Comparison

SmartHub vs Xcel Energy

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

Head to head
About

SmartHub

Manage your utility and telecommunications accounts with ease. View usage, billing, and payment history. Report service issues, receive important company news, and manage your WiFi network all from your mobile device.

Highlights
  • View and manage bills and payments
  • Monitor energy usage trends
  • Contact customer service easily
  • Receive service news and outage alerts
  • Report service interruptions
  • Manage WiFi network and devices
Currently charting
Read full description

SmartHub provides utility and telecommunications customers account management at their fingertips. Customers can view their usage and billing, manage payments, notify customer service of account and service issues and receive special messaging from their local utility or telecommunications company. NISC serves over 500 telecoms and utilities across the nation, install the application to determine if your local organization is supported. Additional Features: Bill & Pay - Quickly view your current account balance and due date, manage recurring payments and modify payment methods. You can also view bill history including PDF versions of paper bills directly on your mobile device. Make a payment now or schedule it for a future date. My Usage - View energy usage graphs to identify high usage trends. Navigate graphs quickly using an intuitive gesture based interface. Contact Us - Easily contact your service provider by email or phone. You can also submit one of the many predefined messages, with the ability to include pictures and GPS coordinates. News - Provides a convenient way to monitor news that may affect your service such as rate changes, outage information and upcoming events. Service Status - Displays service interruption and outage information. You can also report an outage directly to your service provider. Maps - Displays facility and payment dropbox locations on a map interface. Manage Wifi - Easily manage your WiFi network and connected devices. Maintain passwords, troubleshoot issues, create and control guest networks, limit access to connected devices, create rules with parental controls and check internet speed.

About

Xcel Energy

Manage your Xcel Energy account with ease. View billing information, make payments, report outages, and track your energy usage over time. Secure login options and multi-language support are available.

Highlights
  • Secure login with Touch ID/Face ID
  • View billing and statements
  • Make payments
  • Report and check outage status
  • Track historical energy usage
  • Compare bills and usage data
Features
Read full description

Secure - Opt-in to use Touch ID or Face ID as a quicker way to sign in and as an added layer of protection to keep your data and account information secure. - Accessible to both English and Spanish customers - Dark Mode now available Pay - Easily log in to view your billing information and statements, check your balance and make payments. Report - Report an outage or check on your outage status. View - See a complete view of your current and historical usage data. Track - Compare your bills and track your electric and/or gas usage for the past 24 months with usage graphs and tables. - Compare your bill to last month or last year, and view how different bill factors such as usage, billing period, and average temperature might affect your bill Already an Xcel Energy customer but don’t have an online account yet? You’ll need to complete a quick, one-time registration to link your preferred email address with your account. To get started, have the following ready: • Your account number • Your last name or company name from your bill • The ZIP code from your bill Then, open the app and tap “Sign In or Register”, followed by “Register”. Enter your email address — this will become your new login ID.

Screenshots

SmartHub4 screens
Xcel Energy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Xcel Energy at 4.6 against SmartHub's 2.7. Xcel Energy also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). SmartHub's advantage is chart position (#146 vs unranked). On price, review sentiment, 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

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

Xcel Energy holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.9K and 4.1K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 16% of SmartHub's written reviews are positive against 18% of Xcel Energy's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SmartHub ships an update every 2 months, Xcel Energy every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
SmartHub versus Xcel Energy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmartHubXcel Energy
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.7 (1.9K ratings)4.6 (4.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews15.8% of reviews17.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.9K4.1K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#146 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB113 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperNational Information Solutions CooperativeXcel Energy Inc.

Customer experience

SmartHub

All ratings1,946 ratings
Positive36.9%
Neutral8.5%
Negative54.6%
Written reviews228 reviews
Positive15.8%
Neutral8.8%
Negative75.4%

Xcel Energy

All ratings4,112 ratings
Positive91.8%
Neutral2.4%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews147 reviews
Positive17.7%
Neutral4.8%
Negative77.6%

User reviews

SmartHub

From 1.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 🔒 Secure login
  • 📊 Helpful usage data
  • 💳 Convenient bill payment

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • ⚠️ Unreliable server connection
  • 🕰️ Slow loading times
  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate

Xcel Energy

From 4.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Streamlined UI
  • 👍 Convenient payment options
  • 👍 Helpful usage graphs

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Login and account issues
  • 🐛 Inaccurate usage data
  • 🐛 Broken or missing features
  • 🔍 Lack of transparency

Bugs and requests

SmartHub

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login issues after recent update
  • Incorrect or missing usage data
  • Inability to disable auto-pay
  • Compatibility problems with newer OS versions

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add support for multiple utility accounts
  • Improve push notification system
  • Provide more detailed usage insights
  • Allow customizable alert thresholds

Xcel Energy

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unable to login or reset password
  • Inability to link accounts or view statements
  • Inconsistent or non-functioning features

Requested features

3 requests
  • Restore previous app functionality
  • Improve usage tracking and reporting
  • Provide better error messages and troubleshooting

In-app purchases

None

SmartHub

No in-app purchases

None

Xcel Energy

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SmartHub free?
SmartHub is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Xcel Energy free?
Xcel Energy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SmartHub or Xcel Energy?
Xcel Energy is rated higher. SmartHub averages 2.7 out of 5 from 1.9K ratings, while Xcel Energy averages 4.6 from 4.1K ratings.
Do SmartHub or Xcel Energy have ads?
Neither SmartHub nor Xcel Energy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SmartHub or Xcel Energy?
SmartHub ships an update every 2 months, and Xcel Energy every 3 weeks. Most recently, SmartHub was updated on September 24, 2026 and Xcel Energy on September 24, 2026.

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