Stockwave vs SmartAuction
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Stockwave
Streamline wholesale vehicle acquisition by simplifying auction sourcing. Quickly evaluate vehicles, access pricing guides, and get real-time bid guidance to make profitable decisions.
- VIN scanning for bid determination
- Access to multiple price guides
- Vehicle history reports
- Auction condition report evaluation
- Save vehicle notes
- Navigate auction run lists
- Real-time bid guidance
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Stockwave is the latest innovation from vAuto for Wholesale Vehicle Acquisition. The Stockwave application will work for all existing vAuto clients that have a current AuctionGenius subscription or sign up for a new Stockwave subscription. Sourcing used car inventory at auction can drain time and money from a dealership. The searching and researching before the auction doesn’t always lead to the best buying opportunities. The bidding and buying process doesn’t always lead to profitable outcomes. Stockwave simplifies sourcing so much, you don’t have to spend time searching or researching - or waste money on the wrong bids again. The Stockwave mobile application is designed to aide in searching for Wholesale inventory from all major United States Automobile Auctions and for quickly evaluate the vehicles when at alive auction. Key Features: * Scan a VIN to quickly determine what to bid on a vehicle * Access price guides based on your current subscription such as MMR, KBB, Black Book, NADA, and Galves * Access Vehicle History Reports * Evaluate the Auction Condition Reports before you place a bid * Save Notes about each Vehicle to access your prior research * Navigate Auction Run Lists with ease while at the auction * Access real time bid guidance and profit projections Usage Requirements: * This app requires an active subscription with vAuto for AuctionGenius or Stockwave. * The VIN scanner requires access to your camera, and you can grant permissions by going to Settings -> Privacy -> Camera. * The VIN scanner requires an autofocusing camera. Some older Apple devices do NOT have autofocus cameras, so VIN scanning is NOT supported on those devices. * The Black Book and Galves price guides may require an additional subscription to access the data on a mobile device.
SmartAuction
Manage your wholesale vehicle business efficiently on the go. This app simplifies buying, selling, and inventory management with features like saved searches, offer management, and real-time notifications. Stay connected to every deal with customizable alerts.
- Efficient vehicle review with filters
- Comprehensive vehicle details
- Instant purchase actions
- Offer review, acceptance, and countering
- Real-time push notifications
- Customizable deal alerts
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We make managing your wholesale vehicle business simple, fast and secure. Buy, sell, and manage your inventory on the go — all in one app. Buy Review vehicles efficiently with filters and saved searches View comprehensive vehicle details and explore purchase options in a clear view Track saved vehicles in your bid list and swipe to take instant purchase actions Evaluate inventory quickly with pricing, mileage and status right in your search results Sell Review, accept or counter offers to close deals faster Manage vehicle details and offers directly from the app Keep your inventory up to date by managing vehicles on the go Stay connected Get push notifications and stay on top of every deal Customize which alerts you get, including offers, outbids and sold notifications We offer the SmartAuction app for free, but your mobile carrier’s message and data rates may apply. You need a valid SmartAuction account and a licensed dealer status to log in and use the app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: SmartAuction at 5.0 against Stockwave's 3.5. SmartAuction also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs monthly). Stockwave's advantage is ratings volume (31 vs 6). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SmartAuction holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stockwave has 31 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Stockwave ships an update monthly, SmartAuction every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Stockwave | SmartAuction |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (31 ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 41.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 31 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 33 MB | 93 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | vAuto, Inc. | Ally Financial Inc. |
Customer experience
Stockwave
SmartAuction
In-app purchases
Stockwave
No in-app purchases
SmartAuction
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Stockwave free?
Is SmartAuction free?
Which has better reviews, Stockwave or SmartAuction?
Do Stockwave or SmartAuction have ads?
Which is updated more often, Stockwave or SmartAuction?
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