CD Calculator
Find out exactly what a certificate of deposit will pay at maturity. Enter your deposit, APY, and term to see your total interest, the equivalent APR, and how other terms compare.
Enter a deposit, APY, and term to see your CD's value at maturity.
A CD pays interest on a fixed schedule, most often daily or monthly. Each time interest is credited, it joins your principal and starts earning interest itself. That snowball effect is compounding, and it's why the yield you actually earn (APY) is a bit higher than the stated nominal rate (APR).
The good news: banks advertise CDs by APY, so the compounding is already priced in. A 4.15% APY pays $415 on $10,000 over one year whether the bank compounds daily or monthly. This calculator works straight from APY, then shows you the APR behind it for the compounding schedule you pick.
Value at maturity = Deposit × (1 + APY)^years | APR = n × ((1 + APY)^(1/n) − 1)
In the APR formula, n is the number of compounding periods per year: 365 for daily, 12 for monthly, 4 for quarterly, 1 for annual.
Put $10,000 in a 12-month CD paying 4.15% APY. At maturity you'd have $10,415.00, so $415.00 in interest. With daily compounding, that 4.15% APY works out to an APR of about 4.07%. Here's the same deposit at the same APY across other terms:
| Term | Value at maturity | Interest |
|---|---|---|
| 3 months | $10,102.17 | $102.17 |
| 6 months | $10,205.39 | $205.39 |
| 1 year | $10,415.00 | $415.00 |
| 2 years | $10,847.22 | $847.22 |
| 3 years | $11,297.38 | $1,297.38 |
| 5 years | $12,254.52 | $2,254.52 |
The trade for a CD's guaranteed rate is that your money is locked until maturity. Cash out early and the bank charges a penalty, typically 3 to 6 months of interest on a 1-year CD and 6 to 12 months on longer terms. Break a CD in its first few months and the penalty can dip into your principal. Read the penalty terms before you fund the account, and consider a CD ladder (splitting your deposit across staggered maturities) if you might need some of the money sooner.
On rates: as of July 2026, the FDIC national average for a 12-month CD sits around 1.65%, while top online banks pay roughly 4.1% to 4.5% APY on the same term, with the best widely available offers around 4.15%. That gap is the single biggest lever you control. On a $10,000 deposit, the difference between 1.65% and 4.15% is about $250 of interest in one year for the same insured product.