September 22, 2026
Bankrate's business loan calculator is a solid, free tool — but like many lender-adjacent calculators, the surrounding page is built to route you toward loan offers and lender contact forms.
Many 'free' business loan calculators exist specifically to capture leads for lenders — you get the number, but the page is also collecting your contact details for a follow-up sales call. That's a reasonable business model for a lending marketplace, but not what everyone wants from a quick estimate.
SMBkits' loan payment calculator asks for loan amount, interest rate, and term, and returns the estimated monthly payment — nothing is submitted anywhere, and there's no lender contact form attached to the result.
The math behind both tools is the standard amortization formula, so the number itself won't differ between a correctly built calculator on either site. What differs is what happens after you see the number — Bankrate's page is designed to connect you with lenders whose offers match what you entered, which is useful if you're actively shopping for a loan and unhelpful if you're just budgeting.
If you're actively shopping for financing and want to compare real lender offers, Bankrate's connected marketplace is a reasonable next step after estimating. If you just want a private, no-strings-attached monthly payment number for planning, SMBkits' calculator stays exactly a calculator.
| Feature | SMBkits | Bankrate |
|---|---|---|
| Payment estimate accuracy | Standard amortization formula | Standard amortization formula |
| Contact info requested | None | Often, to connect with lenders |
| Connected lender marketplace | Not included | Included |
| Data sent anywhere | No — stays in your browser | May be used for lender matching |
No — it runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to a server, a lender, or used to generate loan offers.
No — it calculates the standard monthly payment from loan amount, interest rate, and term only. Add any origination or other upfront fees separately, since lenders structure those differently.