driftcurve vs ProjectionLab

driftcurve is an open-source household retirement planning engine for projecting finances and comparing retirement outcomes. It can model multiple household members, account types, debts, mortgages, pensions, Social Security and property sales. Its default Monte Carlo simulations resample annual market data from 1966–2024 across equities, Treasuries, residential real estate, inflation and Bitcoin. Users can adjust historical returns toward their own long-run targets or enter static annual assumptions. Risk-based spending guardrails solve for monthly spending and suggest adjustments based on portfolio thresholds and probability of success. A Compare page puts two scenarios on one chart. In default local mode, household data and saved scenarios stay in browser localStorage, while forecasts run through a Python backend; there is no account or server-side database persistence. Optional multi-user mode adds email/password accounts, server-side sessions, and stored profiles and scenarios. The project offers forecast and guardrails API endpoints, plus authentication, profile and scenario endpoints in multi-user mode. It is free under Apache License 2.0. The maker describes it as an educational modeling tool, not licensed financial, investment, tax or legal advice.

ProjectionLab simulates personal financial and retirement scenarios to help users plan for different possible futures. Users can model life milestones, cash flow, estimated taxes, investment strategies, account types, withdrawals and estate outcomes. Monte Carlo simulations and historical backtesting let users explore potential outcomes. The free Basic plan includes forecasting, financial planning, simulations and backtesting. Premium adds tax optimization, Roth conversions, ACA subsidies, capital gains harvesting, international planning and advanced analytics, and costs $129 a year. Pro costs $549 a year and is aimed at financial advisors and coaches, with client management tools and 10 client seats. ProjectionLab does not directly link financial accounts, so users can make plans without supplying account numbers or connecting bank or brokerage accounts. The web app can be installed on mobile devices as a Progressive Web App; the maker says it has no formal mobile app. Support is available by email, Discord and bookable educational sessions.