26 half-payments · The 13th-payment effect · No fees needed
Pay half your mortgage payment every two weeks and you make 26 half-payments a year: thirteen full payments, not twelve. Enter your loan to see what that 13th payment is worth, and what the look-alike schemes actually do.
The ledger correction
Enter your loan above to see the correction.
This calendar is a habit in disguise: the same dollars as adding $210.69 a month, and it earns a guaranteed 6.5%. The market has to beat that after tax. Race the same habit against the market.
Rather keep twelve payments a year? The payoff calculator’s bi-weekly toggle models this same effect as a monthly extra, and handles lump sums and a full schedule. Or pick a target month on debt-free by date. Your loan carries over either way.
All the math runs in your browser; nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere. Last updated July 2026.
Three different products wear the same name. Only one moves your payoff date, and it’s free.
| Scheme | You send | Payoff | Total interest | Saved vs monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthlyyour current schedule | … | … | … | … |
| Twice a month24 half-payments · sold as “true bi-weekly” | … | … | … | …≈ $0 |
| Every two weeks26 half-payments · accelerated bi-weekly | … | … | … | …The real one |
| Paid bi-weekly programthe same 26 drafts, minus fees | … | … | … | … |
One honest caveat. Many servicers hold half-payments until month-end instead of crediting them on arrival. If yours does, the small timing edge disappears and the whole benefit is the 13th payment itself. You can make that payment yourself, free, no program required.
Same arithmetic, three prices. Dollar figures use the example loan: $400,000 at 6.5% for 30 years. Run your own numbers above.
Divide your payment by 12 and add that as a principal-only extra to the monthly autopay you already have. On the example loan that is $211/mo. It captures the same $116,000-class savings as a bi-weekly calendar, within about $1,154 of the true 26-payment simulation. No servicer sign-off, no new payment rhythm, nothing to cancel. This is the set-and-forget version.
Paid every two weeks? Half-payments that match your paycheck can be easier to live with than one big monthly hit. That is a real budgeting win. Before enrolling, get two answers in writing: it costs $0, and each half is applied to the loan when received, not parked until month-end. If either answer wobbles, use #1; the math is identical.
Third-party programs run the same arithmetic and charge for it. The usual price: a setup fee plus a fee per draft, about $1,865 over the example loan at $295 + $2.50. That’s more than the entire benefit the “bi-weekly timing” itself provides. The savings they advertise come from your 13th payment, not their service. If a program you can’t cancel is truly the only way you’ll stick with it, it still beats doing nothing. But you are paying for arithmetic your bank does for free.
Every tool inherits what you type here. Nothing to re-enter, nothing stored. Dollar figures are the example loan: $400,000 at 6.5% over 30 years.
Make your plan
Payoff calculator
Add $200 a month and watch $111,892 of interest die. Lump sums and milestones too.
Amortization schedule
Every payment, split into interest and principal. $200 a month deletes 67 rows.
Debt-free by date
Pick the month; it finds the smallest extra that gets there. Twenty years costs $454.03 a month.
Before retirement
Paid off at 65 instead of 71 costs $221.89 a month. Priced in birthdays, not dates.
Weigh your options
Prepay vs invest
The market has to beat your mortgage rate after tax. Both roads run to the cent.
Bi-weekly paymentsYou are here
Half-payments every two weeks finish 5 years 10 months sooner. The paid programs get priced too.
Recast
A $50,000 lump can cut the payment $319.60 a month. The lower payment’s price: $137,661.
Refinance
The advertised break-even says 25 payments. The honest ledger says 20. You see both.
Today’s numbers
Payoff amount
The statement says $395,529.10. The check that clears the loan says $396,515.26.
PMI removal
Asking at 80% instead of waiting for 78% keeps $2,805. Both dates, dated.
On a $400,000 loan at 6.5% for 30 years, an accelerated bi-weekly schedule (26 half-payments a year) saves about $117,000 in interest and ends the loan 5 years 10 months early. The savings scale with your balance and rate; enter your own loan above for the exact figure.
Exactly one. There are 26 two-week periods in a year, so 26 half-payments equal 13 full payments: twelve on schedule plus one extra that goes entirely to principal. That 13th payment, repeated yearly, is where essentially all the savings come from.
Twice a month is 24 half-payments a year: the same twelve full payments, just split. On the example loan it saves about $1,227 over thirty years, roughly nothing. Every two weeks is 26 half-payments (thirteen full payments) and saves about $117,000. Programs and even servicers blur the two, so count the drafts per year before believing any savings claim.
No. Add one-twelfth of your payment to your monthly autopay as a principal-only extra. That replicates the 13th-payment effect within a rounding error. No enrollment, no fees, no change to your payment date. The main payoff calculator’s bi-weekly toggle models exactly this.
They usually do send your money to the lender, so not a scam in the legal sense. But the savings they advertise come from your own 13th payment, not their service. The fees, often $1,000 to $2,000 over a loan’s life, buy arithmetic your bank does for free. Some also hold your half-payments until month-end, which removes even the timing benefit.
Common, and it doesn’t matter. Servicers that don’t run bi-weekly schedules will still accept a principal-only extra with your normal payment. Add one-twelfth monthly, or make one full extra payment each December; both land within dollars of the true bi-weekly calendar.
Crediting policy. This page assumes each half-payment is applied when it arrives, with interest accruing per period. Most U.S. mortgages actually accrue interest monthly on the scheduled balance, and some servicers hold halves until month-end. Every honest variant lands in the same savings band; the difference is a few hundred dollars across decades. The scheme that matters is 26 half-payments versus 24, not the crediting fine print.