Plot My Money and Monarch compared

Monarch is a budgeting and money-tracking app. Plot My Money is a retirement planning app. They do different jobs, and some households use a budgeting app and a planner side by side. This page sets out where they overlap, using Monarch's own public pages.

Who each one is for

Monarch brings your accounts “together into one clear view,” per its home page. You link bank accounts, cards, loans, real estate and investments, build a budget, and can invite a partner or advisor. Its Plus plan adds a forecasting tool that projects net worth and retirement.

Plot My Money is for US households planning for retirement or already retired. It shows what's safe to spend each month, tests the plan across thousands of simulated markets, and plans taxes, Social Security and withdrawals year by year. It runs in a browser on phones and computers, and has an Advisor plan for planners who work with clients.

Features side by side

“Not published” means we didn't find the feature on Monarch's public pages. It doesn't mean the feature is missing. We left out rows about specialist tax and estate topics, since Monarch doesn't present itself as a tax planner.

Notes on the table

• Monarch has no free plan on its pricing page. Its headline offer is “Your first week is on us.”
• Monte Carlo is marked No because its forecasting guide, dated April 13, 2026, says “Monarch doesn't currently provide statistical probabilities.”
• Federal tax is marked Partial because that guide says forecasts tax retirement income at a default rate of 20% and taxable account gains at 15%.
• The same guide says Social Security starts at 65 with a default of $2,000 a month, and you can choose a start age from 62 to 70.
• Advisors are marked Partial because its home page says you can collaborate with your partner or advisor at no extra cost. We didn't find a plan for advisors.
• Monarch connects to 13,000+ financial institutions, per its home page, and works on web, iOS and Android.
• Plot My Money runs up to 1,000 simulated markets on the free plan and up to 10,000 on Plus.
• Plot My Money on a phone is an installable web app, not a store app.
• Plot My Money doesn't link accounts. You enter balances by hand or import them from files.

Pricing as published

Plot My Money has a free plan and two paid plans. Plus covers your household, at a yearly price of the amount shown before you subscribe. The Advisor plan covers a set number of client households, at a yearly price of the amount shown before you subscribe. Until paid plans go on sale, every feature is included for every household. See plans and billing.

Monarch (from its pricing page and its Monarch Plus post, checked November 5, 2026):

• Two subscription options: $14.99 monthly or $99.99 yearly.
• Monarch Plus: $199 per year, with forecasting, business income tracking and advanced investment analysis.
• A 7-day trial, per the Plus post.
• New users can get 30% off the annual Core plan for one year with code WELCOME.
• You can cancel anytime, and the pricing page offers a no-questions-asked money-back policy.

Where Monarch is stronger

• Linked accounts. Monarch syncs with 13,000+ financial institutions through several data providers, per its home page. Plot My Money doesn't link accounts.
• Budgeting and transactions. Monarch is built for day-to-day budgeting and tracking spending. Plot My Money plans spending but doesn't track transactions.
• Phone apps. Monarch runs on web, iOS and Android.
• Couples. You can invite your partner to see your full picture and budget together.
• Business income. Plus tracks income and expenses for a small business or rental separately, with P&L reports, per its Plus post.

Who should pick which

• Pick Monarch if you want to see every account in one place and track your budget and spending month to month.
• Pick Monarch if a net-worth forecast answers your retirement questions.
• Pick Plot My Money if you want to know what's safe to spend in retirement, with taxes, Social Security and withdrawals modeled year by year.
• Pick Plot My Money if you want to see your chance of success across many possible market futures.

How to switch

Plot My Money doesn't import Monarch files, so you set up your plan again. Have your latest balances, pay, spending and Social Security estimates to hand.

1. Start a plan and answer the setup questions about your household, income, spending and accounts.
2. If you have a holdings file, import it as Excel or CSV on the Accounts screen.
3. Add Social Security from your SSA statement, plus pensions and any other income.
4. Compare the results with your old plan. Differences usually come from assumptions about returns, inflation, taxes and spending.

You can download your plan as a JSON file at any time. See getting started and importing and exporting.

If you keep Monarch for budgeting, you can keep using it alongside Plot My Money: enter your balances in your plan when you update them each month.

Sources

Each page below was read on November 5, 2026.

• Monarch home page
• Monarch pricing
• Monarch blog: forecasting guide
• Monarch blog: Monarch Plus