Privacy
Your numbers stay in your browser. Here is how to check.
The tools on this site do their math on your device. There is no account, no upload, and no server that receives what you type.
This site is operated by Riverbend Crossroads Digital LLC, Indiana. "We" on this page means that company.
What stays on your device
- Every amount, rate, date and term you enter. It lives in the page's memory and is gone when you close the tab.
- Nothing you enter is saved in cookies or browser storage. Reload the page and the fields reset. The site keeps an offline copy of its own pages on your device so the tools work without a connection; that copy never contains your numbers.
- Nothing is put in the web address, so a link you share cannot carry your numbers.
- A statement you drop on a tool is read in the browser by a PDF reader served from this site. The file is never uploaded, its name and size are not logged, and it is discarded when you leave the page.
How we prove it
Every page is served with a Content Security Policy, a rule the browser enforces about where a page may send data. Ours names exactly one address the page may contact: the usage counter on this site, described below. The line that matters is connect-src: apart from that counter, the page cannot fetch, post, beacon or open a connection to any server, ours included. Here is the policy in full:
default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; style-src 'self'; img-src 'self' data:; font-src 'self'; connect-src https://www.showrealcost.com/_vercel/insights/; form-action 'none'; base-uri 'self'; frame-ancestors 'none'; object-src 'none'; upgrade-insecure-requests
One file has a different policy: the small service worker that makes the site work offline may fetch this site's own pages and files to store them on your device. Its policy is identical except that connect-src 'self' replaces 'none', so it too cannot reach any other address:
default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; style-src 'self'; img-src 'self' data:; font-src 'self'; connect-src 'self'; form-action 'none'; base-uri 'self'; frame-ancestors 'none'; object-src 'none'; upgrade-insecure-requests
To check it yourself: open your browser's developer tools, use a tool, and look at the network panel. You will see the page's own files load and nothing else. You can also read the response headers on any page of this site.
The offline test
A tool that needs no connection should keep working without one. Open any tool once, then turn on airplane mode or switch off your wifi and reload the page. The tool still runs, because everything it needs is already on your device and nothing it does requires a network.
On a phone or tablet you can also add Show Real Cost to your home screen and use it like an app. In Safari, use Share, then Add to Home Screen. In Chrome, open the browser menu and choose Install app or Add to Home Screen.
What our hosting can see
We do not claim zero data collection, because that would not be true. The site is hosted on Vercel, and like any web server it sees the address that requested a page, the page requested, and the browser type, and keeps that in operational logs for a limited time. That is how any website works. What it never sees is anything you type into a tool.
What we count
We keep aggregate usage counts so we know which tools are used and where statement drop fails. They are cookieless, they carry no identifier we could tie to you, and they never include a number you typed. They are collected by Vercel Web Analytics at https://www.showrealcost.com/_vercel/insights/, the one address the policy above allows. If your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control, nothing is counted at all.
Every event we count, by name:
| Event | When it is counted |
|---|---|
page view | which page was opened, and which page linked to it |
tool_start | a tool's first input was changed |
tool_complete | a tool showed a result |
show_math, questions_open, assumptions_open | a panel was opened |
print_summary, copy_questions | the print or copy button was used |
import_attempt, import_success, import_partial, import_failed | a statement was dropped, and whether it was read fully, partly, or not at all; a partial read carries the names of the fields not found, such as "term"; a failure carries a reason code such as "no-text" |
import_applied, import_discarded | the numbers from a statement were used or thrown away |
tool_error | a tool hit an unexpected error |
story_start, card_view | a story was opened past its first card, and which card number was shown |
guess_locked, reveal | a guess was locked in, and whether it was spot on, close, or off; never the guess itself |
yours_used, share, read_as_page | the calculator on the last card was used, the share button was pressed, or the story was switched to text |
streak_day | a day was added to the streak, as a band: 1, 2-3, 4-7 or 8+ days |
scrub_used | the "drag to any month" slider on a story was moved; never the month chosen |
w12_midway | the deferred interest calculator was switched to "part-way through" |
Each event also carries the tool's name and, for statements, whether it was a loan or a card. That is the whole list. Adding to it means changing this page first.
If you are outside the United States
The tools are built for loans in the United States: dollars, monthly payments, and the way US lenders quote rates and fees. The arithmetic works for any level-payment loan, but the wording and the questions to ask assume a US lender.
The privacy promises are the same wherever you are. Nothing you enter leaves your browser. We set no cookies and build no profile, so we do not show a consent banner. The only data that reaches us is the aggregate count described above, processed by Vercel, whose servers are in the United States; it includes the country a visit came from, worked out from the request at the edge, and never an address we keep. If you send Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control, not even that is counted.
If you use it through an AI assistant
Show Real Cost can also be connected to an AI assistant (see how). That works differently from this website and we do not describe it with the same promise. You give your numbers to the assistant; the assistant sends the ones it needs to our calculation server at mcp.showrealcost.com, a separate address from this site.
That server calculates and answers. It has no database and no accounts, it stores nothing, and our code does not log what was asked or answered. Like any web server, its host sees the address a request came from and when, and keeps that in operational logs for a limited time. What your assistant keeps is governed by the assistant's own privacy terms, not ours.
Everything on this website still runs in your browser, and the policy published above still applies to every page here.
The embeddable card
Other sites may show today's guess or the average rates in a small frame from /embed/today or /embed/rates. Those pages are the one place we allow framing: they ship the same policy with frame-ancestors * instead of 'none', carry no scripts, count nothing, and only link back here. The guess itself always happens on this site.
What is kept on your device
The daily guess keeps a streak: the dates on which you played, stored in your browser on this device only. It is a short list of dates and nothing else. It never contains a number you typed or a guess you made, and it never leaves your device. Clearing your browser data removes it, and so does this button.
If you use the light or dark button in the header, that choice is kept the same way, as the word "light" or "dark". Without it, the site follows your device's setting.
What we do not do
- No accounts, logins or saved history.
- No bank connections, credit pulls or document uploads.
- No advertising pixels, session recording or fingerprinting.
- No lender matching, lead forms or selling of anything you enter. There is nothing to sell, because we never receive it.
Show Real Cost is for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly ask children for personal information.
Reviewed 5 September 2026. Updated 6 September 2026: usage counts added and the policy's one allowed address described. Updated 7 October 2026: statement about children added. Updated 9 October 2026: the light/dark choice and the scrub_used count added. Updated 10 October 2026: the w12_midway count added. Changes to this page are dated here.