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Cities are increasingly challenged to improve their competitiveness. Performance indicators stand as an important element to interpret the success of the policy regime adopted by the municipality. Cities with a set of superior economic, social and environmental indicators have the potential to present better living conditions for their inhabitants. In this context, the aim of this research is to analyze whether the indicators published by Brazilian cities are aligned with the approach of a smart or sustainable city. The research used a set of 3150 data points regarding the performance of these cities. It analyzed the performance of the 150 best cities, divided into three groups of interest identified as small cities, medium-sized cities and big cities, on a set of 21 indicators. The set of identified indicators shows the attention of the cities to socioeconomic and information and communication technologies issues, thus revealing that Brazilian city managers are more interested in positioning their cities as smart than sustainable. Analysis of the general indicators of the cities, supported by the number of inhabitants, indicated that big cities present superior performance in relation to medium-sized cities, and that the latter perform better in relation to the small cities. However, small cities in the individualized analysis of social indicators present a better-performing set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]