How we calculate
One formula, the same scenarios for every app, and only fees the company itself publishes.
The formula
APR = total cost ÷ amount advanced × 365 ÷ days until repaid × 100.
This is the simple annual rate for a single-payment advance, the same idea used to compare payday loans. Example: a $5 fee on a $100 advance repaid in 7 days is 5 ÷ 100 × 365 ÷ 7 = 260.7%.
What goes into “total cost”
- Express or instant transfer fees from the company’s published fee schedule for that amount.
- Required memberships. If a monthly fee must be paid to get advances, it is part of the cost. We divide it evenly over the advances taken in that month: one by default, which you can change in the calculator. Optional memberships are not counted.
- Tips are $0 in our standard scenarios because they are optional. The calculator lets you add the tip you would actually pay.
- Other per-advance fees when the company publishes them.
We don’t count bank overdraft or returned-payment fees your own bank might charge if a repayment fails, because they depend on your bank, not the app.
Standard scenarios
- $100, instant transfer, repaid in 7 days
- $100, instant transfer, repaid in 14 days
- $100, free standard transfer, repaid in 7 days
If an app’s published maximum is below $100, or it doesn’t publish the fee we would need, we show “—” instead of estimating.
Installment loans are different
Some products on this site are loans with an interest rate and several payments. For those we show the APR the lender states, not our formula.
Why APR at all?
Most earned wage access providers say their fees are not interest, and in December 2025 the CFPB said earned wage access that meets four conditions, including being repaid through a payroll deduction, is not “credit” under federal Truth in Lending rules, so it needs no APR disclosure; it did not decide that question for apps repaid from your bank account (details). Our APR isn’t a legal classification. It is a way to compare an advance with other options on the same scale, shown next to the dollar amount so a small fee over a short time isn’t hidden or exaggerated.
Where facts come from, and how often we check
- Fees, limits and how an app works: the company’s own fee pages, terms and help center. Each page lists its sources and the date checked.
- Rules: statutes, regulations, regulators and official guidance. Records: agency and attorney general releases and court filings.
- Once a month a person opens each app’s published fee pages in an ordinary browser and records the fees. If anything changed, the site is updated and the change is logged on Corrections and changes. We don’t run automated scrapers against these companies’ websites; their terms of use don’t allow it. Because fees can change between checks, always confirm the current fee in the app before you pay.
- The calculator’s formula is covered by automated tests on hand-worked examples.