Comparison

ELOF@HOME vs SmartTeach

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

Head to head
About

ELOF@HOME

This mobile tool provides on-the-go access to the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (HS ELOF). It offers insights into child development goals and effective practices for home visitors, supporting parents in their child's growth. The app includes diverse imagery and stories, focusing on individualizing for children with unique needs.

Highlights
  • Access ELOF goals for children
  • Learn effective home visiting practices
  • Support parent-child relationships
  • Promote positive parenting
  • Individualize for children's needs
  • Includes diverse imagery and stories
Features
Read full description

The ELOF@Home is a mobile solution for home visitors who want to access, and learn more about, the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (HS ELOF). The app provides on-the-go access to the ELOF goals for children and effective practices for home visitors in support of those goals. The ELOF@HOME is designed to be used by home visitors to learn more about which home visiting practices are effective at supporting parents in their children’s growth and development within the ELOF domains. It includes imagery, text, and stories that represent the diversity found in Head Start and Early Head Start programs across the country, including children who are Dual Language Learners (DLLs) and a focus on “individualizing” for children with unique needs and abilities. Who is the ELOF@HOME app for? The ELOF@HOME app should be used by directors, managers, and home visitors, working in home-based programs as their mobile ELOF. The ELOF@HOME app incorporates practices that are effective at promoting strong parent-child relationships, positive parenting, and children’s growth and development within the ELOF domains. As directors and managers explore the app, they should use it to: • Guide everyday practice in selecting and using curriculum along with home visiting and assessment practices that promote the goals for secure parent- child relationships and children’s development and learning • Identify staff training needs and plan for staff training and development • Identify program priorities and focus attention and resources on meeting the goals for children’s development and learning • Communicate about program planning, implementation, and impact with staff, families, advisory board, and the community As home visitors explore the app, they should use it to: • Support the development of strong parent- child relationships and positive parenting • Plan learning experiences with parents and their children to promote secure parent-child interactions and school readiness • Engage consistently in meaningful, culturally sensitive interactions and conversations with parents and their children to support their learning in all the domains • Inform effective, intentional, and responsive home visiting practices to help parents and their children make progress toward their goals • Engage parents and family members in understanding and supporting their child’s learning in the home environment • Complement information gathered from ongoing assessments

About

SmartTeach

This app helps early childhood educators streamline daily classroom tasks. It simplifies documentation, classroom management, and family communication with easy-to-use tools for online and offline use.

Highlights
  • Create documentation and share insights
  • View and teach from daily schedule
  • Communicate with families
  • Save and share photos/videos
  • Assess from curriculum resources
  • Track attendance and care routines
  • Conduct health screenings
Read full description

The SmartTeach® app by Teaching Strategies offers early childhood educators an easy and efficient way to quickly complete essential daily tasks on the fly, online, or offline. The SmartTeach app simplifies teaching, documentation, classroom management, and family engagement throughout the day, enabling teachers to make the most of every moment with easy-to-use tools right at their fingertips. The SmartTeach app is accessible to Teachers and Administrators using Teaching Strategies products such as GOLD®, The Creative Curriculum® Cloud, Kickstart LiteracyTM, and Tadpoles®. Download SmartTeach by Teaching Strategies to access our new and improved features & functionality. SmartTeach offers early childhood educators a single app to support all essential classroom tasks, including: Create documentation and share insights with families View and teach directly from your daily schedule, curriculum, activities, and care routines Communicate with families Save & share photos, videos, and other media across devices View & assess from resources like Intentional Teaching Experiences, Skill Development Cards, and Mighty Minutes®* Identify Infant and Toddler children’s developmental level with the Entry Screener to dynamically populate individualized support for each child* Take attendance, move children or staff, and complete name-to-face checks* Track care routines and share Daily Reports with families* Conduct health screenings for children and/or staff* *Feature availability is dependent on which Teaching Strategies products your classroom licenses.

Screenshots

ELOF@HOME4 screens
SmartTeach4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: SmartTeach at monthly against ELOF@HOME's every 80 months. SmartTeach also leads on ratings volume (1.2K vs 4). ELOF@HOME's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

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

ELOF@HOME holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SmartTeach has 1.2K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ELOF@HOME ships an update every 80 months, SmartTeach monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ELOF@HOME versus SmartTeach: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterELOF@HOMESmartTeach
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better4.8 (1.2K ratings)
Positive reviews—24.0% of reviews
Number of ratings41.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 80 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size180 MB103 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOffice of Head StartTeaching Strategies, LLC

Customer experience

ELOF@HOME

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

SmartTeach

All ratings1,190 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral1.6%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive24.0%
Neutral12.0%
Negative64.0%

Bugs and requests

ELOF@HOME

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

SmartTeach

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Screener not working when clicking plus sign
  • Inability to log in through app, but able to log in on website
  • Delayed or failed message delivery
  • Uploaded documentation still showing in app, causing confusion

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to select and apply objectives to multiple pieces of documentation at once
  • Add ability to select and delete multiple photos/videos at once
  • Add ability to change date on add documentation page
  • Add landscape mode support for easier typing
  • Improve translation and communication features for ESL families

In-app purchases

None

ELOF@HOME

No in-app purchases

None

SmartTeach

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ELOF@HOME free?
ELOF@HOME is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SmartTeach free?
SmartTeach is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ELOF@HOME or SmartTeach?
ELOF@HOME is rated higher. ELOF@HOME averages 5.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while SmartTeach averages 4.8 from 1.2K ratings.
Do ELOF@HOME or SmartTeach have ads?
Neither ELOF@HOME nor SmartTeach shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ELOF@HOME or SmartTeach?
ELOF@HOME ships an update every 80 months, and SmartTeach monthly. Most recently, ELOF@HOME was updated on October 1, 2026 and SmartTeach on October 12, 2026.

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