Price
Housecall Pro charges per seat, and the plan most pool companies end up on is Essentials at $189/mo - before add-ons, which are a common complaint. Ours is flat by pool count with no add-ons at all.
Housecall Pro is broad field-service software with no pool chemical tracking, per-seat pricing, and a reputation for add-on costs. PoolBoss is built for pools, with structured chemical readings, service reports, and a flat rate by pool count that includes every feature. For a pool company, PoolBoss covers the actual job without the upsells.
| Feature | PoolBoss | Housecall Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Built for pool service | Yes | No (general field service) |
| Chemical tracking | Yes, structured readings | No |
| Pricing model | Flat by pool count, every feature included | Per seat; full features from $189/mo (Essentials) + add-ons |
| Add-on costs | None - every feature included | Common (a churn complaint) |
| Free plan | Yes (20 pools) | No |
| Recurring routes | Yes | Yes (newer) |
| QuickBooks sync | Yes, every plan | Essentials tier and up (not on Basic) |
| Online payments | Yes | Yes |
| Offline mobile app | Yes | Partial (no offline editing) |
What’s behind the paywall
What the cheaper Housecall Pro plan leaves out
You have to pay more to unlock these
You do get them on Housecall Pro — on Essentials, at $189/mo
- QuickBooks syncEssentials
- Advanced reportingEssentials
- Recurring service plansEssentials
Included on every PoolBoss plan
Including Free — up to 20 pools, no card
- Route optimization
- Quotes & estimates
- Job management
- Schedule
- Dosing calculator
- Customer emails
- Chemical tracking
- Offline mobile app
- Customer portal
- QuickBooks sync
Everything in that second column is on the free plan. You can have it running this afternoon.
Join the waitlistWhat you’d pay as you grow
PoolBoss is flat by pool count and never charges per tech or per seat, so the bill flattens out. Here is the same growth on each tool, from a starter route to a large fleet.
| Users | Housecall Pro | PoolBoss |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | $189/mo | $29/mo |
| 5 users | $189/mo | $79/mo |
| 10 users | Customsales call | $249/mo |
| 25 users | Customsales call | $249/mo |
| 50 users | Customsales call | $249/mo |
No chemical tracking, and the add-ons add up
Housecall Pro is built for general home services, so it has no structured chemical tracking. Its two most common complaints are add-on creep, where features you expected cost extra, and billing practices. PoolBoss puts every feature on every plan, so there's nothing to bolt on.
What Housecall Pro does well
Housecall Pro has real breadth, a large user base, and recently added route-based scheduling and AI features. If you run mixed home-service work and don't need pool chemistry, it's a capable platform.
Compare the plans that actually match
Housecall Pro's headline $79 Basic plan doesn't include QuickBooks - that gates at Essentials, $189/mo for five users - and several features are paid add-ons on top. So the fair comparison is Essentials, not Basic, because that's the plan that matches what PoolBoss does on every tier. PoolBoss is flat by pool count with unlimited users and every feature included, so the price you see is the price you pay.
Not a promise — the actual screens
Your Monday, in PoolBoss
You already know what Monday looks like in Housecall Pro. Here is the same day in ours, start to finish — including the tools they put on the higher plan. Nothing on this page is on a paid tier.
5:45 AM
Open the laptop. The day's already built.
Routes are assigned, stops are in driving order, and anything that needs a decision is sitting at the top. You're not planning the day - you're glancing at it and pouring coffee.
Dashboard — every plan, including free
app.poolboss.app/today
Today
Monday, March 17
Search customers, pools…
Ray Tolliver
Owner
Stops today
38
▲ 4 vs last Monday
Techs out
3 of 4
Tomas starts 7:00
Needs review
2
1 chemistry · 1 overdue
Collected this week
$4,180
▲ $610 vs last week
Routes in progress
View all routes →| Technician | Route | Progress | Est. finish | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Marcus BellTruck 2 | Westside Monday | 2 / 12 | 2:40 PM | ON ROUTE |
Dana ReyesTruck 1 | North Loop | 5 / 14 | 3:15 PM | ON ROUTE |
Tomas KineTruck 3 | Commercial — East | 0 / 8 | 4:50 PM | STARTS 7:00 |
Ray TolliverTruck 4 | Fill-ins & callbacks | 3 / 4 | 11:20 AM | ON ROUTE |
Needs your attention
!The Alvarez Pool — pH 8.4Second high reading in a rowREVIEW
$Holloway Residence — $468.93Invoice 1038 · 14 days overdueREMIND
Unassigned stops0
Quotes awaiting approval2
Reports sent today36
6:10 AM
Twenty-two minutes, found before anyone leaves the yard.
Optimizing shows you the new order first and tells you what it saves. Keep it or throw it away - nothing reorders behind your back, because you have reasons for your order that the software doesn't know about.
Route optimization — on Housecall Pro's higher tier; on ours, every plan, including free
app.poolboss.app/routes/westside-monday
Routes › Westside Monday
Westside Monday
Optimized order saves 22 minutes and 9.4 miles4 stops moved. Time windows and gate codes were respected.DiscardKeep this order
12 stops
Marcus Bell · Truck 2 · starts 7:00 AMPreview on map →| # | Customer | Address | Window | Service | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jennifer Reyes | 412 Catalina Dr | — | Weekly clean | COMPLETED |
| 2 | The Alvarez Pool | 88 Saguaro Way | — | Weekly clean | COMPLETED |
| 3 | Marco's Cantina▲ moved up 2 | 1500 Gulf Blvd | Before 11:00 | Commercial | IN PROGRESS |
| 4 | Holloway Residence▲ moved up 1 | 27 Mesa Verde Ct | — | Weekly clean | 11:40 AM |
| 5 | Sandra Whitfield | 9 Palm Hollow Ln | Gate code 4417 | Weekly clean | 12:05 PM |
| 6 | Bayview Condos▼ moved down 3 | 2200 Shoreline Dr | After 12:00 | Commercial | 12:45 PM |
| 7 | Priya Raman | 18 Ocotillo Ct | — | Weekly clean | 1:20 PM |
| 8 | Dale Ferris | 705 Ironwood St | Dog on site | Bi-weekly | 1:55 PM |
9:14 AM
Your tech logs the stop with one bar of signal.
Readings go in, the dose comes back, the photo attaches. If the phone drops signal behind a gate the visit still saves and syncs when it comes back. Nobody re-enters anything at the end of the day.
Mobile app — iPhone and Android, works offline
9:14
‹ Westside Monday · Stop 3 of 12
The Alvarez Pool
88 Saguaro Way · 18,000 gal · Salt
Working offline — saves when you reconnect
Free chlorine2.4ppm
pH8.1
Alkalinity110ppm
Salt3200ppm
Water temp78°F
Add 14 oz muriatic acidBrings pH to 7.5 on 18,000 gal. Based on today’s alkalinity.
+
Complete visit
9:15 AM
It's already on your screen.
The visit lands the second it saves - readings, photos, time on site, who was there. When a customer calls asking whether anyone came out, you're not calling the tech to ask. You're reading them the answer.
Customer record — every plan, including free
app.poolboss.app/customers/alvarez
Customers › The Alvarez Pool
The Alvarez Pool
88 Saguaro Way, Tempe AZ18,000 galSaltPebble finishWeekly — MondayGate code 2210
Service historyPoolsInvoicesPhotosNotes
Service history
Export →Marcus Bell · Today, 9:14 AM · 24 min on siteCOMPLETED
Weekly clean · 2 photos
FC 2.4 · pH 8.1 · TA 110 · CYA 48 · Salt 3200 — added 14 oz muriatic acid
Marcus Bell · Mar 10, 9:22 AM · 21 min on siteCOMPLETED
Weekly clean · 1 photo
FC 3.0 · pH 8.0 · TA 105 · CYA 46 · Salt 3150 — added 12 oz muriatic acid
Dana Reyes · Mar 3, 10:05 AM · 27 min on siteCOMPLETED
Weekly clean + filter rinse
FC 2.8 · pH 7.6 · TA 100 · CYA 44 · Salt 3180
Marcus Bell · Feb 24, 9:31 AM · 19 min on siteCOMPLETED
Weekly clean
FC 3.2 · pH 7.5 · TA 98 · CYA 44 · Salt 3200
Chemistry trend
pH · 8 wksLatest8.1 — trending up
Account
ContactElena Alvarez
Phone(480) 555-0142
Billing$145 / month
Balance$0.00
Customer sinceAug 2022
4:30 PM
Quoted from the truck. Paid before he's out of the lot.
Tomas found a cracked filter housing at a commercial site. He quoted it on his phone, the customer approved it, and it became an invoice with a payment link - no re-typing, no waiting for someone to get back to the office.
Quotes & invoicing — on Housecall Pro's higher tier; on ours, every plan, including free
app.poolboss.app/invoices/1042
Invoices › INV-1042
Marco's CantinaPAID
Invoice INV-1042
Converted from Quote Q-0217| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filter housing replacementPentair Clean & Clear 150 — cracked lid seat | 1 | $189.00 | $189.00 |
| LaborTomas Kine · 2.0 hrs @ $85/hr | 2 | $85.00 | $170.00 |
| Monthly service — MarchCommercial weekly | 1 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Subtotal$359.00
Tax (8.0%)$28.72
Total$387.72
Paid in full$387.72
Activity
Today, 6:02 PM
Paid — Visa •••• 4417
Stripe · fee $11.55
Today, 5:47 PM
Invoice viewed by customer
Today, 4:31 PM
Emailed to marco@marcoscantina.com
Today, 4:29 PM
Quote approved by customer
Approved on mobile
Today, 4:12 PM
Quote Q-0217 drafted from the field
Tomas Kine · Truck 3
QuickBooksSynced 6:03 PM
That's the whole day - and every screen on it is on the free plan.
Join the waitlistSwitching from Housecall Pro
Moving over takes an afternoon, not a season
You don’t have to pick a cutover day, and you don’t have to cancel anything to try it. Run both for a couple of weeks if you want — the free plan doesn’t expire.
1
Export your customers and pools
Export your customer list out of Housecall Pro. Save it as CSV. You don't have to clean it up, rename a single column, or match it to a template of ours.
Step one of four2
Upload it and check the preview
We match your columns to ours automatically and show you exactly what we found - row by row, including anything we couldn't read and any column we're about to ignore. Nothing is written until you confirm.
Customers, then pools3
Bring the history over too
Past visits and their chemical readings import the same way, so a customer who's been on your route for three years still looks like it. Then build your routes and you're running.
Same afternoonWhat actually comes over?
Customers, pools and their specs, routes with stop order, and past visits with their chemical readings - chlorine, pH, alkalinity, hardness, CYA, salt and temperature.
Do I have to cancel Housecall Pro first?
No. Nothing here asks for a card, so you can run both until you're satisfied and cancel on your own schedule.
What if the file is a mess?
Most of them are. The preview flags the rows it can't read and the columns it isn't using, so you fix them before anything is created - not after.
What if I import the same file twice?
Customers, pools and visit history are matched and skipped rather than duplicated, using your old system's record IDs when the export includes them.
Will my customers get emailed?
No. Importing three years of history doesn't send three years of service reports. Historical visits import silently.
What does it cost?
Nothing. The importer is part of the product on every plan, including free.
Grab your Housecall Pro export and try the import. If it doesn't look right, you've lost twenty minutes.
Join the waitlistCommon questions
Does Housecall Pro have chemical tracking?
No. Housecall Pro is general field-service software without structured water chemistry. Any readings live in generic notes. PoolBoss logs free chlorine, pH, alkalinity, and more to each pool's history.
Is PoolBoss cheaper than Housecall Pro?
Usually, once you match the feature set. Housecall Pro's $79 Basic plan leaves out QuickBooks; the comparable plan is Essentials at $189/mo for five users, plus paid add-ons. PoolBoss is flat by pool count, from free to $249, with every feature included and no add-ons.
Why do people leave Housecall Pro?
The most-cited reasons are add-on creep, where expected features cost extra, and billing and cancellation practices. Pool companies also leave because it has no chemical tracking.
Is Housecall Pro good for pool service?
It can run scheduling, invoicing, and payments, but it doesn't track water chemistry, which most pool companies need. A pool-specific tool like PoolBoss is a closer fit for the work.
Does PoolBoss have add-on fees like Housecall Pro?
No. Every PoolBoss feature is included on every plan, including Free. Plans differ only by how many pools you manage, so there are no surprise add-on costs.
