Both have free money calculators, and they answer different questions. Financial Mentor's calculators project forward from rates you set. Ctrl Alt Decide replays what really happened at a real place and date.
| Financial Mentor | Ctrl Alt Decide | |
|---|---|---|
| What it answers | What might happen: it projects forward from rates you enter. | How a choice turned out: it replays what really happened at a real place and date. |
| Where the numbers come from | Rates you enter, such as "Expected annual home appreciation rate (%)", "Interest rate you expect to earn on savings (%)" and a depreciation % for each year. | Published records for your place and month: HM Land Registry, ONS, Zillow, Freddie Mac, Bank of England and more. You can type over any figure. |
| Rent or buy | Yes, projected forward from the rates above. US tax inputs. | Yes, for over 600 UK and US places, back to 2015. |
| Overpay the mortgage or invest | A mortgage payoff calculator, and an article on paying off early or investing. No calculator for the comparison. | Yes: overpaying against investing, back to 2000. |
| Lease or buy a car | Yes, lease against buy, with depreciation you set for each year. | Yes: leasing, a car loan or paying cash, compared. |
| Savings or investing | A compound interest calculator, with a rate you set. | Cash savings against the stock market, with real savings rates and returns back to 2000. |
| Moving city | None found. | Pay, rents and house prices in two places, replayed since 2015. |
| Pay against inflation | An inflation calculator that converts a dollar amount between years with the US consumer price index, with data up to 2011. No pay comparison. | Yes: your pay then and now against prices and real average pay, UK and US, back to 2000. |
| Stock markets by country | Future value calculators that use a rate of return you enter. No real past returns and no other countries. | Yes: two countries' real share prices side by side, in pounds or dollars, back to 2000. |
| UK coverage | US-oriented; no UK versions found. | UK and US. |
| Account needed | Not needed. Emailing your results is optional. | Not needed. |
| How it makes money | Coaching, courses and ebooks, plus some advertising and affiliate income. | No ads, no affiliate links, no paid version. |
You want a detailed forward plan for one decision, with long explanations, or coaching and courses from a named founder.
You want to know how a choice actually played out: in your place, from the month you made it, with the real prices, rents and rates since. It covers the UK as well as the US, and every figure names its source.
Checked on 23 September 2026 against Financial Mentor's own pages: Financial Mentor rent vs buy calculator, Financial Mentor on how the site earns. Spotted something out of date? Tell us at @ctrlaltdecide.