Comparison

SmartHub vs EMPOWER IQ

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
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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

EMPOWER IQ

Manage your home network with advanced controls. Prioritize devices, set up guest networks, and implement parental controls for a secure and optimized online experience. Monitor network usage and perform speed tests.

Highlights
  • Device priority assignment
  • Parental controls
  • Guest network creation
  • Network usage monitoring
  • Speed test functionality
  • SSID management
Features
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Control your smart home experience with EMPOWER IQ . Manage your network by assigning devices priority, implementing parental controls, and creating your own guest networks. View network usage, perform speed tests, and manage your SSID for total control.

Screenshots

SmartHub4 screens
EMPOWER IQ4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: EMPOWER IQ at 5.0 against SmartHub's 2.7. SmartHub's advantage is ratings volume (1.9K vs 5) and chart position (#136 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

EMPOWER IQ holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SmartHub has 1.9K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SmartHub ships an update every 2 months, EMPOWER IQ every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
SmartHub versus EMPOWER IQ: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmartHubEMPOWER IQ
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.7 (1.9K ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews15.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.9K — better5
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#136 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB139 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperNational Information Solutions CooperativeEMPOWER Broadband

Customer experience

SmartHub

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

EMPOWER IQ

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

EMPOWER IQ

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

SmartHub

No in-app purchases

None

EMPOWER IQ

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SmartHub free?
SmartHub is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is EMPOWER IQ free?
EMPOWER IQ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SmartHub or EMPOWER IQ?
EMPOWER IQ is rated higher. SmartHub averages 2.7 out of 5 from 1.9K ratings, while EMPOWER IQ averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do SmartHub or EMPOWER IQ have ads?
Neither SmartHub nor EMPOWER IQ shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SmartHub or EMPOWER IQ?
SmartHub ships an update every 2 months, and EMPOWER IQ every 3 months. Most recently, SmartHub was updated on September 25, 2026 and EMPOWER IQ on September 15, 2026.

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