I went to SMART Recovery meetings for a while after I found that AA was not a good fit for me. I'm sure that meetings vary depending on the members and the facilitator but at the group I attended I found the atmosphere to be warm and supportive. The only thing I didn't like was the presence of a number of court-ordered DUI members who were indifferent and occasionally hostile to the group and the discussions.
I live in rural Arizona and thus had to drive over an hour to get to meetings in Tucson so I stopped going; the meetings were taking over four hours from my day including driving time. I never started through the workbook so can't comment on that other than it seems vaguely analogous to AA step work. Other attendees seemed to consider it central to their recovery.
At present, I rely on SR as a support network and the 24 Hour Club as a way to keep myself accountable, daily, for sobriety. So far, it's working!