Free RD Calculator — Recurring Deposit Maturity
November 3, 2026 · 3 min read · By the DollarWise team
How it works
A recurring deposit (RD) lets you put the same fixed amount into a bank or post office every month for a chosen tenure, earning a fixed rate with interest compounded quarterly — the default for Indian RDs. Enter your monthly installment, the annual interest rate and the tenure in years and months — this calculator grows each installment month by month with quarterly compounding and shows your maturity value, total amount invested and total interest earned.
## How the math works
In an RD, the same amount is deposited every month and each deposit earns interest from the month it is made until maturity. Indian RDs compound interest quarterly, so the annual rate is divided by 4, and that quarterly rate is converted into an equivalent monthly growth factor:
**Monthly growth factor = (1 + r/4)^(1/3), where r = annual rate**
Each month: **new balance = balance × monthly factor + monthly installment**
After the final month, the balance is your maturity value. "Total invested" is simply installment × number of months, and "total interest" is maturity minus invested. Early installments earn interest for many more months than late ones, which is why longer tenures disproportionately boost the final amount.
## Everyday uses
- **Forced saving:** set an affordable monthly amount (₹2,000–₹10,000) and see how it builds over 1–3 years for a vacation, gadget or emergency buffer.
- **RD vs SIP comparison:** compare a guaranteed RD maturity at 6.5% against a market-linked SIP at an expected 10–12% for the same monthly outlay.
- **Tenure tuning:** test whether a 12-month or 24-month RD at a slightly higher rate beats several short RDs you would keep renewing.
## Frequently asked questions
### How is RD interest compounded?
Almost all Indian bank and post office RDs compound interest quarterly. The nominal annual rate is divided by 4, applied each quarter, and converted to a monthly equivalent for the purpose of monthly deposits. A few banks offer different schedules, so confirm the compounding frequency in your RD advice.
### Is there a minimum or maximum for RDs?
Minimums are low — often ₹100 (post office) or ₹500–₹1,000 (banks) per month, with no upper limit. Tenures usually start at 6 months and go up to 10 years in monthly steps. A missed installment typically attracts a small penalty and can default the account if repeated.
### Can I withdraw an RD before maturity?
Yes, but with a penalty — usually 0.5–1% lower than the rate for the actual tenure held, and some banks charge a prepayment fee. Unlike FDs, you cannot partially withdraw an RD; it must be closed entirely. Some banks offer loan/overdraft facilities against the RD balance instead.