The short answer
WealthR is a planning tool. It doesn't hold any money. It tracks and forecasts across every pension provider you use, plus your ISAs and property, and shows your combined retirement income, withdrawal order and depletion risk. Free at the core tier.
PensionBee is an FCA-regulated SIPP provider. It actually holds and invests your pension money — usually by consolidating older workplace pensions into one managed pot. Annual fees apply.
Most users in their 40s, 50s and beyond will benefit from both: PensionBee (or another SIPP provider) for the pension wrapper itself, WealthR for the plan that sits across the whole picture.
Side by side
| Feature | WealthR | PensionBee |
|---|---|---|
| Type of product | Planning & tracking app | FCA-regulated SIPP pension provider |
| Holds your money? | ✕ No — tracks, doesn't hold | ✓ Yes — your pension is invested with them |
| Cost | Free core; Pro £5.99/mo or £39.99/yr | Annual fees on assets (~0.50%–0.95% — see pensionbee.com for current rates) |
| Covers multiple providers | ✓ Yes — every SIPP, workplace, DB, State Pension | ~ Consolidates old pensions into one PensionBee pot |
| Covers DB (defined benefit) pensions | ✓ Yes — annual income, indexation, lump sum, and a scheme library that pre-fills NHS, Teachers', Civil Service, LGPS, Police, Firefighters', Armed Forces, USS and the Royal Mail collective DC plan | ✕ Not a DB scheme |
| Covers State Pension | ✓ Yes — NI years, age, indexation, start date | ✕ Separate from PensionBee |
| Covers ISAs / GIA / property | ✓ Yes — all wrappers and asset types | ✕ Pension-only |
| UK income tax calculator | ✓ Full 2026/27 with HICBC, Marriage Allowance, Scottish bands | ~ Pension-specific calculators only |
| Retirement income forecasting | ✓ 12 stream types — State Pension, DB, SIPP drawdown, annuity, ISA withdrawal, GIA dividends, GIA interest, rental, offshore bond 5%, PAYE salary for phased retirement, other taxable and other tax-free — each with the right UK tax treatment | ~ Drawdown calculator for the PensionBee pot |
| Drawdown Planner (across all pots) | ✓ Pro — the Cash flow tab's Drawdown planner: which pot pays each year across every pension, ISA and savings account, the tax including capital gains, how long the money lasts, and up to five named plan variants compared side by side | ~ Single-pot only — models the PensionBee SIPP, not your ISAs, DB or other providers |
| Sequence-of-returns stress test | ✓ Forecast stress test — a −30% crash split across the first two retirement years, then a four-year recovery; free at the default, with crash size, timing, contribution changes, mortgage rates and one-off costs adjustable on Pro | ✕ No |
| Will it last? (Monte Carlo) | ✓ Headline chance your money lasts is free; Pro shows the 5,000 simulated paths, the median outcome, spending guardrails and retire-later / spend-less / save-more what-ifs, with real UK tax and the State Pension in every path | ✕ No |
| Retirement readiness score | ✓ Pro — one score for how ready your whole plan is, every pot and income stream included | ✕ No |
| Tax-efficient withdrawal ordering | ✓ Yes (across every wrapper) — a panel on the Pension tab showing which pot to draw first | ✕ No (only sees one pension) |
| Drawdown Strategy Lab | ✓ Pro — compares ISA-first, pensions-first and, for couples, whose pension first, on lifetime tax and legacy | ✕ No |
| Tax planning (Pro) | ✓ The Tax tab's Planning view — moves worth checking ranked by what each is worth in pounds (Child Benefit charge escape, Marriage Allowance, Bed & ISA, household pension efficiency), a salary-sacrifice modeller and top-slicing relief | ✕ No |
| Scenarios — what-if modelling | ✓ Pro — income shock, cost of raising a child (CPAG-anchored), long-term care, one-off shocks and the Budget changes; save and compare | ✕ No |
| Estate & IHT | ✓ Estate & IHT tab — nil-rate band, residence band, charity rate and the April 2027 pension rule drawn as an estate chart (free); Pro adds lifetime gifts on a 7-year taper clock, who-gets-what wishes and an "if you died today" death-benefit view | ✕ No — beneficiary nomination only |
| FIRE / Coast FIRE | ✓ Magic number, coast number, accumulation and drawdown charts · portfolio runway | ✕ No |
| Investment performance vs a benchmark | ✓ Performance tab — your real time-weighted and money-weighted return with an inflation view (free), across every provider you use; Pro adds per-holding returns and the overlay against a global index and a cash baseline | ~ Plan performance for the PensionBee pot — no benchmark comparison, and nothing outside that pension |
| In-depth guides you can listen to | ✓ Pro — 7 Playbooks — long-form UK guides, read or listen, with a scrub player and follow-along (open the day a trial converts) | ✕ Pension articles and calculators, but no long-form guides with audio |
| Notes against your numbers | ✓ My Financial Diary — a searchable note against each month, so you know why a figure moved | ✕ No |
| ISA allowance tracker | ✓ All 6 UK wrappers — S&S, Cash, LISA, JISA, IFISA, legacy Help to Buy | ✕ Pension-only product |
| Dividend income horizon | ✓ Reinvestment then income phases · UK £500 dividend allowance modelled | ✕ No |
| Property / mortgage tracking | ✓ Multi-property · joint ownership % · monthly amortisation · BTL cashflow + gross yield (one property free, unlimited on Pro) | ✕ Pension-only |
| JISA (Junior ISA) support | ✓ Per-child tracking · opt-in to net worth | ✕ Pension-only |
| Couples / household planning | ✓ Partner pensions tagged separately · joint property ownership % | ✕ Per-account |
| Year Review with shareable card | ✓ Personalised end-of-year recap · social-safe or with-amounts share image | ✕ No |
| Monthly debrief | ✓ Automatic debrief on each saved month · comparable-basis change · best-month flag | ✕ No |
| Dashboard layouts | ✓ Default and Minimalist layouts free; Building, Approaching and Retired layouts, drag-and-drop and ten widgets on Pro | ✕ Fixed layout |
| Website-side calculator tools (separate from the app · no sign-up) | ✓ 32 free tools on wealthr.co.uk/tools/ — HICBC, marriage allowance, CGT calculator, stamp duty (SDLT), LBTT Scotland, LTT Wales, pension carry forward, Bed & ISA, CGT tracker, Coast FIRE, FIRE number, IHT on pensions, income shock, long-term care, Monte Carlo retirement, mortgage overpayment vs invest, salary sacrifice, cost of raising a child | ~ Pension-specific calculators only |
| WealthR Live | ✓ /live/ — the pension IHT change, the Budget and Bank Rate tracked with a calculator for each | — |
| FCA-regulated | ✕ Not regulated — planning aid | ✓ Yes — FCA-regulated SIPP provider |
| Investment management | ✕ Doesn't manage money | ✓ Multiple plans (tracker, tailored, etc.) |
| Adviser share link | ✓ Pro — read-only links showing only the sections you tick; different links for your IFA, accountant or family; revoke any time | ✕ Not applicable |
| PDF reports | ✓ Pro — a one-page financial summary | ~ Standard pension statements |
| Mobile app | ✓ Web + PWA | ✓ Native iOS & Android |
| Sign-in security | ✓ Touch ID / Face ID sign-in, two-factor authentication, encrypted EU-region sync, no bank linking | — |
| Built in | Edinburgh, UK | London, UK |
What each does well
Where WealthR is stronger
WealthR is built around the question "what happens across all my retirement income sources?" — not just one pension. UK retirees typically have 3–6 income streams in play: a SIPP (possibly with PensionBee), one or two old workplace DC pensions, maybe a DB pension from an earlier career, the State Pension at 66 or 67, ISA withdrawals, possibly some GIA dividends or rental income. WealthR models all of these together with the correct UK tax treatment, then runs a sequence-of-returns stress test and recommends a tax-efficient withdrawal sequence. PensionBee can't do this because it only sees the money it holds — typically one consolidated SIPP pot.
WealthR also includes a full UK income tax calculator, FIRE/Coast FIRE calculators, top-slicing relief for offshore bonds (Pro), and Pro share links that show your IFA, accountant or family only the sections you tick, read-only. PensionBee includes pension-specific calculators (contribution growth, drawdown from one pot) but isn't trying to be a holistic financial planner.
Where PensionBee is stronger
PensionBee is excellent at one thing: making your pension simple to manage. They consolidate old workplace pensions you've forgotten about, pick an investment plan that matches your risk profile, and put it all in one beautifully designed app. WealthR can't do any of that — WealthR doesn't hold money or manage investments.
If you have 4–5 old pension pots scattered across previous employers and you want them combined into one place with transparent fees and clean UX, PensionBee is the right tool. WealthR is the right tool for planning what to do with that consolidated pot (plus your ISAs, plus the State Pension you'll get later) once it exists.
PensionBee is also FCA-regulated. WealthR is not — WealthR is a planning aid, not regulated advice.
WealthR — pros
- Free at the core tier with no expiry — full planner, not a teaser
- 32 free standalone UK calculators on the website (no sign-up)
- Covers every pension type (SIPP, DB, DC, LISA, State)
- Covers ISAs, property, GIA, crypto, side income
- 12-stream retirement income module with tax-efficient withdrawal ordering
- Sequence-of-returns stress test — the default crash free; crash size, timing, contributions and mortgage rates adjustable on Pro
- What-if Scenarios (Pro) — income shock, the cost of a child, long-term care, the Budget changes
- Full UK income tax calculator (HICBC, Marriage, Scotland, £100k trap)
- Tax planning view (Pro) — moves worth checking ranked in pounds: HICBC, Marriage Allowance, Bed & ISA, salary sacrifice
- ISA tracker for all 6 UK wrappers
- Dividend income horizon with UK £500 allowance
- BTL cashflow + gross yield · multi-property + joint ownership
- Couples / household planning — partner pensions, joint property
- Year Review with shareable social card
- Share links showing only the sections you tick, and a one-page PDF summary (Pro)
WealthR — cons
- Doesn't hold or manage money
- Manual entry — about two minutes a month
- Not FCA-regulated — planning aid only
- Doesn't consolidate old pensions
PensionBee — pros
- Consolidates old pensions into one managed pot
- Beautiful UX, app-first experience
- Transparent fees
- FCA-regulated SIPP provider
- Multiple investment plans to choose from
PensionBee — cons
- Pension-only — doesn't model ISAs / GIA / property / non-pension assets
- Annual fees on assets under management (see pensionbee.com for current rates)
- Doesn't model DB / State Pension / ISAs alongside the pot
- No sequence-of-returns stress test
- No tax-efficient withdrawal ordering across providers
- No UK income tax calculator built in
- No tax planning view (HICBC, Marriage Allowance, Bed & ISA)
- No life-event scenarios (income shock, a child, long-term care)
- No FIRE / Coast FIRE modelling
- No ISA allowance tracker
- No dividend income horizon planner
- No multi-property with joint ownership or BTL cashflow
- No JISA as a tracked category
- No couples / household planning view
- No standalone calculator tools on the website (beyond pension-specific)
When to choose which
Choose WealthR if…
- You want to model retirement income across all sources
- You have a DB pension, State Pension or multiple SIPPs
- You want sequence-of-returns stress testing
- You want tax-efficient withdrawal recommendations
- You want a free UK income tax calculator
- You want to share your plan with an IFA read-only
- You're a UK couple planning retirement together
Choose PensionBee if…
- You want to consolidate old workplace pensions
- You want a single managed SIPP
- You want a clean app-first pension experience
- You want FCA-regulated investment management
- You're comfortable paying annual fund fees
- You only want to think about one pension provider
Why most retirees end up using both
The Venn diagram is tiny. PensionBee solves the "I have five pensions from five jobs and I've lost track" problem — by bringing them under one provider. WealthR solves the "I have one PensionBee SIPP, one workplace DC, a DB pension from my old employer, the State Pension coming at 67, my wife's SIPP, two ISAs and a buy-to-let — what does the next 25 years actually look like?" problem.
In WealthR, your PensionBee pot is just one entry in your Pension tab — alongside your DB pension, State Pension, and your partner's pots. WealthR aggregates the lot, calculates the correct combined UK tax, recommends a drawdown order across them, and shows whether your plan survives a market crash early in retirement.
FAQ
Can I track my PensionBee pot in WealthR?
Is WealthR a pension provider like PensionBee?
Should I move my pension to PensionBee before using WealthR?
Does WealthR give IFA-level retirement advice like PensionBee's guidance does?
Why does WealthR cover DB pensions and the State Pension when PensionBee doesn't?
What about adviser involvement — does WealthR have an equivalent to PensionBee's regulated status?
Track your PensionBee pot — and every other pension — in one plan.
Free forever at the core tier. Add your PensionBee SIPP, workplace DC, DB pension and State Pension entitlement; WealthR models the combined retirement income, withdrawal order and depletion risk.
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