The Internet of Things (IoT) represents a promising area for research and innovation in networks connecting various devices and objects. Hierarchical routing protocols possess clustering characteristics and provide a structured approach to IoT routing. Various heuristics have been employed to mitigate the risks associated with IoT based networks. In this comparative analysis, we cover recent metaheuristic-based routing techniques in the scope of the simulation environment, performance, cluster head selection, and security of the IoT ecosystem. Focusing on IoT routing mechanisms and the clustering approach, we compare how these metaheuristics are being used to aid network communication efficiency and scalability. We also summarized the network efficiency and adaptability of metaheuristic routing techniques in different simulation environments in IoT. This paper seeks extensive adoption of metaheuristic-based routing techniques as a viable solution for hierarchical routing protocols in regions connecting physical objects to the internet. This comparative study can be a reference for future metaheuristic routing techniques and for developing more efficient and secure IoT routing solutions.