What's wrong with an embedded calculator widget?

An embedded or plugin calculator usually loads in an iframe, so it's slower and can hurt your page speed on mobile. It looks off-brand because it came from somewhere else, it's identical to the same widget on hundreds of other broker sites so it does nothing for your differentiation or SEO, and the logic is locked so you can't update it when rates move. The biggest problem is that most embedded calculators can't capture a lead, so the visitor does the sum and leaves without you ever knowing.

How much does a custom website calculator cost?

Across the web-builder market, a genuinely custom calculator is usually treated as a premium add-on priced in the low thousands of dollars, while the cheaper path is to embed a free third-party widget. That leaves most brokers choosing between paying a lot extra or settling for the generic one. We take a different approach and include custom calculators in the build, kept current through the ongoing care plan, rather than charging for them separately.

Do calculators on a broker website need a disclaimer?

It's standard practice. Any calculator or numerical example usually carries an 'estimate only, subject to lender criteria and a full assessment, not a credit offer' style line, kept right next to the figure rather than in the footer. Where you show an interest rate, a comparison rate generally sits beside it with equal prominence. The exact wording can depend on whether you're an MFAA or FBAA member and what your licensee requires, so confirm the specifics with your compliance support.

What calculators should a broker website have?

It depends on who you serve, but the most useful go beyond a basic repayment sum. A borrowing-capacity estimate answers the first question most buyers have, a repayment calculator helps people picture the commitment, and a current-rate versus better-rate or refinance comparison is powerful for existing borrowers. A custom build lets you tailor the logic to how you work and capture the result as a lead, which a generic widget can't do.

Compound Notes

Smart tools

The calculator on your broker website: plugin or custom?

Almost every broker site has a calculator, and almost none of them earn their keep. Here's the difference between an embedded plugin and a custom, included calculator, why it decides whether your site generates leads, and how to tell which one you've got.

Rebecca TicknerMFAA member & finance broker · founder, WeCompound24 June 20264 min read

Most broker sitesthe embedded plugin

Borrowing Power Calculator

Enter your income

Net salary

Other income

Dependents

Expenses

Loan balance chart

You can borrow up to$297,000

ResetPrintAssumption

WeCompoundbuilt for you

Custom · on-brand

Estimated repayment

$3,897/ month

Estimate only. Subject to lender criteria.

PrincipalInterest

Loan amount$650,000

Email my results

Same job. One looks borrowed. One looks like you.

Almost every broker site has a calculator. Almost none of them earn a cent. The difference is not the maths. It is everything around it.

I build broker websites and I'm a finance broker myself, so I've watched both kinds in the wild: the calculator that quietly collects leads, and the one that just sits there. Here's the difference, fast.

The plugin tax

The quick, cheap calculator is an embedded one: an aggregator or third-party widget dropped into the page. It works, in the narrow sense that numbers go in and numbers come out. Here's what it quietly costs you.

It loads slow: a second thing the browser has to fetch, so the page drags on mobile
It's off-brand: it looks borrowed, because it is, and that undercuts everything else
It's everyone's: the same widget on hundreds of sites, so it sets you apart from none
It's locked: you can't change the logic when a rate or lender panel moves
It can't capture a lead: the big one: the visitor does the sum and leaves, and you never know

A calculator that can't capture anyone is just a maths lesson you paid for.

What custom changes

A calculator built into the site is a different animal. Fast, because it's part of the page. On-brand, because it's yours. And it can do the one thing that matters: capture the result.The moment someone has their answer, it offers to email it over. That's a lead who just handed you their scenario, on a page they chose to use.

How we do it

On the broker sites we build, the calculator is custom, built in, and included rather than charged as an extra. It captures the result as a lead, and an ongoing care plan keeps its rates current. Live examples on our examples page, and a working one on the homepage.

The compliance bit

A calculator shows numbers, and numbers carry rules. Any figure usually needs an "estimate only, subject to lender criteria" line right beside it, and a rate generally needs its comparison rate next to it with equal prominence. A generic widget carries someone else's defaults, not your MFAA or FBAA wording. Confirm the specifics with your compliance support. More in our compliance checklist.

The 30-second check

Open your own calculator on your phone and run these. No code required.

Does it load as fast as the page?: a beat late or a stutter means it's embedded
Does it look like your site?: different fonts or colours are a tell it came from elsewhere
Can it capture the result?: no email or save means no lead, full stop
Is the caveat next to the number?: not in the footer, not missing, right by the figure
Could you update it tomorrow?: if you'd have to ask the provider, the logic is locked

A "no" on the third one is the one I'd worry about. That's leads walking out the door every day.

The short version

Your calculator is the best lead tool on your site, but only if it can do the job. A plugin is slow, borrowed, locked, and can't capture a soul. A custom one is fast, yours, compliant in your words, and turns the moment of the answer into a conversation. The maths is the easy part.

See how we build, try the live calculator, or run our complimentary audit to see how yours measures up.

General information only, current as at June 2026. Not legal or compliance advice. Confirm any figures, calculators or disclaimers on your own site with your licensee or compliance support.

Common questions

Yes. A calculator is one of the strongest lead tools a broker site can have, because it answers the exact question most visitors arrive with: what can I borrow, or what would this cost. Most people on a broker site are researching rather than ready to call, and a calculator gives them a reason to engage now. The version that actually generates leads is built into the site and can capture the result, rather than a generic embedded widget that does the sum and lets the person leave.