Comparison

Aurora Retirement Planner vs Smart Retirement Planner

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Aurora Retirement Planner

Visualize your retirement path with an intuitive timeline. Adjust key financial assumptions like contributions and spending to see their immediate impact on your future. This app offers a privacy-first approach, keeping your plan securely on your device.

Highlights
  • Visual retirement timeline
  • Adjustable financial inputs
  • Instant impact feedback
  • Privacy-first design
  • One-time purchase for lifetime access
Features
Read full description

Aurora Retirement Planner helps you turn retirement inputs into a plan you can actually understand. See your timeline visually, adjust key assumptions, and instantly see how changes affect your path. Plan with clarity • A visual retirement timeline that makes “where you are” and “what’s next” easy to grasp • Adjust contributions, spending, retirement age, and other inputs • Immediate feedback so you can iterate quickly and confidently Built for calm, not clutter • Clean, focused design • Fast recalculation and smooth interactions • Designed to help you explore tradeoffs without getting lost in spreadsheets Privacy-first by design • Your plan stays on your device Lifetime Access Unlock full access with a one-time purchase (Family Sharing supported). Disclaimer Aurora provides educational planning tools and is not financial, tax, or legal advice. Always verify decisions with qualified professionals.

About

Smart Retirement Planner

This app helps adults plan for retirement with simple tools and visual projections. It offers guidance on savings, account growth, withdrawal sustainability, and bridging income gaps before Social Security. Prioritizes privacy with an on-device experience and no account requirement.

Highlights
  • Personalized retirement overview
  • Savings goal and projected balance
  • 401(k) growth projections
  • Monthly withdrawal planning
  • Social Security bridge funding
  • Monte Carlo market simulations
  • On-device privacy
Features
Read full description

Retirement planning does not need to be complicated. Smart Retirement Planner helps you answer the biggest retirement questions with simple tools, visual projections, and practical guidance. See how much you may need, how your accounts could grow, whether your withdrawals may last, and how to bridge the gap before Social Security begins. Built for real life. Built for privacy. No account required. Who is it for? • Adults planning for retirement • 401(k), IRA, Roth IRA, and brokerage account holders • People who want clarity without financial jargon • Anyone looking for a focused retirement planning toolkit instead of a complicated retirement suite Start with a personalized retirement overview that brings everything together in one place. • Plan Strength score with coaching • On Track, Getting Close, or Needs Attention guidance • Savings goal and projected balance • Estimated retirement income • Chance of reaching your goal using Monte Carlo simulation • Typical outcome range across market scenarios • Retire later comparisons • Saved scenarios for easy planning Discover how much you may need for retirement and what you should save each month to reach your goal. • Inflation adjusted spending goals • Monthly savings targets • Funding gap analysis • Catch up guidance when you are behind schedule 401(k) Growth Planner Project the future value of your retirement accounts. • Paycheck contributions • Employer matching contributions • Match limits and caps • Expected growth assumptions • Expense ratio impact Explore retirement income strategies and test whether your savings may support your lifestyle. • Monthly withdrawal planning • 4% rule benchmark comparisons • Estimated taxes on traditional account withdrawals • Required Minimum Distribution estimates • Longevity projections for your savings Retire before Social Security starts and understand how to fund the gap. • Retirement age vs. claiming age comparisons • Pension and other income support • Income gap calculations • Post Social Security income coverage Smart Features • Live updates as you adjust inputs • Full horizon projection charts • Monte Carlo market simulations • Personalized coaching and plan strength insights • Welcome setup that pre fills planners from your information • Gentle plan aware reminders that adapt to your progress Try each planner with free previews. Upgrade once to unlock: • Unlimited planner runs • Printable PDF retirement worksheet • Combined summary of your Plan, 401(k), Withdrawals, and Social Security Bridge • Assumptions, charts, and Monte Carlo legend Your Privacy Matters Smart Retirement Planner stores your information on your device. • No account required • No cloud planning service • No selling your personal financial information • 100% private on device experience Important Disclaimer Smart Retirement Planner is educational estimation software intended for informational purposes only. It does not provide financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. All projections and simulations are estimates and should not be considered guarantees of future results.

Screenshots

Aurora Retirement Planner4 screens
Smart Retirement Planner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Smart Retirement Planner at every 3 weeks against Aurora Retirement Planner's every 8 months. Smart Retirement Planner also leads on monetization model (freemium vs paid) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Aurora Retirement Planner sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Smart Retirement Planner sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Aurora Retirement Planner against 5.0 for Smart Retirement Planner. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Aurora Retirement Planner ships an update every 8 months, Smart Retirement Planner every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Aurora Retirement Planner versus Smart Retirement Planner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAurora Retirement PlannerSmart Retirement Planner
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.215.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHoang NguyenGary Cox

Customer experience

Aurora Retirement Planner

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Smart Retirement Planner

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Aurora Retirement Planner

One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$1.99
1 purchases

Smart Retirement Planner

One-time1
  • Unlock Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Aurora Retirement Planner free?
Aurora Retirement Planner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Smart Retirement Planner free?
Smart Retirement Planner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Aurora Retirement Planner or Smart Retirement Planner?
Aurora Retirement Planner and Smart Retirement Planner are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Aurora Retirement Planner or Smart Retirement Planner have ads?
Neither Aurora Retirement Planner nor Smart Retirement Planner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Aurora Retirement Planner or Smart Retirement Planner?
Aurora Retirement Planner ships an update every 8 months, and Smart Retirement Planner every 3 weeks. Most recently, Aurora Retirement Planner was updated on October 25, 2026 and Smart Retirement Planner on October 31, 2026.

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