Retireator

Free#13 of 26 in Retirement Planning Software

Retireator: Detailed retirement and tax modeling for Excel users who do not need account sync. Ranked #13 of 26 in Retirement Planning Software by our editors (8.1/10); pricing: Free plan; best for free users modeling taxes, annuities, and debt.

8.1/10Editor score

Visit Retireator

Retireator8.1 Visit Retireator

At a glance

Editor score
8.1 / 10
Pricing
Free plan
Best for
Free users modeling taxes, annuities, and debt
Free plan
Yes
Paid from
Free
Tax modeling
Detailed
Facts checked
19 Sep 2026

Where it wins
- Models federal, state, payroll, capital-gains, annuity, and Social Security taxes
- Covers Social Security spousal and survivor benefits, plus multiple annuity types
- Compares retirement simulations and can solve for a retirement date
Where it doesn't
- The downloadable workbook requires Windows and Excel with macros
- Excel Online has limited functionality
- Account synchronization is not supported

Our verdict on Retireator

Retireator is a free, open-source retirement simulator implemented as a Microsoft Excel workbook. It is suited to people who want to model retirement income, withdrawals, taxes, debt, and savings goals in a spreadsheet, rather than rely on synchronized financial accounts. Its scope reaches beyond basic portfolio projections: users can model employer, self-employment, passive, and pension income, alongside investment accounts and strategies such as target-date funds. It also supports short- and medium-term financial planning.

Tax and retirement-income modeling are the product’s strongest angles. Retireator calculates federal and state taxes, payroll and capital-gains taxes, and taxes on annuity and Social Security income. Social Security calculations include spousal and survivor benefits. Annuity scenarios cover life, period-certain, deferred, immediate, fixed, variable, and indexed options. Mortgage and reverse-mortgage calculations, expense schedules, inflation, and market conditions add further variables to drawdown simulations. A dashboard supports retirement-date solving and comparison of successive simulation results; savings-goal calculations account for taxes, inflation, and portfolio return. This breadth may suit planners exploring intertwined income and tax scenarios, though it also means users need to configure assumptions and interpret spreadsheet outputs themselves.

The Excel format is central to both access and limitations. The downloadable workbook requires Microsoft Windows and Excel with macros; the listed Excel versions are Excel 2007–2019 or Excel 365. Microsoft Excel Online is also supported, but with limited functionality. Microsoft Excel and Excel Online are the listed integrations. Retireator is distributed under the GNU Affero General Public License and is free. Choose it if spreadsheet-based scenario modeling and detailed taxes matter more than account synchronization. People who want connected accounts or a fuller online experience should consider another retirement planner.

Your product? Our editors can test Retireator in depth and publish a review, labelled as paid · from $149/mo →

Retireator pricing

Plans Free planFree Free to use — no paid tier required for the core job.

See plans on retireator.org

Retireator fact sheet

Free plan	Yes
Paid from	Free
Income projection	Yes
Savings growth projection	Yes
Withdrawal planning	Yes
Tax modeling	Detailed
Social Security modeling	Yes
Scenario analysis	Yes
Account synchronization	None
Deployment	Desktop, Cloud
Platforms	Windows, Web
Integrations	2 integrations: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Excel Online
Pricing	Free plan
Website	retireator.org
Facts checked	19 Sep 2026

Retireator integrations

Retireator lists 2 integrations on its own site.

Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel Online

Alternatives to Retireator

See all Retireator alternatives →

Used Retireator? Be the first to review it

The editor score above is our own research. What this page doesn't have yet is a reader's view — what you used Retireator for, what worked and what didn't. No stars are seeded and no review is paid for; an editor reads every one before it appears.

Write a reviewTwo minutes · verified accounts only · read by an editor before it appears

Reviews come only from verified accounts. Sign in or create an account first — your e-mail is never shown.

Title

Your review

0 characters · at least 80, up to 3,000

Pros (optional · one per line)

Cons (optional · one per line)

Your name (shown with your review)

Role (optional)

Company (optional)

How long have you used it?

I've used Retireator myself and this is my honest opinion — nobody paid or asked me to write it.

Posted from your verified account. Reviews appear after an editor reads them, usually within two working days.

Featured on iTechGuides

Retireator is listed in our Retirement Planning Software directory. Add the badge to your site — it links back to this page.

<a href="https://www.itechguides.com/products/retireator/"><img src="https://www.itechguides.com/best/badge/retireator.svg" alt="Featured on iTechGuides" width="230" height="46"></a>

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Last updated 7 Oct 2026 · How we research and update