How long will it take to pay off my credit cards using the snowball versus avalanche method?

It depends on your balances, rates, and how much extra you can pay, but the two methods usually finish within a few months of each other, with the avalanche always slightly faster and cheaper in pure math terms. The avalanche targets your highest APR first, so it minimizes total interest and payoff time. The snowball targets your smallest balance first, giving you a paid-off account sooner for motivation, at a small cost in extra interest.

The real driver of your timeline is the size of your extra monthly payment, not which method you pick, so free up as much as you can and keep rolling each freed payment to the next debt. If your rates vary widely, avalanche's edge grows. Plug in your actual balances and see both timelines side by side at wealthserene.com/tools/debt-payoff.