Plot My Money and ProjectionLab compared

ProjectionLab and Plot My Money are both web-based retirement planners with a free plan, Monte Carlo simulation and detailed tax planning. They differ in what they model beyond the core plan, in where they work, and in price. This page sets out the differences using ProjectionLab's own published pages.

Who each one is for

ProjectionLab describes its Premium plan as a "professional-grade DIY tool for financial and retirement planning" and its Pro plan as software "for financial advisors and coaches" (pricing). It also plans for some countries other than the US, including Canada, Australia and the UK (v4.6 release notes).

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

Notes on the table

• Many of ProjectionLab's tax features, including Roth conversions, capital gains harvesting, ACA subsidies, estate planning and downloadable reports, are listed under its paid Premium plan (pricing).
• Social Security: you enter your Primary Insurance Amount and pick a claiming age from 62 to 70. We didn't find a screen that compares every claiming age (v4.6 release notes).
• Equity compensation: a help page describes an RSU grant income type, with the vesting schedule entered by you. It doesn't mention stock options or ESPPs (RSU grants help).
• Estate tax: version 4.5.0 added federal estate tax estimation for the US and inheritance tax for the UK. We didn't find US state estate or inheritance taxes (changelog).
• Rules: ProjectionLab offers rule-based spending cuts, such as cutting discretionary spending after a market drop (v4.6 release notes).
• Account linking: plugins built by third parties can bring in balances from some budgeting tools (plugins help).
• Phones: ProjectionLab says it "currently only exists as a web app" that you can install on your phone (mobile support help). Plot My Money is also an installable web app, not a store app.
• Simulations: ProjectionLab says you can run up to 2,000 trials (trials help). Plot My Money runs up to 1,000 simulated markets on the free plan and up to 10,000 on Plus.
• 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.

ProjectionLab (from its pricing page, checked November 5, 2026):

• Basic: $0 a year. Includes forecasting, Monte Carlo simulations and historical backtesting.
• Premium: $129 a year, with a free trial.
• Pro: $549 a year, with a free trial. Includes 10 client seats, with additional clients at $2 a month.

Where ProjectionLab is stronger

• A free tier with historical backtesting. Its free Basic plan lists Monte Carlo simulations and historical backtesting (pricing).
• One optimizer for several tax goals. It searches strategies for six objectives, including lower lifetime taxes, more ACA subsidies, lower IRMAA surcharges and higher net legacy (v4.6 release notes).
• Planning outside the US. It models rules for Canada, Australia and the UK (v4.6 release notes).
• Self-employed accounts. Its version 5 early access adds SEP IRA, Solo 401k and Roth Solo 401k account types. It also calculates the QBI deduction and deductible self-employment tax (v5 early access guide).
• Plugins. Third-party plugins can sync data from other tools (plugins help).
• A longer public history. Its changelog lists releases back to 2021 (changelog).

Who should pick which

• Pick ProjectionLab if you plan in Canada, Australia or the UK.
• Pick ProjectionLab if you want historical backtesting on a free plan, or a single optimizer across several tax goals.
• Pick ProjectionLab if you want plugins that bring in data from your budgeting tool.
• Pick Plot My Money if you want a monthly safe-to-spend figure with guardrails, and rules you write tested in every simulated market.
• Pick Plot My Money if your plan includes stock options or ESPP, deferred compensation, insurance needs, or state estate and inheritance taxes.
• Pick Plot My Money if you want to share your plan with a partner or an advisor using roles and read-only links.

How to switch

Plot My Money can read a ProjectionLab JSON export file.

1. Sign in and open Import a plan in Settings.
2. Choose your export file. It's read on your device and never sent to us.
3. Pick which plans to bring over. One becomes your main plan, and others can come along as scenarios.
4. Review the summary of what was brought over, what was approximated and what wasn't, then replace your plan with it.

Tools model some things differently, so check the approximated items and run Outlook before you rely on the results. See importing and exporting.

ProjectionLab lists JSON export among its backup and portability options (changelog).

Sources

Each page below was read on November 5, 2026.

• ProjectionLab pricing
• ProjectionLab v4.6 release notes
• ProjectionLab changelog
• ProjectionLab v5 early access guide
• ProjectionLab help: RSU grants
• ProjectionLab help: mobile support
• ProjectionLab help: plugins
• ProjectionLab help: increasing trials in chance of success