1. DEBT SOLUTIONS

Best Apps to Help Pay Off Student Loans Faster

Best Apps to Help Pay Off Student Loans Faster
BY Ben Gran
 Updated 
Apr 26, 2025
Key Takeaways:
  • One good way to manage your finances is to use apps to pay off student loan debt faster.
  • You can play games for cash rewards, round up purchases and put that money toward student loans, and use the snowball method to pay off debt.
  • The sooner you start, the faster you'll pay off your student loans.

For many Americans, borrowing money to pay for higher education is part of life—but student loans don’t have to last forever. The best apps to pay off student loan debt could help you pay off those loans once and for all. 

There are many options for dealing with student loans and other debt, including debt relief. You don’t always need to make big budgeting changes or try aggressive new moves. Sometimes you can make progress on paying off student loans by starting small with a mobile app. 

Let’s look at a few of the best apps to pay off student loan debt. 

Changed

If you only make the minimum payment on your student loan every month, you’ll end up paying the maximum amount of interest, which adds up over the life of the loan. Changed explains that an average student loan balance of $39,400 could end up costing you more than $60,000 if you only pay the minimum due.

If you want an easy way to find extra cash to pay more on your student loans each month, sign up for Changed. The Changed app made our list of best apps to pay off student loan debt. It automates extra loan payments automatically, based on your everyday spending. 

Here’s how the Changed app works. Every time you make a purchase, the Changed app rounds up the total to the nearest dollar and sets that spare change aside. For example, if you buy a coffee for $5.25, Changed will round up and set aside $0.75. Your purchase will show as $6. When you reach $50 of saved spare change, the money is put toward your student loans. This could help you pay off your student loans faster—without a big effort or any complex decision-making.

Without having to actively save extra money yourself, paying more than the minimum is nearly effortless. Plus, Changed sends the money to your loan provider automatically, so you don’t have one more thing to stress about. All you pay is a fee starting at $4 per month (annual plan).

Debt Payoff Planner 

The Debt Payoff Planner is a popular app with more than 1 million downloads and excellent reviews on the App Store (4.7 stars) and Google Play (4.5 stars). This app lets you track all your debts in one place, including student loans and other debts. With the Debt Payoff Planner app, you’re not limited to a single payoff method. You can choose the debt snowball or debt avalanche, or try a custom strategy to pay extra toward your debts. 

This app offers in-app purchases (for Android) or a choice of subscriptions for iOS starting at $6 per month, with discounts for annual subscriptions. A free version is also available. 

Achieve MoLO app

The MoLO money management app helps you increase your money left over (MoLO) each month. You can use the MoLO app to pay off student loan debt faster, or to improve your finances and manage your money in other ways. 

The MoLO app works by connecting with your bank accounts and credit card accounts (with your permission) and tracking your spending. Based on your usual monthly income and spending habits, the MoLO app challenges you to cut back on your non-essential spending. This helps you find extra money that you could use to pay off student loan debt faster.  

The MoLO app gets high ratings on the App Store (4.7 stars) and Google Play (4.5 stars). And best of all, it’s free. The MoLO app doesn’t charge subscriptions or offer in-app purchases—it’s 100% free to use, with no third-party ads. This free service is yet another way the MoLO app could help you save extra money. 

Pay off student loan debt faster and plan for your future

Using these apps to help pay off student loans could help you better manage your debt (and manage your money in general), paying it down faster and with less stress. Choose an app to try and download it today. The sooner you get started, the sooner you can get rid of your debt.

If you’re having serious trouble paying off student loan debt or other debts like credit card debt, talk to a debt expert. Some private student loans can be included in a debt settlement program

Learning how to pay down your student loan debt, manage money, and plan for your future shouldn’t be stressful.  As a debt relief company that’s been helping people for over 15 years, we know how to create a custom debt relief program that gets you the best possible results. Complete our simple online form to get started today. 

*Editor’s Note: The app recommendations in this post are meant as a research tool and guide to give you information on ways to manage student debt. Freedom Debt Relief was not compensated for mentioning any of the companies listed in this post.

Insights into debt relief demographics

We looked at a sample of data from Freedom Debt Relief of people seeking debt relief during November 2024. The data provides insights about key characteristics of debt relief seekers.

Credit utilization and debt relief

How are people using their credit before seeking help? Credit utilization measures how much of a credit line is being used. For example, if you have a credit line of $10,000 and your balance is $3,000, that is a credit utilization of 30%. High credit utilization often signals financial stress. We have looked at people who are seeking debt relief and their credit utilization. (Low credit utilization is 30% or less, medium is between 31% and 50%, high is between 51% and 75%, very high is between 76% to 100%, and over-utilized over 100%). In November 2024, people seeking debt relief had an average of 79% credit utilization.

Here are some interesting numbers:

Credit utilization bucketPercent of debt relief seekers
Over utilized30%
Very high32%
High19%
Medium10%
Low9%

The statistics refer to people who had a credit card balance greater than $0.

You don't have to have high credit utilization to look for a debt relief solution. There are a number of solutions for people, whether they have maxed out their credit cards or still have a significant part available.

Student loan debt  – average debt by selected states.

According to the 2023 Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) the average student debt for those with a balance was $46,980. The percentage of families with student debt was 22%. (Note: It used 2022 data).

Student loan debt among those seeking debt relief is prevalent. In November 2024, 27% of the debt relief seekers had student debt. The average student debt balance (for those with student debt) was $48,703.

Here is a quick look at the top five states by average student debt balance.

StatePercent with student loansAverage Balance for those with student loansAverage monthly payment
District of Columbia34$71,987$203
Georgia29$59,907$183
Mississippi28$55,347$145
Alaska22$54,555$104
Maryland31$54,495$142

The statistics are based on all debt relief seekers with a student loan balance over $0.

Student debt is an important part of many households' financial picture. When you examine your finances, consider your total debt and your monthly payments.

Tackle Financial Challenges

Don’t let debt overwhelm you. Learn more about debt relief options. They can help you tackle your financial challenges. This is true whether you have high credit card balances or many tradelines. Start your path to recovery with the first step.

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