Carrying credit card debt has rarely been this expensive. The average APR on card accounts actually accruing interest reached 22.15% in the second quarter of 2026, and many new offers run above 25%. At those rates, consolidation — gathering scattered balances into one cheaper, more manageable payment — is worth understanding even if you end up not using it. These are the real options, and the one that deserves your suspicion.

1. A 0% balance transfer card

Promotional 0% balance-transfer windows of 12–21 months remain widely available to good-credit applicants in 2026, typically for a one-time transfer fee of 3%–5%. That fee buys months in which every dollar you pay hits principal instead of interest. The catch is discipline: if the balance is still there when the promo ends, you are back at standard APRs — and adding new purchases to the card usually defeats the whole exercise. Run the math against your actual payoff speed; our full playbook is in the credit card APR escape plan.

2. A fixed-rate personal loan

If the debt will not clear inside a promo window, an unsecured personal loan converts revolving balances into a fixed payment with an end date. Average APRs on 3-year loans run around 13.4% in mid-2026 — strong-credit borrowers see less, weaker profiles more — which is a large step down from 22%. Watch origination fees of 1%–8%: a low headline rate with a big fee can lose to a plain higher rate. What used to be called peer-to-peer lending lives here now too — the retail P2P platforms of the 2010s are gone, and the successors are simply online lenders. Details and rate context: Personal Loan Rates in 2026.

3. Home equity — cheapest rate, biggest stakes

Homeowners hold record equity in 2026, and home equity lines of credit price around 7.25% — roughly a third of average card APRs. That makes a HELOC or home equity loan the cheapest consolidation money most homeowners can get, and also the most serious: you are converting unsecured card debt into debt secured by your house. Miss enough payments on a credit card and you face collections; miss enough on a home equity loan and you face foreclosure. Use it only with a payoff plan you would bet your address on. Background: HELOCs in 2026.

4. A debt management plan through a nonprofit counselor

If your credit will not qualify for the options above, a nonprofit credit counseling agency can put you on a debt management plan: one monthly payment to the agency, which pays your card issuers under negotiated concessions — often meaningfully reduced interest and waived fees — typically over three to five years. Accounts on the plan are usually closed, which stings your credit in the short run, but payments get reported on time and the debt actually amortizes. Look for agencies affiliated with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and ask for the fee schedule up front; legitimate agencies charge modest fees, not a percentage of your debt.

5. Debt settlement — the one to be wary of

Settlement companies pitch the dream: pay less than you owe. The mechanics are uglier. They generally tell you to stop paying your creditors while payments pile up in an escrow account, your accounts go delinquent, your credit absorbs the full damage, and there is no guarantee a creditor settles rather than sues. Fees are steep, and forgiven debt above $600 is generally taxable income. Settlement exists as a real alternative to bankruptcy for some people, but it belongs at the end of the list, entered with eyes open — never in response to an ad promising to erase your debt.

The test any consolidation must pass

Consolidation rearranges debt; it does not remove it. The move pays off only if the new rate is genuinely lower after fees, the term does not quietly stretch your payoff by years, and the spending that built the balances stops. Fix those three things and almost any option above beats 22%. Skip them and consolidation is just a longer runway to the same wall.