Price
Pool Brain charges about $65 per technician per month, often with a multi-tech minimum, so every hire - including office staff - raises the bill. Ours is flat by pool count, so headcount never changes what you pay.
Pool Brain and PoolBoss are both built for pools with chemical tracking and dosing-minded workflows. Pool Brain is owner-focused and charges about $65 per technician per month, often with a multi-tech minimum. PoolBoss charges a flat rate by pool count with unlimited users and a free tier, which is cheaper for office-heavy or high-pool-count shops.
| Feature | PoolBoss | Pool Brain |
|---|---|---|
| Built for pool service | Yes | Yes |
| Chemical tracking | Yes | Yes (with dosing) |
| Pricing model | Flat by pool count | Per technician (~$65) |
| Users / office staff | Unlimited, not charged | Each tech adds to the bill |
| Free plan | Yes (20 pools) | No |
| Dosing recommendations | Yes | Yes |
| Profitability reporting | Yes | Yes (a strength) |
| Tech app approach | Light, config not mandate | Guided / enforced |
What 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.
| Technicians | Pool Brain | PoolBoss |
|---|---|---|
| 1 tech | $65/mo | $29/mo |
| 5 techs | $325/mo | $79/mo |
| 10 techs | $650/mo | $249/mo |
| 25 techs | $1,625/mo | $249/mo |
| 50 techs | $3,250/mo | $249/mo |
Both are pool-specific - pricing is the split
Pool Brain is a serious pool product, especially for owners who want tight quality control. It charges per technician, which adds up as you grow and means office staff cost you too. PoolBoss charges a flat rate by pool count with unlimited users, so the math favors lean-tech, high-pool-density shops.
What Pool Brain does well
Pool Brain is strong where owners care most: guided workflows, dosing recommendations, profitability reporting, and two-way QuickBooks sync. PoolBoss has dosing recommendations and profitability reporting too, plus QuickBooks Online sync. Pool Brain's edge is the depth of its enforced, owner-controlled workflow.
Where PoolBoss differs
Pool Brain's guided, enforced workflow is praised by owners but its technicians sometimes resent the enforcement, and battery drain from continuous tracking is a common complaint. PoolBoss keeps the tech app light, with checklists as a setting rather than a mandate, plus flat pricing and a free tier.
Not a promise — the actual screens
Your Monday, in PoolBoss
You already know what Monday looks like in Pool Brain. Here is the same day in ours, start to finish. 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 — 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 — 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 Pool Brain
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 Pool Brain. 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 Pool Brain 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 Pool Brain export and try the import. If it doesn't look right, you've lost twenty minutes.
Join the waitlistCommon questions
Is PoolBoss or Pool Brain cheaper?
It depends on your tech-to-pool ratio. Pool Brain charges about $65 per technician with a multi-tech minimum, so office staff and more techs raise the bill. PoolBoss is flat by pool count with unlimited users, which is cheaper for lean crews and office-heavy shops.
Do both PoolBoss and Pool Brain track chemicals?
Yes. Both are pool-specific and log structured chemical readings, and both add dosing recommendations on top. Chemical tracking is included on every PoolBoss plan, including Free.
What does Pool Brain do that PoolBoss doesn't yet?
On capabilities they line up: PoolBoss has dosing recommendations, profitability reporting, and QuickBooks Online sync. Pool Brain's distinction is its tightly enforced, owner-controlled workflow, which some owners prefer and some techs find heavy.
Why do technicians dislike Pool Brain sometimes?
Its workflow enforcement and continuous location tracking draw complaints about rigidity and battery drain. PoolBoss takes a lighter approach: checklists are configurable, and location is event-based rather than continuous.
Is Pool Brain better for owners or techs?
Owners tend to love Pool Brain's control and reporting; techs sometimes find it heavy. PoolBoss aims to keep owner visibility while keeping the tech app light.
