Loan Recast vs Refinance Calculator

About this calculator

A loan recast lets you apply a lump sum directly to your mortgage principal, after which the lender re-amortizes the remaining balance over the original loan's remaining term at the same interest rate, lowering your monthly payment without a new credit check, appraisal, or closing costs beyond a small recast fee. A refinance replaces the loan entirely with a new one — potentially at a lower rate or shorter term — but requires full underwriting, an appraisal, and closing costs typically running 2–5% of the loan amount.

Which is better depends on how the current market rate compares to your existing rate and how much cash you have available: a recast is attractive when your rate is already good and you simply want a lower payment, while a refinance can be worth the upfront cost when rates have dropped meaningfully. This calculator compares the resulting monthly payment under each path so you can weigh the trade-off in real numbers rather than rules of thumb.