Looking for a ProjectionLab Alternative? (Fire Horizon vs ProjectionLab)

ProjectionLab is the gold standard for privacy-focused manual retirement modeling. But if you want a tool that links your accounts and updates your FIRE date daily, here is an honest comparison.

Pricing verified July 2026

⚡The 30-Second Verdict

ProjectionLab is best for pure manual planning without linking accounts. Fire Horizon is best for automated daily tracking and built-in FIRE milestone variants.

Choose Fire Horizon: Automated SnapTrade/Plaid account sync, daily holding pricing, free Monte Carlo, and native Coast/Barista/Lean/Fat FIRE plan modes.

Choose Competitor: No account linking by design, drag-and-drop custom life event timelines, and historical market crash backtesting.

Side-by-side comparison

Filter by:

Feature	Fire Horizon	ProjectionLab	Edge
Starting price	Free tier, paid from $6.99/mo	Free tier; Premium $129/yr; Pro $549/yr	Comparable
Account & brokerage linking	Automated SnapTrade, Plaid & CSV import updated daily	None by design — manual data entry only	Fire Horizon
Daily asset & dividend pricing	Real holdings and dividend income updated daily automatically	Manual input — does not connect to live stock prices	Fire Horizon
FIRE variants (Coast, Barista, Lean, Fat)	Built-in first-class plan types with dedicated target lines	Manual goal creation — not pre-structured by FIRE variant	Fire Horizon
Monte Carlo simulation	10,000+ run Monte Carlo included on free tier	Included on free & paid tiers	Comparable
Historical market backtesting	Focuses on Monte Carlo probabilistic simulation	Historical backtesting against 100+ years of US market data	ProjectionLab
Custom event timeline modeling	Standard income, expense, and savings rate event sliders	Extremely flexible drag-and-drop life event milestones	ProjectionLab

Which tool fits your FIRE plan?

Choose Fire Horizon if…

✓You want your FIRE target updated automatically every day without manual entry.
✓You want built-in Coast, Barista, Lean, or Fat FIRE plan modes.
✓You want automated SnapTrade/Plaid brokerage linking.
✓You want daily dividend and ETF price tracking.

Choose ProjectionLab if…

•You do not want to connect accounts online (privacy first).
•You want deep drag-and-drop custom life event timeline building.
•You want historical market backtesting alongside Monte Carlo.

Manual Scenario Planner vs Live Portfolio Tracker

Manual planners require logging in every month to re-key account balances and stock prices. Fire Horizon automates account updates so your FIRE date re-checks itself daily.

Frequently asked questions

Why look for a ProjectionLab alternative?

ProjectionLab is widely considered the best pure manual planning tool for FIRE. However, many users grow tired of manually updating stock prices, cash balances, and dividend yields every month, and want an automated tool that syncs directly with their brokerages.

How does Fire Horizon differ from ProjectionLab?

Fire Horizon is designed to be both a tracker and a planner. It syncs with your financial institutions (via SnapTrade and Plaid), prices your actual holdings daily, and automatically recalculates your FIRE date without manual spreadsheet maintenance.

Does ProjectionLab support account linking?

No. ProjectionLab deliberately avoids account linking for privacy reasons. If you prefer complete manual control and do not want to link accounts, ProjectionLab is an excellent choice.

Is Fire Horizon free to use?

Yes. Fire Horizon offers a free tier with account linking, net worth tracking, Monte Carlo simulations, and all FIRE plan variants included.

See all FIRE calculators compared →

Track your FIRE horizon with live account syncing.

Free to start, no card required — link accounts via SnapTrade or Plaid.

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More free calculators

FIRE retirement calculator →FIRE number calculator →Lean FIRE calculator →Fat FIRE calculator →Coast FIRE calculator →Barista FIRE calculator →

Disclosure: we build Fire Horizon, so we are not a neutral party — read this the way you would any comparison written by one of the entrants. Every competitor figure is quoted from their own public pricing and feature pages, and we have tried to be specific about what they do better.