Prices checked October 21, 2026
Pool Brain beats Skimmer on price at all five of our crew sizes, and Pool Runs costs least at the one- and two-tech sizes.
Pool Runs costs the least of the three at one and two techs. We used list prices billed monthly on each company's core plan, counting techs as the paid logins and one pool per property, and left out add-ons and card fees.
| Pools · techs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 $50 base + $65 a tech | $115$50 + 1 × $65 | $180$50 + 2 × $65 | $245$50 + 3 × $65Lowest | $375$50 + 5 × $65Lowest list price | $570$50 + 8 × $65Lowest list price |
 Scaling Up · $98 + $2 a pool past 49 | $120$98 + 11 × $2 | $240$98 + 71 × $2 | $400$98 + 151 × $2 | $600$98 + 251 × $2 | $1,000$98 + 451 × $2 |
| Also compared | |||||
 Pool Runs$45 + $1.75 a property past 50, to 200 | $62.50$45 + 10 × $1.75Lowest | $167.50$45 + 70 × $1.75Lowest | $307.50$45 + 150 × $1.75Match and beat | Volume pricingOver 200 propertiesMatch and beat | Volume pricingOver 200 propertiesMatch and beat |
We read each price on the company's own pricing page on October 21, 2026. Under 50 pools, Skimmer's Getting Started plan is $49 ($1 a pool, 49 included) but leaves out route optimization, quotes and the schedule. For big books, Skimmer quotes over 1,000 pools on request, and Pool Runs has volume pricing over 200 properties with the same match-and-beat promise. A Pool Runs property counts only in a month it has a completed visit; Skimmer also bills only serviced locations.
200 pools · 3 techs · a month
$245$400Pool Runs$307.50At 200 pools with 3 techs, Pool Brain costs least at $245, $62.50 less than Pool Runs and $155 less than Skimmer.
Between the two, Pool Brain is $155 a month less than Skimmer at this size, or $1,860 a year. We'll match and beat any lower price for the same job.
Once you service 50 pools or more, Pool Brain costs less than Skimmer when your book is above about 25 pools plus 33 per tech (58 pools with one tech, 90 with two, 123 with three). Under 50 pools, Skimmer's $49 plan is the smaller bill.
Pool Runs costs less than Pool Brain while the book stays under about 53 pools plus 37 per tech (90 with one tech, 127 with two, 164 with three). Past that, we'll match and beat Pool Brain's price, and over 200 properties we price the plan with you.
| Add-on | | | Pool RunsAlso compared |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI phone answering | Not on their site | AI Phone, $99 at its launch price, answers inbound calls. | Communications, $50, includes the AI voice agent with your business number, calls in the browser and app, voicemail, 1,000 texts and 400 voice minutes. |
| Texting customers | The tech app sends an “On the Way” text at no extra cost. We found no two-way texting. | Service texts are one-way, unlimited on Scaling Up and 2.9¢ each on Getting Started. | Texts come with Communications ($50), and two-way texting in the shared inbox also needs Engage, $80 for both. |
| QuickBooks Online | Included, two-way | Included, one-way from Skimmer to QuickBooks | Included, two-way |
| Follow-ups and marketing | Quote and invoice reminder emails are built in. | Marketing Suite, $150, adds email and one-way text automations and review requests. | Engage, $50, adds the shared inbox, workflows, pipelines, forms and review requests. |
| Bookkeeping | Not on their site | From $198 | No bookkeeping service. Income, expenses and P&L reports come in the core plan, with a two-way QuickBooks Online sync. |
Pool Runs Communications includes 1,000 texts a month, then 3¢ each, and 400 voice minutes a month pooled across all calls. Card and ACH payments at all three run through a processor that charges its own fees, which we left out.
Skimmer splits its features across two plans. Its $49 plan leaves out route optimization, quotes and required checklist items.
| Read October 21, 2026 | | | Also comparedPool Runs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Run the route | ||||
| Recurring routes and schedule | Included: Every X weeks, several visits a week | Included: Routes on every plan; the schedule on Scaling Up1 | Included: Recurring visits and dispatch | |
| Route optimization | Included: One tap, on web and in the app | Higher plan only: Scaling Up, $981 | Included: Core plan, $45 | |
| Tech app works with no signal | Included: Even to log in2 | Included: Works offline2 | Included: Stops, readings, doses and photos; quotes need signal3 | |
| Photos on each visit | Included: Unlimited, per its comparison page | Included: 5 a visit; 20 on Scaling Up4 | Included: Photo service reports, emailed, plus videos up to 90 seconds | |
| Required checklist items | Included: Guided steps that can't be skipped | Higher plan only: Scaling Up, $98 | Included: Required items, photos and readings block completing the stop | |
| Alerts to the office | Included: Chemistry, PSI, time on site, cost | Included: Office alerts on every plan | Included: Team alerts you route by event5 | |
| GPS | Not found: Not on their site | Not found: Not on their site | Included: Included | |
| Time clock | Technician time report from job start and finish6 | Not found: Not on their site | Included: Included | |
| Equipment records | Included: Types, notes and photos for each pool | Included: Equipment management, added August 20267 | Included: Scan the equipment label to fill in make, model and serial | |
| Water chemistry | ||||
| Readings and doses logged | Included: Included, with history graphs | Included: Every plan8 | Included: Included | |
| LSI calculator with dosing | Included: Orenda, built in | Higher plan only: Orenda, on Scaling Up8 | Included: LSI and dose suggestions | |
| Doses filled in for the tech | Included: From targets or LSI steps, with a pH floor9 | Not found: Not on their site9 | Dose suggestions from the LSI calculator; the tech enters the dose | |
| Test kit and pump data | Included: LaMotte Spin Touch, WaterGuru, Pentair IntelliFlo310 | Higher plan only: LaMotte, on Scaling Up | Not offered: Not offered | |
| Customers and billing | ||||
| Customer portal with payments | Included: Included | Included: Included | Included: Pay, auto-pay, visit history, quotes, signing and service requests | |
| Quotes approved online | Included: Approve or decline, no e-signature11 | Higher plan only: Scaling Up; approved with a typed name11 | Included: With e-signature | |
| Agreements and e-signature | PDFs attached to quotes12 | Not found: Not on their site | Included: Agreements, estimates and waivers, signed by email or on the tech's phone13 | |
| Card, ACH and auto-pay | Included: Stripe since September 28, or Nuvei14 | Included: Through Stripe | Included: Through Stripe14 | |
| Customer financing | Not found: Not on their site | Higher plan only: Sunbit, on Scaling Up | Not offered: Not offered | |
| QuickBooks Online sync | Included: Two-way | Included: One-way, Skimmer to QuickBooks15 | Included: Two-way: customers, invoices, payments and items | |
| Office | ||||
| Inventory and truck stock | Included: Deducts from the truck as techs dose7 | Not found: Not on their site7 | Included: AI receipt scanning into truck stock, a shopping list and a fuel log16 | |
| Office logins | Included: Unlimited, no fee | Included: Unlimited, no fee | Included: Unlimited, no fee | |
| Technician logins | $65 each per month | Included: Unlimited, no fee | Included: Unlimited, no fee | |
| Reporting | Included: Route profit, tech scorecards, chemical cost | Included: Financial reports; productivity on Scaling Up | Included: Income, expenses and P&L reports; A/R aging, profit per pool and route, tech payouts | |
| Phone, texting and growth | ||||
| Texts to customers | Included: An “On the Way” text17 | Included: Service texts, free on Scaling Up17 | Paid add-on: Communications, $50 | |
| Two-way texting | Not found: Not on their site | One-way; replies get an auto-message17 | Paid add-on: $80 with both add-ons18 | |
| AI phone answering | Not found: Not on their site | Paid add-on: AI Phone, $99, inbound calls19 | Paid add-on: In Communications, $50; drafts a work order19 | |
| Business phone line | Not found: Not on their site | Not found: Not on their site | Paid add-on: Communications, $50: calls in the browser and app, phone menu, voicemail20 | |
| Follow-ups and marketing | Included: Quote, invoice and route-day emails | Paid add-on: Marketing Suite, $150 | Paid add-on: Engage, $50: workflows from 24 triggers; broadcast email included21 | |
| Leads from recently sold homes | Not found: Not on their site | Not found: Not on their site | Included: Fresh Movers, with lead credits22 | |
| AI | ||||
| AI answers from your own records | Not found: Not on their site | Included: AI Insights23 | Included: AI assistant | |
| AI in dosing | Included: Chlorine-tab amounts24 | Not found: Not on their site | Not offered: Not offered | |
| Plans and support | ||||
| How you're charged | $50 base + $65 per tech | Per pool serviced, by plan | Per property serviced, past 50 | |
| Free trial | 30 days | First month free, as a promotion25 | 30 days | |
| Live phone support | Not found: Not on their site26 | Higher plan only: Scaling Up, $98 | Included: Phone and email support on every plan | |
| Setup and moving your data | Included: Free setup and onboarding | Included: Migration and onboarding team | Included: White-glove onboarding | |
Read on each company's pricing, feature and help pages on October 21, 2026 at monthly billing. “Not on their site” means only that we found no mention of it. Prices and plans change, so check each site before you decide.
Skimmer wins on small books, customer financing and phone support. Pool Runs wins one question by answering the calls you can't take.
Skimmer's Getting Started plan is $49 a month for up to 49 pools with unlimited users, against $115 for Pool Brain with one tech. The catch is that Getting Started leaves out route optimization, quotes, the schedule and required checklist items, which start on Scaling Up at $98.
Pool Brain puts it on its only plan, where one tap reorders the day's stops on the web or in the tech app. Skimmer starts it on Scaling Up at $98 a month.
Pool Brain's own example, 3 techs on 80 pools each, costs $245 a month there and $480 on Skimmer's Scaling Up. A fourth tech with 80 more pools adds $65 at Pool Brain and $160 at Skimmer. A hire who only splits existing routes adds nothing at Skimmer.
Pool Brain syncs customers, invoices, payments, refunds and products with QuickBooks Online in both directions. Skimmer's help center says its sync only sends data from Skimmer to QuickBooks, so an edit your bookkeeper makes in QuickBooks doesn't come back.
Pool Brain fills in the dose for the tech from Orenda LSI steps or range targets, can hold a pH floor, and takes readings from LaMotte Spin Touch and WaterGuru and pump data from Pentair IntelliFlo3. Skimmer has the Orenda LSI and dosing calculator and a LaMotte integration on Scaling Up.
Skimmer offers Sunbit consumer financing on Scaling Up, so a homeowner can spread a heater or pump replacement over time. We found no customer financing on Pool Brain's site.
Skimmer lists live phone support on Scaling Up, along with a chatbot and email, and publishes a support number. Pool Brain's site points to its help center and chat, and we found no support phone line or hours.
The Pool Runs AI voice agent comes in the $50 Communications add-on, along with your number, 1,000 texts and 400 voice minutes a month. It recognizes the caller, looks up the account and drafts a work order with the caller's preferred date for the office to confirm, without booking the visit itself.
Skimmer's AI Phone, $99 a month at its launch price, answers inbound calls, recognizes existing customers and routes urgent calls to you. We found no AI phone on Pool Brain's site.
Both rate 4.8 or higher on Capterra, where we read each listing on October 21, 2026. A rating built on 27 reviews moves more with each new one than a rating built on 232.
Capterra's header shows 4.9 and its overall-rating panel 4.8, from the same 27 reviews, read October 21, 2026.
Pool Brain on CapterraCapterra lists Skimmer as a 2026 “Best of” pick for pool service ease of use and value, read October 21, 2026.
Skimmer on CapterraPool RunsPool Runs customers say their routes got shorter.
“We used to drive all over town, sometimes doubling back three or four times a day. With Pool Runs route optimization, we shaved almost an hour off every route. My guys are home earlier and we're saving a fortune on gas.”
Jordan Walsh · Owner · Lakeside Pool Services“I let my techs optimize their own routes from the app now. They save 20–30 minutes a day and I don't have to micromanage the stop order anymore. It just works.”
Wendy Rutherford · Office Admin · Rutherford PoolsSome teams leave it as they grow. We paraphrased these from reviews that name the other product, and each links to its source page.
Several reviewers who switched name larger organizations, more back-office control and cost at their size as the reasons.
Pool Brain reviews on CapterraReviews that list Pool Brain as the alternative mention the interface, the customer reports and the mobile app in the field, and one says techs disliked the other app.
Skimmer reviews on CapterraEven five-star reviews say setup takes time to get right, and that the guided steps feel heavy to techs at first. The same reviews give support strong marks.
Pool Brain reviews on CapterraLong-time users say the bill rises with every customer past the starter plan, and a few mention billing and auto-pay setup taking work.
Skimmer reviews on CapterraOperators also argue this one out on r/PoolPros: “Between Poolbrain and Skimmer”.
White-glove onboarding comes with every plan, and your old system stays on until you switch it off.
Export your customers and service history from Pool Brain or Skimmer and send us the file, which is the only file work on your side.
Our team brings over customers, properties, bodies of water, equipment and recurring schedules, so each route lands on the right day with the right tech.
Check routes, prices and customer details before any tech opens the app, and we'll fix anything that looks off.
Leave Pool Brain or Skimmer on until you're happy with Pool Runs, then cancel it on your schedule.
Read on each company's own pricing and help pages, October 21, 2026
Feature claims come from each company's help and release pages, ratings from Capterra, and opinions from the reviews we link to.
Before you decide
Price your route on Pool Brain and Skimmer, then send us the lower bill. Send us a published price or an invoice from another pool service software company for the same job, and Pool Runs will match it and beat it.
Try it free for 30 days, month to month, with white-glove onboarding
Pool RunsWe read list prices, billed monthly, on each company's pricing page on October 21, 2026, counting techs as Pool Brain's paid logins and leaving out add-ons and card fees.