Updated on 2026-09-22
Type 6.95% into HomeMortgageOnline's mortgage payment calculator when you want principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and HOA from a rate you control. Open Bankrate's mortgage calculator when you want a how-to that starts with home price, down payment, credit-score range, and ZIP, then offers a suggested rate or a rate you type. Open NerdWallet's mortgage calculator when you already have a rate and want amortization plus optional PMI in one window. Open MortgageCalculator.org when you want a single form that lists Conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA in a loan-type menu. None of those tools is a lender quote, and none of them locks a rate.
The compare that matters is the form, then the payment math on one dated average. This page uses the September 17, 2026 market update on this site, which stamps Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey at 6.95% for the 30-year fixed, up 19 basis points from 6.76%, and 6.26% for the 15-year fixed. A field-by-field Bankrate versus NerdWallet how-to, written September 15 against the older 6.76% stamp, is already published. This page does not repeat that table. It adds MortgageCalculator.org, retrieved the same day as this update, and it reruns the payment on the newer print. Screenshots were not captured. The notes below come from HTML retrieved 2026-09-22. They are not a click-through of a live widget and not a picture of the tools.
Which mortgage calculator alternative should you open?
HomeMortgageOnline fits a shopper who wants the rate typed in, not suggested. The payment calculator asks for home price, down payment, interest rate, loan term in years, annual property tax, annual homeowners insurance, and monthly HOA. Results update in the browser. Nothing is sent to a server. The rate field on that page is prefilled with 6.95%, labeled as the national 30-year Freddie Mac PMMS average as of September 17, 2026. That prefill is an illustrative average, not an offer. PMI and closing costs are separate tools: the PMI calculator and the closing cost calculator. The affordability calculator solves a home-price range from income, debts, and a target debt-to-income ratio.
Bankrate's how-to, retrieved 2026-09-22 at a URL that returned HTTP 200, tells you to enter home price, down payment, credit-score range, and ZIP code, then select a loan term and choose an interest rate. It says you can use Bankrate's top offer, the national average, or a rate you already have. It says a down payment under 20% typically adds PMI. It lists loan terms of 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. The same page has a heading, "Compare current mortgage rates for today." This compare does not use that section as a quote. We typed the September 17 PMMS stamp instead of a suggested offer.
NerdWallet's how-to, retrieved 2026-09-22, returned HTTP 200 and resolved to the calculators path. It lists four core fields: home price, down payment, interest rate, and loan term in years. It says the monthly payment then appears in a "Loan Estimate" window, along with total principal, total interest payments, total loan payments, and a payoff date. Taxes, insurance, HOA, and PMI sit under "Show Advanced Info." The how-to says the PMI field displays only when the down payment is under 20%. The window label is the publisher's name for the results pane. It is not a Loan Estimate from a lender.
MortgageCalculator.org's form, retrieved 2026-09-22 at a URL that returned HTTP 200, shows home value, down payment, loan amount, interest rate, loan term, start date, property tax per year, PMI as a percent, homeowners insurance per year, monthly HOA, a loan-type menu, and a buy-or-refinance menu. The loan-type menu options in the HTML are Conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA. Checkboxes offer monthly versus bi-weekly payments and annual or monthly amortization tables. The page also shows a "Best Mortgage Rates" block and a button labeled "Compare Loan Types." We did not open those. They are not quotes, and this page does not rank lenders.
How do the calculator forms differ?
Hold the job still, then see which form is built for it. Payment math is the same standard amortization once the rate, term, and loan amount match. The difference is which inputs the publisher puts on the page, and whether a suggested rate can replace the number you type.
| Input or output named on the page | HomeMortgageOnline | Bankrate how-to (2026-09-22) | NerdWallet how-to (2026-09-22) | MortgageCalculator.org form (2026-09-22) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home price and down payment | Yes. Starter values are $400,000 and $80,000. | Yes | Yes | Yes. Prefill in the HTML was $400,000 and $80,000, with loan amount $320,000. |
| You type the interest rate | Yes. Starter value is the 6.95% PMMS stamp. | Optional. How-to says top offer, national average, or a rate you enter. | Listed as a core field | Yes. An interest-rate input is on the form. We did not treat any prefill as a national average. |
| Credit-score band and ZIP | No | Listed. How-to says they help generate a rate estimate. | Not listed in the four-field how-to | Not shown as user fields on the form we retrieved |
| Loan term | Years field. Starter value is 30. | 10, 15, 20, or 30 years | Loan term in years | Years field. Prefill was 30. |
| Taxes, insurance, HOA | On the main form. Starter tax is $4,800 a year and insurance is $1,500 a year. HOA starter is $0. | How-to says the calculator includes rough estimates of property taxes, homeowners insurance, and HOA fees. | Show Advanced Info: annual tax and insurance, monthly HOA | Property tax per year, home insurance per year, monthly HOA. HTML prefill was $3,000 tax and $1,500 insurance. That tax prefill is not the same as ours. |
| PMI | Not in the payment calculator. Use the separate PMI calculator. | How-to says a down payment under 20% typically adds PMI. | Monthly PMI field when down payment is under 20% | PMI percent field on the form |
| Loan-type control | No. Loan types are explained on the loan-types page, not inside the payment form. | Not listed in the how-to steps | Not a dropdown in the four-field how-to. Terminology says FHA uses a mortgage insurance premium. | Menu labeled Loan Type: Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA. We did not run it. |
| Amortization | Total interest over the term. No extra-payment field and no schedule. | Mortgages navigation lists a separate amortization calculator. We did not open it. | How-to says to select Amortization Schedule in the Loan Estimate window. | Checkboxes for annual and monthly amortization tables, plus monthly versus bi-weekly. |
This table restates labels and how-to sentences retrieved 2026-09-22, plus the starter values on our own calculator. It is not a ranking, not a traffic claim, and not a claim that we clicked through a widget. Screenshots were not captured. For the September 15 field notes on Bankrate and NerdWallet alone, see Bankrate vs NerdWallet mortgage calculator.
What does 6.95% do to the payment?
Use the dated stamp, then change one input at a time. The September 17, 2026 market update stamps Freddie Mac's PMMS 30-year fixed at 6.95%, up from 6.76% the week before, and the 15-year fixed at 6.26%, up from 6.09%. Those are national averages for education. They are not a personal quote, not a guaranteed APR, and not a rate lock.
The payment calculator's starter loan is a $400,000 home with $80,000 down, so the principal is $320,000. MortgageCalculator.org's retrieved HTML used that same home value, down payment, and loan amount. Principal and interest only, using the standard amortization formula in our calculator script:
- 30-year fixed at the 6.95% PMMS stamp: $2,118 a month, and $442,564 of interest if you keep the loan to term.
- The same 30-year loan at the prior week's 6.76% PMMS stamp: $2,078 a month, and $427,951 of interest to term.
- 15-year fixed at the 6.26% PMMS stamp: $2,745 a month, and $174,190 of interest to term.
The 19-basis-point climb from 6.76% to 6.95% adds $41 a month on this loan and $14,613 of scheduled interest over 30 years. The 15-year payment is $627 a month higher than the 6.95% 30-year case, and scheduled interest is $268,374 lower if you hold the loan to term. That is calendar math on a national average. It is not a reason to pick a term and not a quote.
Taxes and insurance change the total the calculator displays. With the payment calculator's own starter inputs — $4,800 a year in property tax and $1,500 a year in insurance, and no HOA — the 6.95% 30-year case displays $2,643 a month. The 6.26% 15-year case displays $3,270. Those tax and insurance figures are starter inputs on our form, not a statement of what your county or insurer will bill. MortgageCalculator.org's retrieved HTML prefilled property tax at $3,000 a year, so a side-by-side total will not match even when price, down payment, and rate do. PMI is not in these totals. If the down payment is under 20% on a conventional loan, add it in the PMI calculator.
How do you compare loan types in a calculator?
Compare loan types by changing down payment, term, mortgage insurance, and the rate you type. Do not treat a calculator result as a program approval. Our loan types page is the plain-language map. A conventional loan is the common path with at least 3% to 5% down, and PMI when you put down less than 20%. FHA can use 3.5% down with qualifying credit, and it charges mortgage insurance that does not behave like cancellable PMI. VA loans can use 0% down and no monthly PMI for eligible borrowers, with a funding fee unless the borrower is exempt. USDA loans can also use 0% down, subject to income and property-location limits. Jumbo loans sit above conforming limits and usually need more reserves.
HUD's loans page, retrieved 2026-09-22 at a URL that returned HTTP 200, says an FHA down payment can be as low as 3.5% of the purchase price. That matches the down-payment line on our FHA guide. It does not mean a calculator has approved the file. MortgageCalculator.org's form lists Conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA in a menu labeled Loan Type. We did not run that control, and we do not claim it applies FHA mortgage insurance, a VA funding fee, or USDA location and income limits. If you are testing those programs, read the FHA loan guide, the VA loan guide, and the USDA eligibility page, then type any insurance or fee effect yourself.
NerdWallet's terminology list, retrieved the same day, says a conventional loan with less than 20% down uses monthly PMI that can be canceled at 20% equity, and that FHA loans require a similar fee called a mortgage insurance premium. Bankrate's how-to describes PMI for a down payment under 20% and does not list FHA, VA, or USDA as calculator inputs. HomeMortgageOnline keeps that program distinction off the payment form on purpose. The payment form estimates principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and HOA. Program rules stay on the loan-type pages.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Buying a house page, retrieved 2026-09-22 at a URL that returned HTTP 200, is titled as tools and resources for homebuyers. Use it for the federal shopping path from exploring loans to the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure. A calculator total is not that disclosure.
Disclaimer: this compare page is for general education. It is not financial advice and not a commitment to lend. HomeMortgageOnline is not a licensed mortgage lender, broker, or loan originator. It does not make loans, take applications, issue commitments, lock rates, or promise an APR. Calculator outputs are estimates. Offers vary by lender, credit, points, fees, loan type, and market conditions. Screenshots were not captured for this page.
Sources
- HomeMortgageOnline, Third straight PMMS climb jumps 19 bp to 6.95% (September 17, 2026) - https://homemortgageonline.com/blog/market-update-2026-09-17.html
- HomeMortgageOnline, mortgage payment calculator (starter price $400,000, down payment $80,000, rate 6.95%, term 30 years, tax $4,800 a year, insurance $1,500 a year) - https://homemortgageonline.com/mortgage-calculator.html
- Bankrate, Mortgage calculator how-to (retrieved 2026-09-22, HTTP 200) - https://www.bankrate.com/mortgages/mortgage-calculator/
- NerdWallet, Mortgage calculator how-to (retrieved 2026-09-22, HTTP 200; resolved to the calculators path) - https://www.nerdwallet.com/mortgages/mortgage-calculator
- MortgageCalculator.org, mortgage calculator form (retrieved 2026-09-22, HTTP 200) - https://www.mortgagecalculator.org/
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Loans (retrieved 2026-09-22, HTTP 200) - https://www.hud.gov/helping-americans/loans
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Buying a house: Tools and resources for homebuyers (retrieved 2026-09-22, HTTP 200) - https://www.consumerfinance.gov/owning-a-home/