Comparison hub
How cinder.fi compares.
Honest, side-by-side feature tables — built by our team, sourced from public pages, and transparent about what we don't do. Pick your comparison:
US retirement
US Retirement Planners
vs Empower, Boldin, ProjectionLab
The 3 tools Americans actually use — compared on Roth conversions, withdrawal strategies, Monte Carlo, Social Security, and free tiers.
Roth conversion · Social Security · 401(k) / IRA
Canadian retirement
Canadian Retirement Planners
vs Optiml, Adviice, ProjectionLab
RRSP meltdown, OAS clawback, pension splitting, CPP optimization, and all 13 provincial tax codes. Plus: why spreadsheets aren't enough.
RRSP meltdown · OAS clawback · pension splitting
Budgeting apps
Budgeting Apps
vs YNAB, Monarch Money, Copilot
Every budgeting app tracks where your money went. Only one connects it to 50-year tax-aware retirement projections.
spending tracking · bank sync · budget → projections
The short version
What no other tool does
Budgeting + retirement in one tool
16-category budget plan, transaction import (CSV, OFX, YNAB, Copilot), Plaid bank sync — all feeding directly into 50-year tax-aware projections. No other retirement planner does this. No budgeting app does this.
US + Canada in the same engine
Real tax brackets for all 50 US states + DC and all 13 Canadian provinces/territories. RRSP meltdown and Roth conversions. CPP/OAS and Social Security. Cross-border couples can plan both sides.
A real free tier
Full projections, budgeting, 4 charts, Plaid (1 account), plan sharing — no account required. No trial timer. No credit card. Empower is the only competitor with a comparable free offering, and its planning depth is shallow.
Multi-objective optimizer
Sweeps CPP/OAS age, withdrawal strategies, meltdown, savings allocation, spousal RRSP, PLOC — 8+ dimensions simultaneously. One-click presets: Minimize Tax, Maximize Estate, Maximize Funded Years.
Historical backtest to 1871
Test your plan against every 30-year market window since 1871. Real S&P 500 + bond returns. 4 spending strategies: Fixed, Constant Dollar, Guyton-Klinger, VPW. No other consumer planner offers this depth.
AI-native via MCP
19 retirement tools exposed via Model Context Protocol. Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor can run projections, score plans, and optimize strategies. No other planner has a public API of any kind.
The real competitor
cinder.fi vs your spreadsheet
Spreadsheets are the most popular retirement planning tool — especially in Canada, where nothing else handled the tax rules. If yours works, keep it. Here's what you're leaving on the table:
What a spreadsheet can't do
- • 1,000 Monte Carlo simulations in seconds
- • Sweep 8 optimization dimensions simultaneously
- • Auto-sync your bank accounts via Plaid
- • Import transactions from YNAB, Copilot, or CSV
- • Track actual spending against your plan
- • Backtest against 150+ years of real market data
- • Auto-update when tax brackets change yearly
- • Share with a spouse or advisor via URL or PDF
What cinder.fi also does
- ✓ Real marginal tax brackets (13 CA provinces, 50 US states)
- ✓ OAS clawback + GIS + provincial supplements
- ✓ RRSP meltdown bracket-filling
- ✓ CPP/OAS/SS break-even analysis
- ✓ Pension income splitting optimization
- ✓ Year-by-year projection table
- ✓ Custom withdrawal ordering
- ✓ Multiple scenario comparison
cinder.fi is the spreadsheet — but interactive, visual, connected to your bank, and free.
Frequently asked questions
› Is cinder.fi really free?
Yes. The free tier is a full retirement planner — projections, budgeting, 4 charts, Plaid bank sync (1 account), and plan sharing. No trial timer, no credit card, no account required. Pro ($12/mo or $99/yr) unlocks Monte Carlo, the optimizer, 15 charts, unlimited scenarios, and PDF export.
› Which retirement planner has the best withdrawal optimizer?
cinder.fi's optimizer sweeps across 8+ dimensions simultaneously — CPP/OAS claiming ages, withdrawal strategies, meltdown settings, savings allocation, spousal RRSP, and PLOC configurations — to find the optimal combination for minimizing tax, maximizing estate, or maximizing funded years.
› Do I need a retirement planner if I already use a budgeting app?
Budgeting apps (YNAB, Monarch, Copilot) track where your money went. Retirement planners project where it's going. cinder.fi is the only tool that connects both — your real spending flows into 50-year tax-aware projections. See our budgeting comparison at /compare/budgeting/ for details.
› Why not just use a spreadsheet?
If your spreadsheet works, keep it. But spreadsheets can't run 1,000 Monte Carlo simulations, sweep 8 optimization dimensions simultaneously, auto-sync your bank via Plaid, backtest against 150 years of market data, or auto-update when tax brackets change. cinder.fi does all of that, and it's free. See our Canada comparison for the full spreadsheet vs planner breakdown.
› What is MCP and why does it matter for retirement planning?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets AI assistants like Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor use cinder.fi's 19 calculation tools directly — running projections, scoring plans, and optimizing strategies inside an AI conversation. cinder.fi is the only retirement planner with an MCP server.
See your own numbers.
Free plan. No credit card. No trial timer.
Try cinder.fi free