Pool service software has to serve two different kinds of work. There's the weekly route: the same eighty or hundred pools, in order, with chemical readings logged at each stop. And there's the one-off work: green-to-clean jobs, spring openings, fall closings, filter cleans, equipment calls. Skimmer is built around the first. Jobber is a general field-service tool. ProTyz (that's us) is a free booking website and CRM that's strongest on the second. This article lays out what each does, what a 100-pool route actually costs, and where each one fits.
Prices are as of mid-2026. Check each vendor's pricing page.
What a pool service business needs
- Weekly route management. Stops in geographic order, per tech, repeating every week without re-entry.
- Chemical readings and dosing. Chlorine, pH, alkalinity, CYA, and what was added, recorded per visit, often with a customer-facing report. In many markets this is expected, not optional.
- One-off job booking. Openings, closings, one-time cleans, and repairs need pricing and a calendar slot, ideally without a phone call.
- Seasonal follow-up. Every client who had a closing in October needs an opening in April. Every opening client needs a closing. That's predictable revenue only if someone asks.
- Techs and payroll. Who did which stops, when, for how long.
- Cost that tracks the business fairly. Per-pool pricing scales with revenue; per-user pricing scales with headcount; flat pricing scales with nothing.
How Skimmer handles it
Skimmer is pool-only, and that focus is its strength. Route management is the core: techs work a route list in order, log readings and dosing at each stop, take photos, and send a service report to the customer. Chemical logs and per-visit readings are exactly what a route-based pool company needs, and Skimmer does them well. It also handles invoicing and payments for route customers.
Per-pool pricing math. Skimmer charges a $49 or $98 base plus $1 to $2 per pool per month as of mid-2026. For 100 pools:
- Low end: $49 + (100 × $1) = $149/month
- High end: $98 + (100 × $2) = $298/month
At 200 pools that becomes roughly $249 to $498. The cost tracks route size, which is fair in the sense that it rises with revenue, but it's a meaningful line item once the route is large.
How Jobber fits
Jobber is a general field-service platform with strong invoicing, QuickBooks sync, card payments, phone support, and mature mobile apps. Pricing is Core $39 for one user, Connect $119, Grow $199; team plans are Connect $169 for 5 users and Grow $349 for 10, with extra users at $29/month. It handles recurring visits and routing, but it has no pool-specific chemical logging, so route companies on Jobber typically record readings separately. It's a sensible pick for a pool company that does a lot of repair and equipment work with invoices and net terms.
Where ProTyz fits
ProTyz is a free CRM, booking website, and scheduling platform. Pool Service is one of ten launched service lines. Here's what it does and doesn't do for a pool company.
A real booking website. Free includes a site at yourbusiness.protyz.com with home, services, service detail, about, reviews, book, and quote pages, on a pool template with your logo and colors. Customers can book one-off cleans, openings, closings, and filter cleans directly, with priced inputs (pool size tier, quantity) and extras (cover removal, chemical start-up kit, equipment inspection). They see a live itemized quote, a ZIP service-area check, and only genuinely open time slots. Confirmation goes by email; on Pro ($10/month flat) it also goes by SMS with a 1-hour reminder and CONFIRM/CANCEL replies.
Weekly service as a recurring booking. The frequency ladder (weekly / bi-weekly / monthly) lets a customer sign up for weekly service with an automatic discount, and the price is snapshotted on the booking. The Routes tab does day-route optimization so a tech's stops are in geographic order. That covers the scheduling half of route service.
What ProTyz lacks: chemical logs and readings. There is no per-visit reading log, no dosing record, and no chemical service report to the customer. Techs can check in with GPS, take photos, and mark start and complete on the mobile PWA at /mobile, but the chemistry side isn't there. If you run a route where readings are recorded and reported at every stop, Skimmer does that and we don't.
Seasonal opportunities. This is where ProTyz is strongest for a pool company. Top Opportunities flags clients who had a closing about a year ago and haven't booked an opening, clients whose weekly service has lapsed, and one-time clean customers who haven't returned. Each appears with a one-click reach-out and an editable draft; email on Free, SMS on Pro; a Monday digest summarizes the week. Nothing goes out automatically. You press send.
Quote-first for equipment work. Pump or heater jobs can be quote-first: the customer sends a quote request, you reply with a line-item quote, they accept via link, and it becomes a booking.
Invoicing. Invoicing is free on both plans: build an invoice from scratch, from a completed job, or from an accepted quote, email it with a link to a read-only invoice page, send reminders, and record payments as they come in. QuickBooks Online sync is on Pro. Customers still can't pay online, so deposits are recorded on the booking rather than charged.
Team and payroll. Unlimited team members with no per-user fee, schedules and unavailability, cross-line double-booking protection, GPS check-in with geofence, time entries into payroll runs with overtime and CSV export. Review requests go out after completed jobs.
Multiple lines. If you also do pressure washing, lawn care, or handyman work, those are separate service lines in the same account sharing one client list.
Comparison table
| ProTyz | Skimmer | Jobber | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price (mid-2026) | Free; Pro $10/mo flat | $49 or $98 base + $1–$2 per pool | $39–$199 (1 user); team $169–$349 |
| Cost at 100 pools | $0–$10 | ~$149–$298 | $169+ depending on users |
| Weekly route management | Recurring bookings + day-route optimization | Core strength | Yes |
| Chemical readings / dosing log | No | Yes | No |
| Customer service report with readings | No | Yes | No |
| Public booking website for one-off jobs | Included, live pricing | Limited | Online booking |
| Openings / closings as bookable services | Yes, with priced inputs | As jobs | As jobs |
| Seasonal follow-up prompts | Top Opportunities | Limited | Campaigns on higher tiers |
| Invoicing / card payments | Invoicing yes (free); no card capture | Yes | Strong |
| QuickBooks sync | Yes (Pro) | Yes | Yes |
| Per-user / per-pool fees | Never | Per pool | Per user |
| Multiple service lines, one login | Yes | Pool only | Yes |
Who should pick what
Pick Skimmer if weekly route service with logged chemistry is the core of your business. The per-pool price buys the readings, dosing history, and service reports that route customers expect. For most established route companies, this is the right answer.
Pick Jobber if your revenue leans toward repair, equipment, and construction-adjacent work where deep accounts-receivable tooling, net terms, taking a card on site, and phone support matter more than chemistry logs.
Pick ProTyz if you want a real booking website where customers can book openings, closings, one-time cleans, and filter service with live pricing, and you want a system that tells you which closing client hasn't booked their opening yet. It's free, has no per-pool or per-tech fee, and shares a client list with any other lines you run. It works as a scheduling layer for weekly service too, as long as you record chemistry elsewhere. A common setup for a smaller company is ProTyz for the public site, seasonal work, and re-engagement, with readings tracked on a separate app or a clipboard until the route is big enough to justify Skimmer.
The gaps, stated plainly: no chemical log, no readings report, no card capture, PWA rather than an app-store app.
FAQ
Does ProTyz log chemical readings at each pool visit? No. There is no readings, dosing, or chemical service-report feature. Skimmer is built for that.
What does Skimmer cost for 100 pools? As of mid-2026, roughly $149 to $298 a month depending on base plan and per-pool rate. Check Skimmer's pricing page for current numbers.
Can customers book a pool opening or closing online with ProTyz? Yes. You set up openings and closings as services with priced inputs and extras; customers see a live quote and pick a real open slot.
How does ProTyz remind me about seasonal openings? Top Opportunities flags clients who had a closing around a year ago or whose service has lapsed, drafts a message, and you send it by email (Free) or SMS (Pro). It never sends on its own.
Is there a per-pool or per-tech fee on ProTyz? No. Free is $0 with unlimited clients and team; Pro is a flat $10 a month for SMS and a custom domain.
Start free at protyz.com — no card, about 15 minutes to a live booking page. See the pool service lander at /for/pool-service or the sample site at /demo/pool-service.