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 LSI, dosing recommendations and profitability reporting. 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 on paid plans 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 |
| Pricing model | Flat by pool count | Per technician (~$65) |
| Users / office staff | Unlimited on paid plans, not charged | Each tech adds to the bill |
| Free plan | Yes (20 pools) | No |
| Chemical tracking with LSI | Yes, LSI calculated from each visit's readings | Yes, with LSI |
| Dosing recommendations | Yes, scaled to pool volume, with the reason shown to the tech | Yes, LSI-based auto-dosing |
| Profitability reporting | By customer, technician and route; labor counted for customers and technicians | By route and customer |
| Revenue and AR aging | Yes, aging as of any date | Yes |
| Quotes to invoices | Quote, online accept or decline, job, invoice | Quotes with customer approval |
| Required checklists and photos | Yes, set per service type | Yes, enforced |
| Completing a visit with a required item missing | Blocked for readings you set to block; otherwise allowed with a reason, logged for the office | Enforced step by step |
| QuickBooks Online sync | Customers, invoices, each payment, refunds and credits | Two-way, with automatic deposits |
| Offline mobile app | Yes, full visits and photos | Yes, full offline |
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 | $115/mo | $29/mo |
| 5 techs | $375/mo | $79/mo |
| 10 techs | $700/mo | $249/mo |
| 25 techs | $1,675/mo | $249/mo |
| 50 techs | $3,300/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 on paid plans, so the math favors lean-tech, high-pool-density shops.
What Pool Brain does well
Pool Brain is strong where owners care most: a guided workflow that enforces each step, LSI-based dosing, route and customer profitability reports, and two-way QuickBooks sync with automatic deposits. It also syncs with Bluetooth test kits and orders supplies through Heritage.
Where PoolBoss matches it
PoolBoss goes as deep on chemistry and money. It calculates LSI from every set of readings and gives the tech a dose scaled to the pool's volume and sanitizer, in your own product names, with the reason shown: reading, target, product, amount. See chemical tracking. Reports show profit by customer, technician and route, with labor counted for customers and technicians, plus invoiced vs collected and AR aging as of any date. Quotes go to the customer on a web page to accept or decline, then become a job and an invoice they can pay online.
Where PoolBoss differs
Past price, the difference is how the rules hold. In PoolBoss you can give each service type its own checklist and required readings, require photos or a checklist on a service type, require a checklist item on a given pool or every Nth visit, and limit a service type to certain techs. A required reading can be set to block, so the visit can't be completed without it. For anything else missing, PoolBoss asks for a reason and logs it for the office. Pool Brain's owners like its enforcement, but its techs sometimes resent it, and battery drain from location tracking is a common complaint. PoolBoss's tech app takes location from visit events, not continuous tracking. Add flat pricing and a free tier, and that's the difference.
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. Gate codes stay with each stop, and nothing moves until you confirm.DiscardKeep this order
12 stops
Marcus Bell · Truck 2 · starts 7:00 AMPreview on map →| # | Customer | Address | Notes | 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 | Side gate | 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 | Check in at office | 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.
Start freeSwitching 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.
Start freeCommon 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 on paid plans, which is cheaper for lean crews and office-heavy shops.
Do both PoolBoss and Pool Brain track chemicals?
Yes. Both log structured readings, calculate LSI, and recommend doses. PoolBoss scales each dose to the pool's volume and sanitizer, uses your own product names, and shows the tech the reading, target and amount behind it. Chemical tracking is included on every PoolBoss plan, including Free.
Why do technicians dislike Pool Brain sometimes?
Its workflow enforcement and location tracking draw complaints about rigidity and battery drain. In PoolBoss, the office sets which checklist items and photos are required, a tech who has to skip one gives a reason the office can see, and location comes from visit events, not continuous tracking.
Is Pool Brain better for owners or techs?
Owners tend to love Pool Brain's control and reporting, and techs sometimes find it heavy. PoolBoss gives owners the same kind of reporting, with profit by customer, technician and route, and required checklists with a logged reason for every skip, without an enforced step-by-step flow.
