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.
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.
- Visual retirement timeline
- Adjustable financial inputs
- Instant impact feedback
- Privacy-first design
- One-time purchase for lifetime access
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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.
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.
- 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
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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.
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Verdict
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
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.
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.
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.
| Parameter | Aurora Retirement Planner | Smart Retirement Planner |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Freemium — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.2 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hoang Nguyen | Gary Cox |
Customer experience
Aurora Retirement Planner
Smart Retirement Planner
In-app purchases
Aurora Retirement Planner
- Lifetime Access$1.99
Smart Retirement Planner
- Unlock Pro$4.99
Questions
Is Aurora Retirement Planner free?
Is Smart Retirement Planner free?
Which has better reviews, Aurora Retirement Planner or Smart Retirement Planner?
Do Aurora Retirement Planner or Smart Retirement Planner have ads?
Which is updated more often, Aurora Retirement Planner or Smart Retirement Planner?
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