The short version
ProjectionLab is far better looking and easier to iterate scenarios in; Boldin goes deeper on US tax, Social Security and Medicare. Both are built around US account types, so UK users have to bend ISAs and pensions into the wrong boxes.
Why people compare them
The two tools the FIRE community actually argues about when it comes to modelling early retirement.
Price and fit, side by side
| Feature | ProjectionLab | Boldin |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | ProjectionLabFree tier, then $129 per year | BoldinFree tier, then $144 per year |
| Free tier | ProjectionLabYes | BoldinYes |
| Billed in pounds | ProjectionLabNo | BoldinNo |
| Best for | ProjectionLabConfident planners who want to model complex scenarios themselves | BoldinUS savers who want deep retirement modelling and are happy to drive it themselves |
Where ProjectionLab wins
- Genuinely powerful scenario and projection modelling
- A real free tier, so you can try the core idea without paying
- Strong with Monte Carlo analysis and detailed assumptions
Where Boldin wins
- A genuinely useful free tier that builds a real plan rather than a teaser
- Very deep modelling on the paid tier: Monte Carlo, tax projections, scenario comparison and 100-plus inputs
- The Roth conversion explorer is best in class for the US market
Where both fall short
- Neither applies UK tax rules to what it shows you.
- Both are built US-first, so UK users pay in dollars and work around US assumptions.
If neither is quite right
If what you actually want is the retirement answer rather than a better dashboard, that is the gap Delphina was built for: UK pensions, ISAs and tax, projected to the age you want to stop. It does not do the job ProjectionLab does for confident planners who want to model complex scenarios themselves, so if that is the real problem, ProjectionLab is still the better buy. Free plan is £0, no card.
ProjectionLab vs Boldin: common questions
ProjectionLab is $129 per year and Boldin is $144 per year. Compare the billing period before the number: an annual price and a monthly price are not the same thing.
You can, and some people do, because they solve different halves of the problem. It does mean paying for both, so add the two annual figures together before deciding.
Judge it on billing currency, Open Banking coverage and whether ISAs and pensions are handled. Check each one against those three points, because a tool that scores well elsewhere can still be a poor fit in the UK.
ProjectionLab suits confident planners who want to model complex scenarios themselves. Boldin suits us savers who want deep retirement modelling and are happy to drive it themselves. The one that matches how you already think about money will take less setting up.
Delphina covers the gap both leave, which is UK pensions, ISAs and tax projected forward to retirement. The trade-off is that it does not do the job ProjectionLab does for confident planners who want to model complex scenarios themselves, so if that is the real need, pick one of these two.