Retirement Planner Comparison, October 2026: firenum vs Boldin vs ProjectionLab
Six planners, prices checked on each vendor's own page on October 19, 2026. We build one of them, so check our work.
TL;DR
- Prices this month: Boldin PlannerPlus $168/yr, MaxiFi $149/yr, ProjectionLab Premium $129/yr, Pralana Gold $99/yr. Empower's dashboard and firenum's Fire Planner cost $0.
- As of October 19, 2026, firenum does US taxes: federal, all 50 states and DC, payroll tax, Social Security with a claiming age and spousal top-up, a Roth conversion ladder, RMDs and the ACA credit. No account needed. The planner runs in your browser and your plan is saved there; a free account keeps it on any device.
- Where the paid tools still win: account linking (Boldin, Empower), optimizers that pick your claiming age or Roth conversions (MaxiFi, Pralana), human help (Boldin's CFP checkup), tax outside the US (ProjectionLab).
- We build firenum. Every competitor fact below comes from the vendor's own page, with the link at the bottom.
Why This Comparison, and Why Now
Until this month the honest answer to "should I pay for Boldin or ProjectionLab?" was often yes, because firenum took take-home pay and left tax to you. That changed on October 19, 2026. The Fire Planner now computes US tax every year of the plan, and its federal and state math matches PolicyEngine-US within $1 on 557 test households.
So we checked every paid planner's current price and tier on its own website, the same day, and put them side by side. Prices move: Boldin's PlannerPlus is $168 a year now, up from $144 when we last wrote about it. If you read this later, follow the links and check again.
For a wider list that includes free single-purpose calculators (FIRECalc, FI Calc, cFIREsim), see our FIRE calculator comparison.
Who We Compared
- Boldin and ProjectionLab: the two paid planners FIRE readers name most.
- MaxiFi: the planner built around Social Security and a steady living standard. Its optimizers are what firenum lacks.
- Pralana: the most tax detail of the group, sold as an Excel workbook and an online version.
- Empower's Personal Dashboard: the free option most people already have, built on linked accounts.
Price and Access
| Planner | Free tier | Paid tier | Sign-up | Where your plan lives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| firenum | Everything | None | None | Your browser; a free account keeps it on any device |
| Boldin | Basic: plan, what-ifs, 2 explorers | PlannerPlus $168/yr; Advisors $3,200 flat | Yes | Boldin account |
| ProjectionLab | Basic: forecasting, Monte Carlo, backtesting | Premium $129/yr; Pro (for advisors) $549/yr | Yes | ProjectionLab account (Google Cloud, Firebase) |
| MaxiFi | 14-day trial, card required | Unlocked $149/yr | Yes | MaxiFi account |
| Pralana | Bronze (being discontinued) | Gold $99/yr (Excel); Online price not published | To buy | Gold: your Excel file |
| Empower | Dashboard and tools | Advisory from 0.89% of assets, $100K minimum | Yes, email and phone | Empower account, linked to your institutions |
Features That Decide It
"Paid" means the feature sits in the paid tier. "Not listed" means the vendor's pricing or feature page does not mention it. It may exist, and we did not count it either way.
| Feature | firenum | Boldin | ProjectionLab | MaxiFi | Pralana |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monte Carlo | ✓ 100-5,000 runs | Paid | ✓ Free tier | Paid | ✓ 1,000 runs |
| Historical backtest | ✓ Every start year since 1872 | Not listed | ✓ Free tier | Not listed | ✓ From 1928 (Online) |
| US federal and state tax | ✓ 50 states + DC, payroll tax | Paid | Paid | Paid: inside the Roth optimizer | ✓ Plus local tax |
| Tax outside the US | ✗ Take-home pay | Not listed | Paid: CA, UK, AU, DE, NL presets | Not listed | Not listed |
| Roth conversions | ✓ 4 rules you pick | Paid: explorer | Paid | Paid: optimizer | ✓ Bracket, IRMAA and ACA aware |
| Social Security | ✓ Claim age 62-70, spousal | Paid: explorer | Not listed | Paid: maximizer | ✓ Optimizes start age |
| ACA premium credit | ✓ | Not listed | Paid | Not listed | ✓ |
| Account linking | ✗ | Paid: 3 aggregators | ✗ Not needed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Human advice | Advisor directory | CFP checkup, $3,200 | Pro tier is for advisors | Share with your advisor (paid) | Not listed |
| Several plans | ✓ 5, compared in one table | Paid | Paid | ✓ Up to 25 (paid) | ✓ 3 at once |
| Currencies | ✓ 9 | Not listed | 1 display currency | Not listed | Not listed |
Empower is out of this table on purpose: its pages describe a dashboard with a scenario planner and do not list these planning features one by one. It earns its place below for a different job.
A tick in the Monte Carlo row doesn't mean two tools give the same odds. The model and its assumptions move the answer more than the tool does:
What firenum Does Now
Everything here runs in your browser with no sign-up and no paid tier. Turn on US taxes in the quick-start or the Taxes card and every year of the plan gets:
- Federal tax on 2026 law: brackets, the standard deduction with the 65+ and senior additions, the child tax credit, long-term gains and qualified dividends at 0/15/20%, NIIT. Later years move with the plan's inflation.
- State income tax for all 50 states and DC, plus FICA and self-employment tax and the 10% early-withdrawal penalty.
- Couples: married filing jointly or two single filers, an owner on each account and income line, the partner's own retirement date.
- Social Security: your statement's benefit, a claiming age from 62 to 70, the spousal top-up, an estimate from salary history if you have no statement, taxed under the 50/85% rules. A stress test cuts it to 78% from 2033.
- Roth conversion ladder: fill the 10, 12, 22 or 24% bracket, convert a fixed amount, or stay under the ACA limit, each December until an age you set (the stand-alone Roth conversion ladder calculator shows the rungs and their federal tax).
- RMDs from 73 or 75 by birth year, and the ACA premium credit on a Marketplace health line before 65. HSA withdrawals are tax-free up to the year's healthcare spending.
Under the answer, a Taxes tab shows tax by year, lifetime tax and the effective rate. The same plan is graded three ways: average returns, 500 Monte Carlo runs, and every historical start year since 1872. Six stress tests (seven with Social Security) and a Sankey diagram of each year's money come with it.
We checked the tax math against two independent calculators: 557 test households match PolicyEngine-US within $1, and the federal cases match the open-source PSL Tax-Calculator too.
Where firenum Is Weaker
Here is what you give up by staying on firenum. If one of these is the reason you are planning at all, pay for the tool that has it.
No Optimizer
firenum runs the claiming age and Roth rule you pick. Searching every option for the best one is MaxiFi's job: its Social Security Maximizer and Roth Conversion Optimizer do exactly that. Pralana optimizes claiming ages and withdrawal order. In firenum you compare ages yourself across 5 plans. An optimizer does that search for you.
Tax Gaps
No itemized deductions, AMT, local or city tax, head of household or married filing separately, RSUs and ISOs, tax-loss harvesting, Medicare premiums or IRMAA, survivor benefits or the earnings test. Pralana covers local tax and IRMAA. ProjectionLab Premium does capital gains harvesting.
US Tax Only
Outside the US, firenum works in take-home pay and you add tax as a spending line. ProjectionLab Premium has tax presets for Canada, the UK, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands.
No Account Linking
You type balances and record new ones in a monthly check-in. Empower (free) and Boldin PlannerPlus pull them from your institutions automatically.
Five Plans, One Table
You keep up to 5 plans and compare them in one table: retirement date, the average-returns outcome, Monte Carlo and backtest counts, net worth at retirement. ProjectionLab Premium's compare mode puts whole plans side by side, charts included.
No Classes, No Built-In Advisor
Boldin runs live classes and Q&A sessions, and sells a CFP plan checkup for $3,200. firenum has written guides and a directory of fee-only advisors you contact yourself.
The Planners, One by One
Boldin (formerly NewRetirement)
Free Basic · PlannerPlus $168/yrBest for: US retirees within 10 years of retiring who want classes and an advisor on call
Strengths
- PlannerPlus: Monte Carlo, Roth conversion explorer, Social Security explorer, state and federal tax projections
- Links your accounts through three aggregators
- A CFP plan checkup from a fee-only fiduciary for a $3,200 flat fee
- Live classes and Q&A sessions, 14-day trial
Limitations
- Basic has no Monte Carlo (PlannerPlus only)
- Sign-up required, even for Basic
- Early withdrawal penalty modeling is listed as coming soon
ProjectionLab
Free Basic · Premium $129/yrBest for: Detailed DIY planners, inside or outside the US
Strengths
- Monte Carlo and historical backtesting in the free Basic tier
- Premium: tax estimation, Roth conversions, ACA subsidies, capital gains harvesting, estate planning
- Tax presets for Canada, the UK, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands
- Compare mode and multiple plans; no account linking needed
Limitations
- Tax, Roth conversions and multiple plans are Premium only
- Plans are stored in your ProjectionLab account (Google Cloud and Firebase)
- One display currency
MaxiFi Planner
$149/yr (14-day trial)Best for: Social Security claiming and a steady living standard
Strengths
- Social Security Maximizer searches for your best filing strategy
- Roth Conversion Optimizer aims at the lowest lifetime tax
- Plans spending as a stable living standard through retirement
- Up to 25 alternative profiles, advisor sharing
Limitations
- A credit card is required to start the trial
- The trial locks Social Security, Roth, withdrawal and Monte Carlo tools
- No free tier after the trial
Pralana
Gold $99/yr · Online (price not published)Best for: Tax detail and optimizers, for people who like a spreadsheet
Strengths
- Optimizes Social Security start ages and withdrawal order
- Federal, state and local tax, IRMAA brackets, ACA subsidies (Online)
- Deterministic, Monte Carlo (1,000 runs) and historical analysis
- Shows how each number was derived, down to IRS form replicas (Online)
Limitations
- Gold runs in Excel (2007+ on Windows, 2011+ on Mac)
- Online's price is not on the purchase page
- The free Bronze edition is being discontinued
Empower Personal Dashboard
Free (advisory from 0.89% of assets)Best for: Seeing every account in one place, updated automatically
Strengths
- Connects IRAs, 401(k)s, brokerage, bank, mortgage and credit card accounts
- Retirement planner to test-drive scenarios
- Optional managed accounts (Personal Strategy) with an advisor
Limitations
- Sign-up asks for an email and a phone number
- The free tools sit next to an advisory service: fees from 0.89% of assets, $100K minimum
- Its value depends on linking your accounts
Longer reviews: Boldin, ProjectionLab, Empower.
Which One to Pick
- Want US tax, Social Security, a Roth ladder, Monte Carlo and a backtest with no account and no fee? → firenum
- Plan outside the US, or in more than one currency? → firenum in take-home pay, or ProjectionLab Premium for its five country tax presets
- Want software to pick your Social Security claiming age? → MaxiFi or Pralana
- Want software to pick your Roth conversions? → MaxiFi or Pralana
- Need local tax or IRMAA in the numbers? → Pralana
- Want balances to update themselves? → Empower (free) or Boldin PlannerPlus
- Want a person to check the plan? → Boldin's CFP checkup, or a fee-only advisor of your choice
- Want the most polished paid DIY planner? → ProjectionLab Premium ($129/yr)
Two tools work too: firenum to build and stress the plan in private, a paid one for the single thing it does better. Start with firenum and pay when you hit its limit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. There is no paid tier and no account needed. The planner runs in your browser and your plan is saved there; a free account keeps it on any device. How firenum makes money is public, and it never involves locking a feature.
For the numbers, often yes: both compute US federal and state tax every year, Social Security with a claiming age, Roth conversions, RMDs and Monte Carlo, and firenum adds a historical backtest. Boldin still wins on account linking, live classes, its Social Security explorer and a CFP you can hire through it. If you want those, pay for Boldin.
If you live in the US or plan in take-home pay, yes. No account needed. The planner runs in your browser and your plan is saved there; a free account keeps it on any device. ProjectionLab Premium goes further on tax outside the US (five country presets), capital gains harvesting, estate planning and chart polish. Our firenum vs ProjectionLab post goes line by line.
MaxiFi (Social Security Maximizer) and Pralana (optimizes start ages) search for it. Boldin PlannerPlus has a Social Security explorer. firenum takes your statement's benefit and a claiming age you choose from 62 to 70, adds the spousal top-up and taxes the benefit. You compare ages yourself, with up to 5 plans side by side.
Empower (free) and Boldin PlannerPlus (through three aggregators). ProjectionLab says it needs no link to your accounts. firenum has no account linking: you type balances, and a monthly check-in records new ones.
No. Taxes are Off by default and the planner works in any country with take-home pay and 9 currencies. Turn US taxes on and you enter income before tax. The planner then computes federal, state and payroll tax for you.
Run your plan with US taxes on, no sign-up.