# SmartPlaylist vs StarTone

The clearest difference is rating: SmartPlaylist at 4.4 against StarTone's 4.1. SmartPlaylist also leads on review sentiment (77% vs 67%) and ratings volume (53 vs 16). StarTone's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $1.99). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

SmartPlaylist costs $1.99 and StarTone $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

SmartPlaylist holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 53 and 16 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of SmartPlaylist's written reviews are positive against 67% of StarTone's.

SmartPlaylist ships an update every 2 months, StarTone every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SmartPlaylist | StarTone |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $1.99 | **$0.99** |
| Rating | **[4.4 (53 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smartplaylist/id326071802/reviews)** | [4.1 (16 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/startone/id1216107501/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **53** | 16 |
| Positive reviews | **77.1% of reviews** | 66.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 5 weeks** |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Size | 1 MB | 24 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.6** | 18.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [daenu](https://appshunter.io/developer/326071805) | [乃波 黄](https://appshunter.io/developer/680348637) |

## What reviewers say

### SmartPlaylist

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smartplaylist/id326071802)

Generate custom music playlists using extensive filtering and sorting rules. Organize your music library by text, numerical, date, and property criteria. Seamlessly integrate with your device's music player for playback.

**Highlights:** 26 customizable smart playlists, Over 20 search rules per playlist, Text, numerical, and date filtering, Logical operators for rule combination, iCloud backup and restore for rules, Hierarchical music library browsing, Playback queue integration

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### StarTone

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/startone/id1216107501)

This music player allows you to rate songs with stars and love statuses directly from your device's library or audio files. It offers convenient rating options via widgets and Apple Watch, with iCloud sync for your ratings.

**Highlights:** Rate music with stars and love statuses, iCloud sync for ratings across devices, Rating support on Today Extension and Apple Watch, Play and rate common audio formats including Flac and MIDI, Embed lyrics and support for .lrc files, Smart playlist creation

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SmartPlaylist free?

SmartPlaylist costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is StarTone free?

StarTone costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, SmartPlaylist or StarTone?

SmartPlaylist is rated higher. SmartPlaylist averages 4.4 out of 5 from 53 ratings, while StarTone averages 4.1 from 16 ratings.

### Do SmartPlaylist or StarTone have ads?

Neither SmartPlaylist nor StarTone shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, SmartPlaylist or StarTone?

SmartPlaylist ships an update every 2 months, and StarTone every 5 weeks. Most recently, SmartPlaylist was updated on October 16, 2026 and StarTone on October 2, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*