driftcurve review
Broad household retirement modeling without a subscription or account sync.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Retirement planning often spans more than investment balances: households may need to account for debt, property, pensions, income, and different retirement dates. driftcurve is an open-source retirement planning engine for individuals and households that brings those inputs into one model. It is suited to people who want detailed household projections and are comfortable with self-hosting or a local workflow, rather than account-linked planning through a commercial service.
The modeling covers traditional, Roth, taxable, cash, real-estate, and crypto assets, alongside mortgages, HELOCs, student loans, and property sales. Income projections include pensions and Social Security, with Social Security claiming breakeven calculations. Forecasts use Monte Carlo simulations based on historical market data, and risk-based spending guardrails support withdrawal planning. Users can compare and save scenarios, project 401(k) balances, and analyze Roth conversions. Tax modeling is basic, so people whose main requirement is detailed tax planning may prefer a more specialized option.
The Free plan is described as Apache License 2.0, self-hosted, and without a subscription; local mode does not require an account. The default local workflow stores household data in the browser and runs the Python forecasting backend on the user's own machine. driftcurve also offers web and API coverage, giving technically comfortable users more than one way to work with the engine. There is no account synchronization, so household figures are entered rather than pulled from linked accounts. Choose driftcurve for broad, open-source household modeling and control over a local setup; look elsewhere if automatic account syncing or deeper tax modeling is essential.
driftcurve pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Models household assets, debt, pensions, and Social Security.
- Includes Monte Carlo forecasts, spending guardrails, and scenario comparison.
- Free under Apache License 2.0, with web, API, and self-hosted options.
- Where it doesn't
- No account synchronization; household data is user-entered.
- Local mode stores household data in the browser and runs forecasting locally.
- Tax modeling is basic.
driftcurve fact sheet, pricing and score →
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