# Poolside vs Skimmer

Poolside bills flat technician-and-customer-cap tiers. Skimmer bills serviced locations. Published list prices and feature gates as of 2026-09-06. No winner.

- Canonical: https://www.poolprostack.com/compare/poolside-vs-skimmer
- Vendors: [Poolside](https://www.poolprostack.com/vendors/poolside), [Skimmer](https://www.poolprostack.com/vendors/skimmer)
- No ranked winner
- Updated: Sep 8, 2026

Poolside bills flat tiers by technician and customer caps. Skimmer bills serviced locations. Those units are not interchangeable, so this page does not name a cheaper product or a winner. Figures are from vendor pages checked 2026-09-06. We have not tested either app.

## Two different meters

> **Verified fact:** [Poolside pricing](https://trypoolside.com/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. The pricing FAQ says each plan caps active technicians and customers.

> **Verified fact:** [Skimmer pricing](https://www.getskimmer.com/pricing) bills per **serviced location per month**, not per visit and not per technician. Multiple bodies of water at one address count as one location. The page states unlimited technicians and admins on Getting Started and Scaling Up.

You cannot subtract a Poolside tier dollar from a Skimmer location dollar and get a breakeven. A Poolside "customer" is not published as the same unit as a Skimmer "serviced location."

Poolside's documented functions sit on the [Poolside profile](/vendors/poolside), still without a field test. Skimmer's documented functions sit on the [Skimmer profile](/vendors/skimmer), still without a field test.

## Poolside published prices

> **Verified fact:** Public [Poolside pricing](https://trypoolside.com/pricing), 2026-09-06. 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 pricing FAQ question "Do you offer annual billing?" answers: reach out and they will set up annual billing or a custom Enterprise plan. **No annual rate is published.** This page does not invent one.

## Skimmer published prices

> **Verified fact:** Public [Skimmer pricing](https://www.getskimmer.com/pricing), 2026-09-06.

| Plan | What the page publishes |
| --- | --- |
| Getting Started | $49/mo including 49 serviced locations, then $1/mo per additional location |
| Scaling Up | $98/mo including 49 serviced locations, then $2/mo per additional location |
| Enterprise | Custom |
| Seats | Unlimited technicians and admins on both public plans |

Worked examples on Scaling Up use only the published formula $98 + (locations − 49) × $2. Getting Started at 1–49 locations is $49. Getting Started above the floor is $49 + (locations − 49) × $1.

| Serviced locations | Plan used | Published math | Monthly |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1–49 | Getting Started | Floor price | $49 |
| 1–49 | Scaling Up | Floor price | $98 |
| 80 | Getting Started | $49 + (80 − 49) × $1 | $80 |
| 80 | Scaling Up | $98 + (80 − 49) × $2 | $160 |
| 150 | Getting Started | $49 + (150 − 49) × $1 | $150 |
| 150 | Scaling Up | $98 + (150 − 49) × $2 | $300 |

> **Verified fact:** The [Skimmer help FAQ](https://help.getskimmer.com/article/117-faq) confirms the same floor formula at 80 locations: about $80 on Getting Started and about $160 on Scaling Up. That is confirmation of the published math, not a third promo.

The [pricing page](https://www.getskimmer.com/pricing) advertises a free first month on Scaling Up. It also advertises a 30-day risk-free refund guarantee. The help FAQ describes a first month at $49, then standard pricing. Those are three different offers. This page does not merge them.

## Units side by side

| | [Poolside](/vendors/poolside) | [Skimmer](/vendors/skimmer) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Billable unit | Flat tier (technician cap + customer cap) | Serviced location / month |
| What counts as one unit | One active technician and one customer, per the pricing FAQ | One address (multiple bodies still one location); not per visit |
| Published rate | Starter $29.99 (1 tech, ≤50 customers). Growth $59.99 (≤2 / ≤125). Pro $99.99 (≤5 / ≤300). Enterprise custom | Getting Started $49/mo for 1–49 locations, then $1/location. Scaling Up $98/mo floor including 49, then $2/location |
| What moves the bill | Crossing a tech cap or a customer cap jumps the shop to the next tier | Location count |
| What does not move the bill | Extra locations inside a customer cap; extra stops at one customer | Technician count |
| First-month offer | 50% off list. Not a free trial. Not the ongoing floor | Three separate offers on pricing and help. Do not merge them |
| Annual rate | Unpublished. FAQ says reach out | Not used on this page |

## Same-shop cells

These cells apply the published formulas to the same headcount and stop-count numbers. Treat Poolside "customers" and Skimmer "locations" as **different published units** that happen to share a count in the table. Optional texts, card fees, and the Poolside 50% first month are excluded.

| Shop | Poolside list | Skimmer Getting Started | Skimmer Scaling Up |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 tech / 49 stops | $29.99 (Starter) | $49 | $98 |
| 1 tech / 80 stops | $59.99 (Growth; Starter caps customers at 50) | $80 | $160 |
| 5 techs / 80 stops | $99.99 (Pro; Growth caps techs at 2) | $80 | $160 |
| 5 techs / 150 stops | $99.99 (Pro) | $150 | $300 |

> **Editorial judgment:** Read the cells as unit arithmetic, not a ranking. At 1 tech / 49 stops the Poolside Starter list is $29.99 and Skimmer is $49 or $98. At 5 techs / 80 stops Poolside jumps to Pro ($99.99) because Growth stops at 2 technicians, while Skimmer stays $80 or $160 because technician count is not the meter. Chemistry gates, offline docs, payments, and QuickBooks copy still differ. Get both quotes.

## Documented feature gates

These are published claims, not a field test.

> **Verified fact:** [Poolside home](https://trypoolside.com/) 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:** Skimmer puts the Orenda LSI calculator, LaMotte, and the route optimizer on Scaling Up and above, not Getting Started ([pricing](https://www.getskimmer.com/pricing)).

> **Verified fact:** Poolside Starter lists **route management and maps**. **Smart route optimization** sits on Growth and above ([pricing](https://trypoolside.com/pricing)).

> **Verified fact:** Poolside's pricing FAQ says 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:** Skimmer documents offline field use on its [offline Q&A](https://www.getskimmer.com/why-skimmer/qna-hub/how-does-skimmer-handle-offline-mode-when-technicians-lose-cell-service). We have not confirmed every workflow (photos, invoices, signatures) while offline.

> **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:** 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 or direction. This page does not invent that map.

> **Verified fact:** [Skimmer QBO help](https://help.getskimmer.com/article/190-quickbooks-online-faq) documents one-way Skimmer to QBO. Invoices and payments sync only when paid.

> **Editorial judgment:** If daily work is readings plus Orenda or LaMotte, Skimmer publishes those on Scaling Up and Poolside does not. If the constraint is a rising technician count inside a customer cap, Poolside's next tier is the number that moves. If the constraint is a rising stop count inside a tech cap, Skimmer's location formula is the number that moves. Confirm chemistry, offline, payments, and QuickBooks in a trial.

## Questions for sales or a trial

1. 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?
2. Poolside: is a customer still one customer if I visit weekly, and do multiple bodies at one address count as one customer or two?
3. Poolside: which offline workflows (photos, invoices, signatures) work without cell service?
4. Poolside: what objects move in the Pro QuickBooks sync, in which direction, and is there a help article?
5. Poolside: what is the Stripe processing percentage on pay-links and on card-on-file?
6. Skimmer: at my serviced-location count, am I on Getting Started or Scaling Up, and is a location still one address if I visit weekly?
7. Skimmer: which first-month offer is on my quote, Scaling Up free, the $49 help-FAQ month, or the 30-day refund, and what is month two?
8. Both: what is included in that total (texts, payments, GPS), and 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 Poolside customer as a Skimmer location. We are not applying the 50% first month to worked examples. We are not publishing a Poolside annual rate. We are not inventing Orenda, LSI, or LaMotte for Poolside. We are not inventing a processor percentage. We are not inventing a QuickBooks object map. We are not merging Skimmer's three first-month offers. We do not earn commissions from these vendors.

Ask for written totals at your technician count, your customer count, and your location count. Then trial the chemistry step, the offline stop, and the QuickBooks objects on the same week of invoices. Buying notes: [Poolside](/vendors/poolside), [Skimmer](/vendors/skimmer), [solo-operator guide](/guides/best-pool-service-software-solo-operators), [small-team guide](/guides/best-pool-service-software-for-small-team), [QuickBooks guide](/guides/best-pool-service-software-with-quickbooks), [chemical tracking guide](/guides/pool-service-software-with-chemical-tracking), [route optimization guide](/guides/pool-service-software-with-route-optimization). Other meters: [Skimmer vs Pool Brain](/compare/skimmer-vs-pool-brain), [Pool Brain vs Poolside](/compare/pool-brain-vs-poolside), [Paythepoolman vs Skimmer](/compare/paythepoolman-vs-skimmer), [Jobber vs Skimmer](/compare/jobber-vs-skimmer), [Jobber vs Poolside](/compare/jobber-vs-poolside), [Poolside vs Paythepoolman](/compare/poolside-vs-paythepoolman), [Pool Office Manager vs Skimmer](/compare/pool-office-manager-vs-skimmer), [Pool Office Manager vs Poolside](/compare/pool-office-manager-vs-poolside). Poolside's public site is [trypoolside.com](https://trypoolside.com/).

## Sources

- [Poolside - Home](https://trypoolside.com/)
- [Poolside - Pricing](https://trypoolside.com/pricing)
- [Skimmer - Pricing](https://www.getskimmer.com/pricing)
- [Skimmer - Help FAQ](https://help.getskimmer.com/article/117-faq)
- [Skimmer - QBO FAQ](https://help.getskimmer.com/article/190-quickbooks-online-faq)
- [Skimmer - Offline mode](https://www.getskimmer.com/why-skimmer/qna-hub/how-does-skimmer-handle-offline-mode-when-technicians-lose-cell-service)