Plot My Money and Pralana compared

Pralana and Plot My Money both suit people who want to see the detail behind a retirement plan: taxes line by line, Roth conversion limits and spending rules. Pralana comes as a web service, Pralana Online, and as a downloadable Excel model, Pralana Gold. This page compares Plot My Money with Pralana Online, using Pralana's own published pages.

Who each one is for

Pralana offers Pralana Online for individuals and families, Pralana Online Pro for advisors, and Pralana Gold, an Excel model (home page, purchase page). It shows its calculations in tables and replica tax forms (Online highlights).

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 Pralana's public pages. It doesn't mean the feature is missing.

Notes on the table

• Free plan: Pralana Online offers a one-time, 3-day trial. If you don't subscribe, the plan is deleted after up to 7 more days (purchase page).
• Spending rules: Pralana lists fixed percentage, fixed percentage with floor and ceiling, constant spending, Guyton-Klinger, target percentage adjustment, CAPE rules and an actuarial method. It also models consumption smoothing (analysis and optimization).
• Monte Carlo: Pralana runs 1,000 simulations and reports a success rate (Online highlights). Plot My Money runs up to 1,000 simulated markets on the free plan and up to 10,000 on Plus.
• Social Security: Pralana calculates spousal benefits and models restricted applications. We didn't find survivor benefits or the earnings test on the pages we checked (income and expenses).
• Charitable giving: Pralana models QCDs. We didn't find donor-advised funds (income and expenses).
• Insurance: Pralana Gold calculates the term life coverage needed after a partner's death. The page says Pralana Online will get this in the near future. We didn't find disability or long-term care needs (income and expenses).
• Plot My Money is an installable web app, not a store app. It 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.

Pralana (from its purchase page, checked November 5, 2026). Pralana Online and Online Pro are annual subscriptions:

• Pralana Online Single Plan: $129 the first year, then $99 a year. One plan with three scenarios.
• Pralana Online Family Plan: $199 the first year, then $159 a year. Five plans with three scenarios each.
• Pralana Online Pro, 25 plans: $399 the first year, then $349 a year.
• Pralana Online Pro, 50 plans: $599 the first year, then $499 a year.
• Pralana Online Trial: $0, a one-time 3-day trial.

We didn't find Pralana Gold's price on the pages we checked.

Where Pralana is stronger

• Replica tax forms. Pralana Online shows Form 1040 with its schedules, Forms 6251, 8606, 8960, 8962 and 8995, and state and local returns (Online highlights).
• Historical analysis. It simulates your plan starting in each of 75 or more years from 1928 on, and shows which start years went well and badly (Online highlights).
• Spending rules based on market valuation. Its list includes CAPE rules and an actuarial method (analysis and optimization).
• Roth conversion limits tied to the poverty line. It can cap income at a chosen multiple of the Federal Poverty Level (analysis and optimization).
• An Excel model. Pralana Gold is a downloadable Excel model, for people who prefer a spreadsheet (home page).

Who should pick which

• Pick Pralana if you want to check your plan against replica IRS forms, line by line.
• Pick Pralana if you'd rather work in an Excel model, or want historical start-year analysis.
• Pick Plot My Money if you want a monthly safe-to-spend figure, guardrails, and rules you write tested in every simulated market.
• Pick Plot My Money if your plan includes equity pay, deferred compensation or estate taxes.
• Pick Plot My Money if you want a free plan, or want to share your plan with a partner using roles and read-only links.

How to switch

Plot My Money doesn't import Pralana 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.

Sources

Each page below was read on November 5, 2026.

• Pralana home page
• Pralana Online purchase page
• Pralana Online highlights
• Pralana analysis and optimization
• Pralana income and expenses