. Other advantages of the ChangEd app are the ability to track your progress, calculating your interest savings, and determine when you’ll be debt-free.
3. PocketSmith
PocketSmith is a free student loan app. It gives you an overview of your finances, which makes it easier for you to stay on top of your debt payments. Its dashboard displays all balances and transaction from multiple accounts in one place. The dashboard also displays your income and expenses, total net worth, and live bank feeds.
This bird’s eye view of your finances gives you a good idea of where your money is going. This makes it easier to identify where you can cut back on expenses to free up cash to put towards your student loan repayments. Using PocketSmith regularly can help to accelerate your progress and pay off those student loans faster. The app has a free basic plan and a premium paid plan that has a lot of additional features.
4. Undebt.it
Undebt.it is another free student loan app that helps you get out of debt faster. The user-friendly interface makes it easy for you to monitor all your debt in one place.
The app also provides multiple repayment strategies for you to choose from. If you can’t figure out which payment plan is best for you, the app can help. It suggests an efficient repayment plan based on the income and debt information stored on the device. You can change repayment plans anytime you want.
Undebt.it offers several additional features including the ability to keep track of due dates, payments, and debt balances. This makes it easy to see how much interest you’ll pay on projected payoff dates. The app is free to use.
5. Fidelity Spire
Fidelity Spire is different from the other student loan apps. It offers investing tools which most other apps don’t. The interface also allows you to create and track your short- and long-term financial goals.
You can use the app to invest in stocks and exchange-traded funds. This allows you earn additional income that can be put towards paying off your loans faster. The returns may be as little or as large as you want. The idea is even earning small amounts regularly can help you chip away at your debt earlier.
The Fidelity Spire app offers many more features as well as tips on effective ways to pay down your student loans. App users get access to several incentives such as a chance to win $30,000 if they meet certain conditions. This is the best student loan app for anyone interested in investing to make extra money.
Need help with student loans? Use College Raptor’s free Student Loan Finder to compare lenders and interest rates side by side!
| Lender | Rates (APR) | Eligibility | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
5.50%-16.12%* Variable
3.99%-15.61%* Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT CITIZENS |
 |
5.54% - 15.70% Variable
3.99% - 15.49% Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT SALLIE MAE |
 |
4.63% - 17.99% Variable
3.49% - 17.99% Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT CREDIBLE |
 |
6.00% - 13.75% Variable
3.99% - 13.75% Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT LENDKEY |
 |
5.66% - 14.72% Variable
3.69% - 14.56% Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT ASCENT |
 |
3.70% - 8.75% Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT ISL |
 |
5.62% - 16.85% Variable
3.69% - 16.49% Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT EARNEST |
 |
5.00% - 14.22% Variable
3.69% - 14.22% Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT ELFI |
