Pool Proof gives you a full digital team:

Skimmer is software your team operates. It doesn't operate alongside them.

• Every route adjustment, customer reply, and payment follow-up requires staff time.
• There's no automation that handles tasks or surfaces recommendations.
• Operational bottlenecks stay bottlenecks.

Pool Proof gives you routing that adapts to how your business actually runs.

• Smart clustering builds your routes from scratch, grouping customers geographically so techs aren't zigzagging across town.
• Your digital dispatcher analyzes routes weekly to cut drive time and fit in more stops.
• Bad weather? Missed stops? Call outs? It automatically reassigns work across your team to keep the week on track.
• Holidays are handled the same way: pick the date, and your dispatcher reshuffles the schedule.

Skimmer requires office staff to build routes manually, one by one.

• No clustering, so every new customer gets slotted by hand.
• Optimizing stop order requires a higher-priced plan.
• No automated rescheduling for disruptions or holidays.

Pool Proof organizes all of your customer conversations in one place so nothing gets lost in a personal inbox.

• Every text, email, Facebook and WhatsApp message flows into a single view.
• Customers message the business, not the tech, so conversations don't disappear when someone's out sick or leaves.
• Office and field teams both see the full history on every customer record.

Skimmer has no unified inbox.

• Customer messages stay scattered across personal phones, email accounts, and Facebook pages. There's no shared view of conversation history.

Pool Proof replaces guesswork with validated chemistry.

• Dosing is calculated using real algorithms, not basic formulas, accounting for product interactions and CYA-adjusted chlorine targets.
• Targets are preset by plan, so techs just see the answer.
• Only the products you actually stock show up in recommendations.

Skimmer relies on a third-party calculator that doesn't know your business.

• No preset targets, so techs adjust settings for every pool.
• Recommended products may not match what's on your truck.
• No integration with service history or water chemistry trends.

Pool Proof lets you assign every customer to a plan that defines price and service, then enforces it automatically.

• Process steps, chemical protocols, and maintenance schedules are configured per plan.
• Flexible pricing lets you set different rates for the same service by neighborhood, customer type, or promotion.
• Service areas group customers and technicians for smarter routing and assignments.

Skimmer has no concept of service plans or areas.

• There's no way to define standardized processes or chemical protocols by tier.
• Service consistency depends entirely on individual technicians.
• No geographic grouping for customers or technician assignments.

Pool Proof automates invoicing, payment collection, and sales tax so you stop chasing money.

• Invoices generate and send automatically on your schedule, per visit or monthly.
• Failed payments retry automatically and notify the customer directly.
• Sales tax is calculated by service address, so you're not managing tax tables or mapping jurisdictions.
• Everything syncs to QuickBooks in real time.

Skimmer handles basic invoicing but leaves tax management to you.

• You maintain tax tables manually and keep rates current as they change.
• Every customer must be mapped to the correct tax jurisdiction by hand.

Pool Proof lets your team create quotes in the field and enforces your business rules automatically.

• Technicians generate quotes on-site from the mobile app while the customer is still engaged.
• Approval thresholds route big discounts or large quotes to managers before they reach customers.
• Down payment requirements are enforced automatically based on job value.
• Approved quotes convert to scheduled work orders automatically.

Skimmer limits quoting to administrators. Techs can't close in the field.

• Quotes are created in the office, not on-site when the customer is ready to say yes.
• No configurable approval workflows for discounts or high-value quotes.
• Business rules like down payment thresholds are enforced manually, if at all.

Pool Proof gives every customer problem a structured home from first report to final resolution.

• Issues are captured from texts, calls, or technician observations and tracked in one system.
• AI understands customer messages, asks follow-up questions, and creates categorized issues automatically.
• Issues connect directly to the work orders that resolve them for full traceability.

Skimmer has no issue tracking. Customer problems live wherever they land.

• Complaints are scattered across texts, emails, sticky notes, and memory.
• There's no structured way to categorize, prioritize, or assign problems.
• Nothing connects a customer complaint to the work that resolved it.

Pool Proof turns your service standards into structured workflows your techs actually follow.

• Processes are organized into Before, During, and After phases that match how the job actually flows.
• Steps capture more than checkmarks: yes/no questions, multiple choice, free text, photos, and signatures.
• Each service plan has its own process, so premium customers get premium documentation.
• Integrated instructions put the answers on the tech's screen instead of in your inbox.

Skimmer offers a basic checklist with limited flexibility.

• One universal checklist applies across all customers with per-location additions.
• Steps are simple Done/Not Done checkboxes with no structured input types.
• No workflow phases, so there's no distinction between pre-service inspection and post-service documentation.
• Process consistency depends on technician discipline, not system enforcement.

Pool Proof tracks your vehicles alongside your service operations.

• Schedule maintenance by date or mileage with automatic alerts before something breaks.
• Log odometer readings, upload photos, and see your entire fleet in one dashboard.
• No separate spreadsheet, no third-party tool, no forgotten oil changes.

Skimmer has no fleet management. Your vehicles are tracked elsewhere.

• Maintenance schedules live in spreadsheets, calendars, or someone's memory.
• There's no connection between your trucks and your service operations.
• Keeping vehicles running is yet another system to manage separately.

Pool Proof gives your customers a branded portal on your own domain.

• Customers see your logo, your company name, and your URL, not ours.
• Service history, chemical readings, invoices, and payments are all accessible 24/7.
• Customers update their own payment methods and pay balances without calling your office.

Skimmer's customer portal lives on a generic domain you don't control.

• Customers access their account through mypoolportal.com, not your website.
• Your brand takes a backseat to Skimmer's infrastructure.
• Every customer interaction reminds them they're using someone else's platform.

Pool Proof turns email into a measurable growth channel, not just a broadcast tool.

• Target customers by service area, service type, or equipment so campaigns actually feel relevant.
• Build on-brand campaigns with drag and drop templates.
• Send from your own domain so your emails land in inboxes, not spam folders.

Skimmer treats email as a basic notification tool.

• Segmentation limited to day of service, tag, or route assignment.
• No pre-built templates, so every email starts from scratch.
• Emails are sent from Skimmer's domain, not yours.

Pool Proof turns your website into a 24/7 sales channel.

• Prospects select a plan, enter their info, provide payment, and sign your service agreement online.
• Address validation filters out customers outside your service area before they start.
• Every signup requires staff approval, so you keep quality control without the manual intake.

Skimmer does not offer self serve signup.

• All customer qualification, contracting, and initial onboarding must be handled by office staff.

Pool Proof gives you a full digital team:

Pool Brain is software your team operates. It doesn't operate alongside them.

• Every route adjustment, customer reply, and payment follow-up requires staff time.
• There's no automation that handles tasks or surfaces recommendations.
• Operational bottlenecks stay bottlenecks.

Pool Proof gives you routing that adapts to how your business actually runs.

• Smart clustering builds your routes from scratch, grouping customers geographically so techs aren't zigzagging across town.
• Your digital dispatcher analyzes routes weekly to cut drive time and fit in more stops.
• Bad weather? Missed stops? Call outs? It automatically reassigns work across your team to keep the week on track.
• Holidays are handled the same way: pick the date, and your dispatcher reshuffles the schedule.

Pool Brain requires office staff to build routes manually, one by one.

• No clustering, so every new customer gets slotted by hand.
• No automated rescheduling for disruptions or holidays.

Pool Proof organizes all of your customer conversations in one place so nothing gets lost in a personal inbox.

• Every text, email, Facebook and WhatsApp message flows into a single view.
• Customers message the business, not the tech, so conversations don't disappear when someone's out sick or leaves.
• Office and field teams both see the full history on every customer record.

Pool Brain has no unified inbox.

• Customer messages stay scattered across personal phones, email accounts, and Facebook pages. There's no shared view of conversation history.

Pool Proof replaces guesswork with validated chemistry.

• Dosing is calculated using real algorithms, not basic formulas, accounting for product interactions and CYA-adjusted chlorine targets.
• Targets are preset by plan, so techs just see the answer.
• Only the products you actually stock show up in recommendations.

Pool Brain offers a comparable automated chemical dosing calculator

• Both platforms calculate dosing based on defined targets.
• Both platforms provide an initial and target LSI capability.
• Pool Brain integrates the Orenda calculator into the mobile application

Pool Proof lets you assign every customer to a plan that defines price and service, then enforces it automatically.

• Process steps, chemical protocols, and maintenance schedules are configured per plan.
• Flexible pricing lets you set different rates for the same service by neighborhood, customer type, or promotion.
• Service areas group customers and technicians for smarter routing and assignments.

Pool Brain does not have a service area capability to organize customers and technicians.

• Service areas serve as an important organizing mechanism that allows pool service and repair companies to operate across disparate locations.
• Without service areas, there's no easy way to see revenue, job counts, or technician performance by region—you're left exporting data and slicing it yourself.
• Assigning techs to specific territories requires manual tracking, making it harder to keep routes efficient and customers with consistent service.

Pool Proof automates invoicing, payment collection, and sales tax so you stop chasing money.

• Invoices generate and send automatically on your schedule, per visit or monthly.
• Failed payments retry automatically and notify the customer directly.
• Sales tax is calculated by service address, so you're not managing tax tables or mapping jurisdictions.
• Everything syncs to QuickBooks in real time.

Pool Brain handles basic invoicing but leaves tax management to you.

• You maintain tax tables manually and keep rates current as they change.
• Every customer must be mapped to the correct tax jurisdiction by hand.

Pool Proof lets your team create quotes in the field and enforces your business rules automatically.

• Technicians generate quotes on-site from the mobile app while the customer is still engaged.
• Approval thresholds route big discounts or large quotes to managers before they reach customers.
• Down payment requirements are enforced automatically based on job value.
• Approved quotes convert to scheduled work orders automatically.

Pool Brain supports quoting but without business rules to enforce approvals or thresholds.

• Techs can create quotes, but there's no automated routing for manager review based on discount size or job value.
• Down payment requirements and approval workflows must be tracked manually or enforced through team communication.
• Without built-in thresholds, large discounts or high-value quotes can reach customers before anyone reviews them.

Pool Proof gives every customer problem a structured home from first report to final resolution.

• Issues are captured from texts, calls, or technician observations and tracked in one system.
• AI understands customer messages, asks follow-up questions, and creates categorized issues automatically.
• Issues connect directly to the work orders that resolve them for full traceability.

Pool Brain offers issue tracking but without AI-powered intake or a unified inbox.

• Issues must be created manually—there's no automated capture from incoming texts or calls.
• No AI analysis means you're reading, categorizing, and routing every customer message yourself.
• Tracking exists, but the connection between customer complaints and the work orders that resolve them isn't built in.

Pool Proof turns your service standards into structured workflows your techs actually follow.

• Processes are organized into Before, During, and After phases that match how the job actually flows.
• Steps capture more than checkmarks: yes/no questions, multiple choice, free text, photos, and videos.
• Each service plan has its own process, so premium customers get premium documentation.
• Integrated instructions put the answers on the tech's screen instead of in your inbox.

Pool Brain offers comparable process management with step-by-step workflows and photo capture.

• Both platforms let you define structured processes that guide techs through each service visit.
• Pool Brain limits documentation to photos. Pool Proof also supports video capture—useful for documenting equipment issues, walk-throughs for customers, or training clips.

Pool Proof tracks your vehicles alongside your service operations.

• Schedule maintenance by date or mileage with automatic alerts before something breaks.
• Log odometer readings, upload photos, and see your entire fleet in one dashboard.
• No separate spreadsheet, no third-party tool, no forgotten oil changes.

Pool Brain has no fleet management. Your vehicles are tracked elsewhere.

• Maintenance schedules live in spreadsheets, calendars, or someone's memory.
• There's no connection between your trucks and your service operations.
• Keeping vehicles running is yet another system to manage separately.

Pool Proof gives your customers a branded portal on your own domain.

• Customers see your logo, your company name, and your URL, not ours.
• Service history, chemical readings, invoices, and payments are all accessible 24/7.
• Customers update their own payment methods and pay balances without calling your office.

Pool Brain's customer portal lives on a domain you don't control.

• Customers access their account through poolbrain.com, not your website.
• Your brand takes a backseat to Pool Brain's infrastructure.
• Every customer interaction reminds them they're using someone else's platform.

Pool Proof turns email into a measurable growth channel, not just a broadcast tool.

• Target customers by service area, service type, or equipment so campaigns actually feel relevant.
• Build on-brand campaigns with drag and drop templates.
• Send from your own domain so your emails land in inboxes, not spam folders.

Pool Brain includes email broadcasting for customer announcements.

• No campaign-level engagement metrics, so you can't see who opened, clicked, or ignored your campaigns.
• No drag-and-drop editor—creating branded emails means working with a limited editor or with HTML

Pool Proof turns your website into a 24/7 sales channel.

• Prospects select a plan, enter their info, provide payment, and sign your service agreement online.
• Address validation filters out customers outside your service area before they start.
• Every signup requires staff approval, so you keep quality control without the manual intake.

Pool Brain does not offer self serve signup.

• All customer qualification, contracting, and initial onboarding must be handled by office staff.