Jobber bills per seat. Poolside bills flat tiers locked by technician and customer caps. Those meters are not interchangeable, so this page does not name a cheaper product or a winner. Figures are from vendor pages checked 2026-09-07. We have not tested either app.
Two different meters
Verified fact: Jobber is general field-service software. It publishes a pool service software industry page. That page is marketing for a general FSM, not a pool-native spec. Live Jobber pricing bills per seat.
Verified fact: Poolside pricing publishes flat monthly tiers locked by active technician count and customer count. Starter is 1 technician and up to 50 customers. Growth is up to 2 technicians and 125 customers. Pro is up to 5 technicians and 300 customers. Enterprise is custom, unlimited on both caps.
You cannot subtract a Jobber seat dollar from a Poolside tier dollar and get a breakeven. A Poolside “customer” is not a Jobber billing unit. Seat count moves Jobber. Crossing a tech cap or a customer cap jumps Poolside.
Jobber’s documented functions sit on the Jobber profile, still without a field test. Poolside’s documented functions sit on the Poolside profile, still without a field test.
Jobber published prices
Verified fact: Live Jobber pricing for 1 user, 2026-09-07:
| Plan (1 user) | No commitment | 1-year monthly | Billed annually |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | $49 | $39 | $29 |
| Connect | $139 | $119 | $99 |
| Grow | $199 | $169 | $149 |
Verified fact: The same pricing page lists an extra user at $29/mo. It also lists 5, 10, and 15-user prices on Connect, Grow, and Plus. This page quotes the 1-user row. Multi-seat checkout totals stay unpublished here unless a later fetch cites those cards.
Verified fact: Card processing on Jobber pricing: cards 2.9% + 30¢, Tap to Pay 2.7% + 30¢, ACH 1%, instant payouts an extra 1%.
Verified fact: Jobber’s trial is 14 days on Grow, no credit card (pricing FAQ).
Poolside published prices
Verified fact: Public Poolside pricing, 2026-09-07. Worked examples use the published list price. The 50% first-month promo is not the ongoing floor.
| Plan | List price | Technician cap | Customer cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $29.99/mo | 1 | 50 |
| Growth | $59.99/mo | 2 | 125 |
| Pro | $99.99/mo | 5 | 300 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Verified fact: The same pricing page advertises 50% off the first month on paid plans, no long-term contract, and cancel anytime. That promo is a first-month discount. It is not a free trial and not the month-two price.
Verified fact: The fetched home and pricing pages do not advertise a free trial. The 50% first month is the published entry offer.
Units side by side
| Jobber | Poolside | |
|---|---|---|
| Billable unit | Seat (user) | Flat tier (technician cap + customer cap) |
| What counts as one unit | One user on the 1-user pricing row | One active technician and one customer, per the pricing page |
| Published rate | 1-user Core $49 / $39 / $29. Connect $139 / $119 / $99. Grow $199 / $169 / $149. Extra user $29/mo | Starter $29.99 (1 tech, ≤50 customers). Growth $59.99 (≤2 / ≤125). Pro $99.99 (≤5 / ≤300). Enterprise custom |
| What moves the bill | Each additional seat | Crossing a tech cap or a customer cap jumps the shop to the next tier |
| What does not move the bill | Customer count; extra stops at one account | Extra locations inside a customer cap; extra stops at one customer |
| Multi-seat public total | Gap on this page. Extra user $29/mo is published. 5-user cards exist on pricing and are not quoted here | Published tier cards |
| First-month offer | 14-day Grow trial, no credit card | 50% off list. Not a free trial. Not the ongoing floor |
| Feature gate on price | QBO on Connect and up. Optimize claimed; tier not locked on this fetch | Chemistry, optimizer, Stripe tools, and QuickBooks sit on different tiers |
Same-shop cells
These cells apply published prices to the same headcount. A Jobber “user” is not a Poolside “technician” or “customer.” Optional texts, card fees, invented Jobber multi-seat totals, and the Poolside 50% first month are excluded.
| Shop | Jobber published | Poolside list |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user / 1 tech / ≤50 customers | Core $49 no-commit (1-user row). Connect $139. Grow $199. | $29.99 (Starter) |
| 2 users / ≤2 techs / ≤125 customers | Gap. Extra user is $29/mo. This page does not invent a 2-seat checkout total. | $59.99 (Growth) |
| 5 users / ≤5 techs / ≤300 customers | Gap. Pricing lists 5-user cards. This page does not invent a 5-seat total. | $99.99 (Pro) |
Editorial judgment: Read the cells as unit arithmetic, not a ranking. At one seat and one technician inside 50 customers, Jobber publishes $49 / $139 / $199 on the 1-user row and Poolside publishes $29.99 on Starter. At two or five seats, Jobber’s shop total is a gap on this page and Poolside publishes $59.99 or $99.99. Chemistry, offline, payments, and QuickBooks copy still differ. Get both quotes.
Documented feature gates
These are published claims, not a field test.
Verified fact: Jobber’s pool page lists field chemicals. That page does not claim LSI, Orenda, or LaMotte. Those features are not claimed.
Verified fact: Poolside home lists chemical readings in the technician app. The pricing feature lists and the fetched home page do not name Orenda, an LSI calculator, or LaMotte. Treat those as unpublished.
Verified fact: Live Jobber pricing claims route optimize. This fetch did not lock which plan includes it. Treat the tier gate as unpublished.
Verified fact: Poolside Starter lists route management and maps. Smart route optimization sits on Growth and above (pricing).
Verified fact: Jobber’s pool page and pricing do not claim offline. Offline is not claimed.
Verified fact: Poolside home and the pricing FAQ claim the technician app works offline: complete stops, capture photos, and log service without a signal, then sync when back in range. We have not confirmed every workflow (invoices, signatures) while offline.
Verified fact: Card processing on Jobber pricing: cards 2.9% + 30¢, Tap to Pay 2.7% + 30¢, ACH 1%, instant payouts an extra 1%.
Verified fact: Poolside Starter lists Quotes and Stripe pay-links. Growth adds card on file and in-app charging. A processor percentage is not published on the fetched pricing or home pages.
Verified fact: Jobber NEW QBO help documents one-way Jobber to QBO and no Desktop. The live pricing feature matrix lists QuickBooks Online sync on Connect, not Core.
Verified fact: Poolside’s pricing matrix lists QuickBooks sync on Pro and Enterprise, not Starter or Growth. The billing FAQ says “Connect QuickBooks to keep your books in sync.” We found no help article that maps objects, direction, or Desktop. This page does not invent that map.
Editorial judgment: If daily work needs a claimed offline field app, Poolside publishes that claim and Jobber’s pool and pricing pages do not. If daily work is Orenda, LSI, or LaMotte, neither product publishes those claims. If the constraint is a solo tech inside 50 customers, Poolside publishes $29.99 and Jobber publishes a 1-user Core floor of $49 no-commit. Confirm chemistry, offline, payments, and QuickBooks in a trial.
Who each product is for
These are fit notes against published units and documented claims. They are not awards.
Jobber is for a shop that sells pool work as one line among other home-service trades, wants a general FSM billed by seat, and can pay the 1-user floor. Core is the 1-user list. Connect is the plan that lists QBO on the public matrix.
Jobber is not for a pool-only route that needs a claimed LSI/Orenda/LaMotte workflow or documented offline field use. Those are not claimed on Jobber’s pool or pricing pages.
Poolside is for a pool route that can live inside a technician cap and a customer cap, wants claimed chemical readings and a claimed offline app, and can accept unpublished card fees and an unpublished QuickBooks object map.
Poolside is not for a mixed-trade shop that wants one general FSM and seat-based billing, or a shop that needs published Orenda, LSI, or LaMotte. Starter also stops at 1 technician and 50 customers.
Seat versus location: Jobber vs Skimmer. Seat versus technician: Jobber vs Pool Brain. Technician-and-customer-cap versus location: Poolside vs Skimmer. Headcount versus technician-and-customer-cap: Pool Brain vs Poolside. Solo-operator notes, forever-free plans, and QBO object lists stay on the solo-operator guide, free software guide, and QuickBooks guide.
Questions for sales or a trial
- Jobber: at my actual seat count, what is the written monthly total on Core, Connect, or Grow, including the extra-user line or the published 5-user card?
- Jobber: which plan includes route optimize on my quote, since this fetch did not lock the tier?
- Jobber: which offline workflows (photos, invoices, signatures) work without cell service, if any?
- Poolside: at my technician count and customer count, which list tier am I on, and is month two still $29.99 / $59.99 / $99.99 after the 50% first month?
- Poolside: is a customer still one customer if I visit weekly, and do multiple bodies at one address count as one customer or two?
- Poolside: what objects move in the Pro QuickBooks sync, in which direction, and does Desktop work?
- Poolside: what is the Stripe processing percentage on pay-links and on card-on-file?
- Both: what happens to my data if I cancel?
What we are not claiming
This page does not rank a winner. We have not tested either app. We are not treating a Jobber seat as a Poolside technician or customer. We are not inventing a Jobber 2-seat or 5-seat checkout total. We are not applying the Poolside 50% first month to worked examples. We are not inventing Orenda, LSI, or LaMotte for either product. We are not inventing a Jobber offline claim. We are not inventing a Jobber optimize tier. We are not inventing a Poolside processor percentage. We are not inventing a Poolside QuickBooks object map or Desktop answer. We do not earn commissions from these vendors.
Ask for written totals at your seat count, your technician count, and your customer count. Then trial the chemistry step, the offline stop, and the QuickBooks objects on the same week of invoices. Buying notes: Jobber, Poolside, solo-operator guide, small-team guide, QuickBooks guide, chemical tracking guide, route optimization guide. Other meters: Jobber vs Skimmer, Jobber vs Pool Brain, Poolside vs Skimmer, Pool Brain vs Poolside, Poolside vs Paythepoolman, Pool Office Manager vs Poolside. Poolside’s public site is trypoolside.com.