How Compare works

Last updated September 20, 2026

Each tool runs your own plan once per option and ranks the results. It shows you what each choice produces. It never tells you which to pick.

The options are named and rule-based, not invented per user — a fixed list of strategies we run your numbers through. That's what makes two tools comparable and a ranking reproducible: same plan, same order, every time.

Ranking is not recommending. A tool putting one option on top means it produced the best figure for the goal that tool measures, given everything you've entered. Change one input and the order can change.

You apply a result yourself, by editing your plan. We don't move your money and we don't change your plan for you.

The estimate, the full calculator, and every section of your plan are free and stay free — along with your verdict, your chance of success, the wellness badge, the retirement path chart, and a note when something in your life or the rules changes your plan. Plus is the rest: the detailed charts, the year-by-year table, every Compare tool, the Strategy page with each move measured in dollars, and those notes with the numbers in them. Plus isn't for sale yet; until it is, the detailed charts and the Compare tools are open to everyone as a preview.