Comparison

HCL Connections vs stashcat

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

Head to head
About

HCL Connections

This business social networking app connects you with colleagues and experts to collaborate on projects, share files, and discuss ideas. It provides mobile access to your company's internal social platform, enabling seamless communication and task management on the go.

Highlights
  • Collaborative project management
  • Secure file sharing
  • Expert discovery and networking
  • Community building
  • Blogs and wikis for knowledge sharing
  • Task tracking and status updates
Read full description

HCL Connections (formally IBM Connections) is social software for your business. It enables you to build a network of colleagues and subject matter experts, and then leverage that network to further your business goals. You can discuss ideas, work collaboratively on presentations or proposals, share photos or files, plan and track project tasks, and much more. HCL Connections is a server product that is deployed on your company intranet or the IBM Connections Cloud. This HCL Connections mobile app extends access to that server for employees, like yourself, who are on the go directly from their iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. This app can also be securely managed by your company administrator through server side policies. Features - Securely drop documents, presentations and photos to your colleagues with Files. - Find experts in your organization and build a social network with Profiles. - Join together with others to accomplish business goals through Communities. - Influence and share your expertise through Blogs and Wikis. - Get everyone on the same page using Bookmarks. - Track your project progress to success with Activities. - Share news, links and status across your network at any time. - View and print documents, presentations, and spreadsheets over AirPrint ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In order to access your company Connections server, you will need a userid and password along with the URL address of the server. The app will prompt you for this information. If you are an end user and experiencing a problem, please contact your company IT help desk. If you are a Connections administrator experiencing a problem, please open a case at the HCL customer support site. In addition to rating the app here at the App Store, you can tell us what we have done right or what we can do better by emailing HCL mobile software engineering directly at heyhcl@pnp-hcl.com. Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

About

stashcat

A secure and GDPR-compliant communication platform for businesses, integrating chat functionalities with cloud storage. Facilitates efficient team coordination, file sharing, and appointment management. Offers a private and protected alternative to public messaging apps.

Highlights
  • Secure group and individual chats
  • Integrated cloud file storage
  • Channel-based organization
  • Calendar module for appointments
  • Survey module for polls
  • GDPR compliant and secure hosting
Read full description

stashcat® - contemporary way of corporate communications - WhatsApp alternative for business and government. Efficient communication between all employees of a company is the basis for a target-oriented way of working. stashcat® combines the usual chat functionalities with your own cloud storage into a data protection compliant and secure communication platform - GDPR compliant. stashcat® offers a contemporary way of communication for companies and is subjected to a strict privacy policy. Communicate easily, quickly and securely within the company– with stashcat®. Organization via #Channels: With the # Channel function, you can easily and transparently chat in groups or teams and thus coordinate your in-house communication without great effort. Communication via single or group chats: You can quickly and easily interact with one or more users. This feature is not public and works like the latest generation of messenger apps. Own and shared file storage: Each user has a personal file storage in which documents and files can be stored, accessed and shared with other users at any time. Every #Channel and every chat has its own file storage. Calendar module: Appointments can be made privately or publicly, shared in channels with the ability to accept or cancel for members of the channel. Survey module: create appointment queries or evaluations in the question-answer-principle. Secure hosting and strict data protection in accordance with DIN ISO 27001: The operation of stashcat® is provided by various, redundant server systems. The user data are processed encrypted in a server center in Hannover and thus are treated according to German data protection law. Your app, our technology: Use stashcat® in your particular company layout and offer your employees and customers an effective way to communicate with each other, regardless of time and place.

Screenshots

HCL Connections3 screens
stashcat4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: stashcat at 5.0 against HCL Connections's 3.4. stashcat also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months). HCL Connections's advantage is ratings volume (24 vs 2) and review sentiment (60% vs 50%). 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

stashcat holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HCL Connections has 24 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 60% of HCL Connections's written reviews are positive against 50% of stashcat's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HCL Connections ships an update every 3 months, stashcat fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
HCL Connections versus stashcat: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHCL Connectionsstashcat
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.4 (24 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.2% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings24 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size155 MB143 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHCL America Inc.Stashcat GmbH

Customer experience

HCL Connections

All ratings24 ratings
Positive58.3%
Neutral8.3%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews93 reviews
Positive60.2%
Neutral6.5%
Negative33.3%

stashcat

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral15.0%
Negative35.0%

Bugs and requests

HCL Connections

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • App crashes after recent update
  • App crashes at startup
  • Black screen after launch
  • No way to type new lines on post comments
  • Does not save password
Show 7 more
  • Short timeout period
  • Audio not heard when playing .MOV files
  • App loads a screen and then nothing
  • Server error
  • Endless looping, hard to view schedules
  • Freezes constantly
  • Does not parse passwords with special characters correctly

Requested features

9 requests
  • Support for SSO authentication
  • Support for plus-sized phones
  • Ability to take notes that sync to SmartCloud
  • Offline mode
  • File viewing in-app
Show 4 more
  • Hide left nav bar
  • Ability to click on someone's tags
  • Universal app for iPad adaptation
  • Improved password parsing for special characters

stashcat

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

HCL Connections

No in-app purchases

None

stashcat

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HCL Connections free?
HCL Connections is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is stashcat free?
stashcat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HCL Connections or stashcat?
stashcat is rated higher. HCL Connections averages 3.4 out of 5 from 24 ratings, while stashcat averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do HCL Connections or stashcat have ads?
Neither HCL Connections nor stashcat shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HCL Connections or stashcat?
HCL Connections ships an update every 3 months, and stashcat fortnightly. Most recently, HCL Connections was updated on October 30, 2026 and stashcat on November 1, 2026.

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