Price and free options
| Product | Price | Free option | Account linking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boldin | PlannerPlus $168/yr for new subscribers from October 15, 2026 ($144 before). Optional advisor plan $3,200 flat fee. | Free Basic plan, and a 14-day PlannerPlus trial. | Yes, on PlannerPlus, through account aggregators. |
| ProjectionLab | Premium $129/yr. Pro (for advisors and coaches) $549/yr. | Free Basic plan with Monte Carlo and historical backtesting. | No direct linking; plugins import from Lunch Money, YNAB and Monarch. |
| MaxiFi Planner | $149/yr. | 14-day trial; a card is required and charged on day 15. | Not stated |
| WealthTrace | Standard $229/yr. Deluxe $289/yr. Advisor $1,049/yr. | 7-day trial for individuals, no card required. | Yes, investment accounts can be linked. |
| Pralana | Pralana Online $129 the first year, then $99/yr. Gold (Excel) $99/yr plus a $30 sign-up fee. | Free one-time 3-day trial of Pralana Online. | Not stated |
| Empower Personal Dashboard | Free. Optional paid investment management from 0.89% a year. | The dashboard and planning tools are free. | Yes, bank and investment accounts. |
| Killion | Pro $14/mo or $132/yr. Max $24/mo or $228/yr. Prices exclude VAT. | No free plan. A no-signup live demo, and a 5-day trial with a card. | Read-only brokerage and crypto linking via SnapTrade; bank balances are entered by hand while bank linking moves provider. |
| FI Calc | Free, supported by donations. | Free. | No. |
| cFIREsim | Free, no account needed. | Free. | No. |
Planning features
| Product | Monte Carlo | Historical backtest | Tax planning | Social Security |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boldin | Yes, on PlannerPlus. | Not stated | Roth conversion explorer, federal and state tax projections, RMDs and IRMAA. | Social Security Explorer compares claiming ages for you and a spouse. |
| ProjectionLab | Yes, including on the free plan. | Yes, including on the free plan. | Premium adds Roth conversions, tax estimates and ACA subsidies; RMDs and IRMAA cliffs are modeled. | Modeled, including spousal and survivor benefits; you choose the claiming age. |
| MaxiFi Planner | Living Standard Monte Carlo. | Not stated | Roth Conversion Optimizer covering federal and state tax, Social Security taxation, IRMAA and RMDs. | Social Security Maximizer. |
| WealthTrace | Yes, 1,000 simulations. | Not stated | RMDs; Roth conversion scenarios on Deluxe; state tax as an average rate you enter. | Benefit estimate from your SSA figures. |
| Pralana | Yes. | Historical analysis; Gold runs each start year from 1928. | Federal and state returns, Roth conversions, RMDs and IRMAA. | Optimizes Social Security start ages. |
| Empower Personal Dashboard | Yes (Empower says 5,000 scenarios). | Not stated | Not stated | Claiming age is an input. |
| Killion | 1,000-path regime-switching Monte Carlo with fixed seeds. | Yes, every market start year since 1928. | Opt-in estimates on paid plans: federal and state tax, RMDs, Roth conversions, IRMAA and ACA credits. | Benefits are modeled; there is no claiming optimizer. |
| FI Calc | Not stated | Yes, with more than a dozen withdrawal strategies. | Not stated | Can be added as income. |
| cFIREsim | Not stated | Yes, with several spending models. | Not stated | Can be entered as income. |
“Not stated” means the vendor’s own pages do not say, not that the feature is missing.
Which tool fits which job
- Boldin: People near retirement who want guided Roth conversion and Social Security tools, with the option of a paid human planner. Killion vs Boldin
- ProjectionLab: Hands-on planners who want a free plan, detailed scenario modeling and manual control over their data. Killion vs ProjectionLab
- MaxiFi Planner: Households who want an economics-based plan that smooths their living standard over life and optimizes Social Security and Roth timing. Killion vs MaxiFi
- WealthTrace: Individuals who want linked accounts and Monte Carlo in one published-price plan. Killion vs WealthTrace
- Pralana: Detail-minded planners who want a deep tax model and do not mind entering a lot of inputs. Killion vs Pralana
- Empower Personal Dashboard: People who want a free all-accounts dashboard and a quick retirement check, and do not mind an advisory pitch. Killion vs Empower
- Killion: Investors who want to stress-test a plan built on their linked brokerage holdings, with seeded Monte Carlo, backtests to 1928 and named withdrawal rules. Killion website
- FI Calc: FIRE planners testing withdrawal rules against market history for free. Killion vs FI Calc
- cFIREsim: Quick, free historical stress tests of a FIRE plan. cFIREsim website
How to choose
Most people shortlisting these tools are answering one of four questions. Working out which one you have narrows the field faster than any feature table.
- “When can I retire, and how sure can I be?” A simulation question: Killion, ProjectionLab, WealthTrace or Pralana. The free Monte Carlo retirement calculator answers a simple version.
- “Should I convert to a Roth, and when should I claim Social Security?” A tax and benefits question: Boldin, MaxiFi or Pralana. The free Roth conversion calculator and Social Security breakeven calculator cover one year and one decision.
- “Would my withdrawal plan have survived history?” A backtesting question: FI Calc, cFIREsim, ProjectionLab or Killion.
- “Where is everything, and what is it worth?” A tracking question: Empower for free, or Kubera for unusual assets.
Other tools people consider
- Fidelity Planning & Guidance Center: Free for anyone to try. Monte Carlo with federal and state tax estimates, set to a conservative 90% confidence level by default.
- Schwab Retirement Income Calculator: Free. Monte Carlo at an 80% probability of success; it does not include taxes or fees.
- Vanguard retirement income calculator: Free and simple: it assumes you spend about 4% of your savings a year and adds Social Security.
- Monarch: A budgeting app. Core is $99.99/yr or $14.99/mo; Plus ($199.99/yr) adds a retirement forecast.
- Kubera: A net-worth tracker for unusual assets, from $250/yr. Its scenarios are for the balance sheet, not retirement Monte Carlo.
- RightCapital and eMoney: Planning software for financial advisors. RightCapital is $149.95 to $254.95 per advisor per month; eMoney does not publish prices. You see them through an advisor.
How we checked
Every price and feature above was read from the vendor’s own pricing, product or help pages on . Prices are what a new individual subscriber pays. We did not test accuracy or score the products, and we left out anything a vendor does not say publicly. Killion Labs makes Killion, one of the products here. Vendors change prices; check before you buy.
Sources: Boldin, ProjectionLab, MaxiFi Planner, WealthTrace, Pralana, Empower Personal Dashboard, Killion, FI Calc, cFIREsim.