Tools
Fixed against variable, with the arithmetic shown
Fixing is not a bet on where rates go. It is buying certainty for a defined period at a price, and the question is whether the price is worth it to you. The tool below prices it. The cash rate target is currently 4.35%, effective 12 Aug 2026 — your own rate sits above that by whatever margin your lender applies.
What each option costs over the fixed period
- Variable repayment
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- Fixed repayment
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- Difference over the fixed period
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- Break-even variable rate
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What this assumes, and what it cannot know
- Both options are principal and interest, repaid monthly, over the same remaining term.
- The variable rate is held constant for the comparison. It will not be — that is the entire point of the break-even figure, which tells you the average variable rate at which the two outcomes are equal.
- The fixed option is compared only over its own period. What happens at the revert rate afterwards is not modelled and is frequently where the real cost sits.
- Excludes offset benefit, extra repayments, break costs and any lenders mortgage insurance.
An estimate for comparing two scenarios under identical assumptions, not a quote, an approval or financial advice. Run the same numbers on Moneysmart's calculator and on your own lender's before deciding.
The eight columns a rate table needs
This site does not publish a lender-by-lender rate table, because a table nobody re-verifies every week becomes confidently wrong without announcing it. What it can give you is the column list — so when you read someone else's table, or a lender's own page, you know what is missing from it.
- Advertised rate The headline. On its own it tells you almost nothing, because it excludes fees and says nothing about what happens after any promotional period.
- Comparison rate The rate with most fees folded in, calculated on a standard example loan. It is the only field that lets two consumer products be lined up honestly — and it is still an example, not your loan.
- Ongoing and annual fees A package fee can quietly cancel out a rate advantage. Check what the package actually includes before treating it as a cost of the loan.
- Revert rate What a fixed or introductory rate becomes when the period ends. A two-year fixed rate is really two products, and the second one is usually the expensive one.
- Offset and redraw Whether a full offset is included or sits inside a package, and whether redraw is free, instant, and at your discretion rather than the lender's.
- Maximum loan-to-value ratio A rate you cannot access is not a rate. Many sharp advertised rates apply only at or below 60–80% of value.
- Extra repayments Usually unlimited on variable, usually capped on fixed. If you intend to pay ahead, a cap can cost more than the rate difference saves.
- Date the rate was published A rate quoted without a date is not information. If the page will not tell you when it was true, treat the number as unknown.
Comparison rates are a disclosure requirement administered by ASIC — Moneysmart explains how they work. Cash rate data on this site: Reserve Bank of Australia — Cash Rate Target, read 17 Aug 2026.