Comparison

FIRE Path vs ZBee

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

Head to head
About

FIRE Path

This app helps you plan for early retirement by calculating your financial independence number based on your real income, spending, and assets. It offers various retirement paths, stress-testing tools, and advanced financial planning features.

Highlights
  • Personalized FI number calculation
  • Multiple retirement path modeling
  • Monte Carlo and historical simulations
  • Advanced tax and withdrawal strategy tools
  • All-in-one financial tracking dashboard
  • On-device AI financial assistant
Features
Read full description

FIRE Path is the most complete financial independence planner on iPhone. Enter your accounts, income, and spending, then watch your path to early retirement come into focus. YOUR FI NUMBER, CALCULATED FROM YOUR REAL LIFE Most FIRE calculators use guesswork. FIRE Path builds your projection from your actual salary, RSU vesting schedule, 401(k) contributions, Roth IRA, taxable accounts, home equity, and spending, then calculates exactly when you hit financial independence. FOUR PATHS TO FREEDOM Switch between Standard FIRE, Barista FIRE, Coast FIRE, and Lean FIRE with a tap. See how cutting your spending, picking up part-time work, or letting compound growth do the heavy lifting changes your timeline. STRESS-TEST YOUR PLAN - Monte Carlo simulation: Run 1,000+ market scenarios and see the probability your money lasts 30, 40, or 50 years - Historical backtesting: Test your plan against every market cycle from 1871 to present. Would your strategy have survived the Great Depression? The dot-com crash? The 2008 crisis? - Withdrawal strategy modeling: Compare the 4% rule, Guyton-Klinger guardrails, variable percentage withdrawal, and more THE ADVANCED TOOLS SERIOUS PLANNERS NEED - Roth conversion ladder planner: Optimize year-by-year conversions to fill tax bracket headroom before RMDs hit - Social Security optimizer: Compare claiming at 62, 67, or 70 with spousal benefit coordination - ACA healthcare subsidy modeling: Find the income level that maximizes your marketplace subsidy before Medicare kicks in - Withdrawal order optimizer: Tax-efficient drawdown sequence across taxable, tax-deferred, and Roth accounts - IRMAA planner: Avoid Medicare premium surcharges with income-aware retirement projections - Mega backdoor Roth: Model after-tax 401(k) contributions and in-plan Roth conversions - Phased spending: Set different spending levels for go-go years, slow-go years, and no-go years TRACK EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE Net worth, asset allocation, savings rate, emergency fund coverage, debt payoff timelines, 529 college projections, RSU vesting with live stock prices, and home equity — all in one clean dashboard. ON-DEVICE AI ASSISTANT Ask your AI anything: "How much do I need to retire at 45?" "What happens if I take Social Security early?" "What's my ACA cliff?" It knows your full financial picture and answers with your actual numbers. BUILT FOR PRIVACY All data stays on your device and syncs privately via iCloud. No accounts to create. No data sold. Face ID protection available. ALSO INCLUDES - What-If scenario builder, model job changes, windfalls, early retirement dates - Full federal + state tax engine (all 50 states) - iOS Home Screen widgets - Dark mode

About

ZBee

Estimate your safe annual retirement spending after taxes. This tool simulates market histories to provide a realistic withdrawal figure, accounting for various account types and early withdrawal penalties. It offers detailed projections and spending flexibility insights.

Highlights
  • Estimate safe annual retirement spend
  • Accounts for taxes on withdrawals
  • Models different account types (401k, Roth, brokerage)
  • Simulates market histories for stress-testing
  • Visualizes savings projections and spending flexibility
  • Compares retirement age impacts
Features
Read full description

ZBee — estimate your safe yearly spend in retirement, after tax, right on your iPhone or iPad. How much can you safely spend each year in retirement? ZBee gives you a quick, private estimate — on your device, in seconds. Enter your savings, your age, and when you plan to retire, and ZBee estimates the most you can safely spend each year, stress-tested across 600 simulated market histories. No account, no sign-up, nothing to configure. After tax, not before: Most calculators hand you a withdrawal figure and leave the tax bill to you. ZBee works out federal income tax on every year of every simulation — so the number you see is money to actually live on. • It knows the difference between a 401(k), a Roth, and a brokerage account, and taxes each one as you draw it down. • It works out how much of your Social Security is taxable, using the provisional-income rule. • It counts the 10% penalty on retirement money drawn before 59 — so an early retirement gets an honest answer. See the whole picture, not just a number: • A live estimate that updates as you adjust any input, and a risk setting for how cautious you want to be. • Could you afford a specific number? Enter what you want to spend and see how often it lasted. • Your savings, projected. Watch your money grow until you retire and draw down after — charted through a poor market, not a flattering average one. • What waiting buys you. Compare your estimate side by side at earlier and later retirement ages. • When to claim Social Security. See what claiming at 62, 67, or 70 does to your safe spend, each age calculated against your own plan. • Married? Add your spouse's age and Social Security benefit, and ZBee counts both benefits, including the spousal amount when it is larger. • How your spending would flex. Real plans don't spend a fixed number forever — see how much you'd trim after bad markets, and how much more you could spend after good ones. • Still saving? Add what you put away each year and watch it compound into the answer. • Your estimate over time. ZBee remembers each day's estimate on your device, so you can see which way your number is moving. Private by design: • Everything runs entirely on your device. Nothing you enter is sent to us or anyone else. • No account. No tracking. No analytics. The app makes no network requests at all. • No permissions needed. The only prompt you will ever see is if you choose to turn on an optional check-in reminder. ZBee is a measurement and planning tool, not financial advice. Estimates are hypothetical, will not match actual results, and are for U.S. investors. The app estimates federal tax only — it does not model state income tax, Medicare surcharges, or required minimum distributions, and explains what it leaves out in the app.

Screenshots

FIRE Path4 screens
ZBee4 screens

Verdict

The call

FIRE Path and ZBee are too close to call on the numbers: across 10 compared parameters — price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for FIRE Path against 5.0 for ZBee. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

FIRE Path ships an update every 2 weeks, ZBee every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 3, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
FIRE Path versus ZBee: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFIRE PathZBee
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperQuinn WinterZBee LLC

Customer experience

FIRE Path

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

ZBee

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

FIRE Path

No in-app purchases

None

ZBee

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is FIRE Path free?
FIRE Path is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ZBee free?
ZBee is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, FIRE Path or ZBee?
FIRE Path and ZBee are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do FIRE Path or ZBee have ads?
Neither FIRE Path nor ZBee shows ads.
Which is updated more often, FIRE Path or ZBee?
FIRE Path ships an update every 2 weeks, and ZBee every 10 days. Most recently, FIRE Path was updated on September 3, 2026 and ZBee on September 30, 2026.

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