Hostplus vs Smartly
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hostplus
Manage your superannuation and insurance on the go. Check your balance, track contributions, and access useful features securely. Designed for existing members, it offers a simple and intuitive experience.
- Check account balance
- Track contributions
- View insurance details
- Secure login (PIN, Touch ID, Face ID)
- Simple and easy to understand
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At Hostplus, we pride ourselves on being uncomplicated. We make sure everything we do is simple to understand and full of only useful things. Our app is no exception. Check your balance, track your contributions, view your insurance and more with the Hostplus app. Getting started - This app is for Hostplus super members. If you don’t have an account with us, you can join online at hostplus.com.au - To make sure you’re using the latest features, please make sure your automatic updates are switched on. Logging in - Login easily with a PIN, Touch ID, or Face ID for secure access to your information on the go.
Smartly
This app allows employees to manage their payroll information, including viewing payslips, applying for leave, and submitting timesheets. Employers must set up employee accounts for access. It simplifies payroll management for both employees and businesses.
- View payslips
- Apply for leave
- Submit timesheets
- Track leave balances
- Assign hours to jobs
- Email PDF payslips
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The Smartly mobile app is for employees who work for a business that uses Smartly to manage their payroll. As an employee you can check your pay history and apply for leave as well as submit timesheets. To login, your employer needs to set you up in the payroll site and give you your username. You’ll then get an email to create your password and you’ll be good to go! FEATURES Pay details - View your payslips (up to 3 months). - Email yourself a PDF version of your payslip. - See a countdown to your next pay. Managing leave requests - Apply for leave (including special leave types). - View any upcoming leave, plus leave history and balances. - Managers can add, edit, approveor decline leave requests for their team. - View future leave balances when applying for leave. Submitting timesheets - Enter time and rate per hour. - Create multiple time entries for each day. - Managers can add, edit, approve or decline time for their team. - Remembers the last timesheet entry and prefills the same hours. - Copy a previous weeks timesheet to save time. Labour costing - Assign hours worked to different jobs or departments. ABOUT SMARTLY We know that payroll can be a headache. So, at Smartly we make it simple for businesses to pay their people on time, accurately and in-line with regulation. Faff-free payroll, happy staff, no headaches. Too easy!
Screenshots
Verdict
Hostplus and Smartly both sit at 4.9 stars, but that hides the real split: 49% of Hostplus's written reviews are positive against 32% of Smartly's. Smartly's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Hostplus against 4.8 for Smartly. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 80 and 35 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 49% of Hostplus's written reviews are positive against 32% of Smartly's.
Hostplus ships an update every 2 months, Smartly monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hostplus | Smartly |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (80 ratings) — better | 4.8 (35 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 49.2% of reviews — better | 31.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 80 — better | 35 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | HOSTPLUS Super | SmartPayroll |
Customer experience
Hostplus
Smartly
User reviews
Hostplus
From 80 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use and navigate interface
- 📱 Clean, modern, and intuitive design
- ⚡ Quick access to balance and account information
- 📊 Helpful graphs and visual balance tracking
- 🔔 Real-time balance update notifications
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and errors
- ⏱️ Slow loading times and laggy performance
- 🔄 Frequent maintenance windows and downtime
- ❌ Login failures and authentication issues
- 📉 Real-time balance updates degraded to 1-2 days
Smartly
From 35 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 👍 Intuitive design
- 👍 Straightforward
- 👍 Good for tracking shifts
- 👍 Great for employees
Room to improve
- 🐛 Constantly logs out
- 🐛 Frequent login issues
- 🐛 App crashes/freezes
- 🐛 Slow performance
- 🐛 Poor accessibility
Bugs and requests
Hostplus
Reported bugs
14 issues- App stuck on loading screen after PIN entry
- Login button unresponsive after recent updates
- Error 122: Minimum security requirements violation
- Unexpected error messages preventing app access
- Session timeout during password recovery
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- App forgets login details after updates
- Error 115: Cannot connect to ChoicePlus
- Blue screen with no content displayed
- Facial recognition reverting to PIN without reason
- App requires update but no update available
- Push notifications with test messages appearing
- Continue button not responding during login
- Extended maintenance periods (14+ hours)
- App crashes after new updates
Requested features
13 requests- Historical balance tracking by specific dates
- Financial year earnings breakdown (not just 12 months)
- Better graphs and detailed performance analysis
- Investment switching capability on app
- Two-factor authentication via authenticator app
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- More detailed asset allocation information
- Download statements functionality
- Advanced calculators and financial tools
- Swap function for investments
- Better iPad optimization and landscape mode
- Ability to view investment returns and drill-down analysis
- Performance reports accessible on app
- Larger margin options for trading orders
Smartly
Reported bugs
39 issues- Notifications don't work
- App size increased
- Biometrics enrollment repeated
- Password reset issues
- Login button unresponsive
Show 34 moreShow fewer
- Keeps logging out
- App crashes or freezes
- Date selection hard
- App crashes or freezes regularly
- Issues with shifts past midnight
- Cannot log in
- App freezes when adding timesheet
- Timesheet tab buffering
- App doesn't function
- Cannot approve timesheets
- Randomly logs out users
- App crashes every fortnight
- Slow to respond to taps
- App freezes on loading screen
- Cannot add timesheet when logged in
- Timesheet tab buffering and error
- App won't function
- Cannot approve timesheets
- Randomly logs out
- App crashes every fortnight
- Slow to respond
- App crashes
- App crashes immediately
- App hangs on white loading screen
- Login issues
- App doesn't remember login
- Constant lag and freezing
- Screens don't allow scrolling
- New timesheet layout doesn't let you copy hours
- App needs to be repeatedly reinstalled
- App doesn't open
- App crashes
- App crashes immediately
- App hangs on white loading screen
Requested features
10 requests- Ability to put in start time without finish time
- Reminder for missing finish time
- More detailed app
- Web portal access for employees
- Ability to handle working past midnight without two entries
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Export staff on leave to Outlook calendar
- Ability to put time to time in lieu
- Previous week preloaded
- Auto-save start and finish times from previous day
- Notifications
In-app purchases
Hostplus
No in-app purchases
Smartly
No in-app purchases









