lispy/smartparens: FWIW, I use both. If you think they have a similar feature set, you haven't looked at lispy closely enough. It is more about making lisp editing operations frictionless, than it is just pair management.
Check out the simple overview[1], and maybe some demos[2].
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BverGxP41cE
[2] https://github.com/abo-abo/lispy#demos
swiper/helm: this is more of a personal choice, I agree. Having given both a fair shake, I find ivy more easily extensible, and I prefer the simpler look. As for the community support, there has yet to be something for only helm that I've missed in the various counsel functions.
