Why we charge what we charge
A real, no-bullshit breakdown of what your fee covers, how we compare to Wild Apricot & the others, and where every dollar goes.
The short version
Pool clubs are run by volunteers. Volunteers don't have time. Volunteer time is worth real money — even if no one's writing them a check. So pricing should reflect the hours you save, not the cost of writing the code.
Our pricing rule: capture roughly 5-10% of the value we create. A typical 150-household neighborhood club saves 200+ board hours per year. That's $5,000+ of volunteer time at $25/hour. We charge $599/year for that. Cheap.
How we compare
Real annual costs for a 150-household club:
| Product | Annual cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Poolside Pro | $599 | Memberships, dues, payments, programs, parties, gate, archive — all of it. |
| Wild Apricot | $1,200-1,800 | Memberships + events + payments. No pool-specific features. |
| Member365 | $1,500-3,600 | Memberships + events. Generic. |
| TeamUnify (swim clubs) | $700-2,000 | Swim team + memberships. Aimed at competitive teams. |
| ClubExpress | $500-2,500 | Memberships + website. Aimed at large nonprofits. |
| Excel + Venmo + email | $0 | 200+ board hours per year. Spreadsheet inheritance crisis when the treasurer rotates. |
We're 3-6× cheaper than direct competitors at every tier — without skimping on features. The reason isn't "we're underpriced." It's: we built this for pool clubs specifically, so we don't carry the bloat of a generic membership platform built for chambers of commerce + dog rescues + alumni associations.
Where the money actually goes
Out of every $599 Pro subscription:
| Where | Approx |
|---|---|
| Stripe processing fee on your subscription | $18 (3%) |
| Supabase (database + auth + storage) | $5 |
| Resend (your members' sign-in link emails) | $2 |
| Twilio (your members' sign-in code texts) | $15 |
| Vercel (hosting) | $3 |
| Domain + cert + back-end ops | $8 |
| Subtotal — what it costs us to run your club | ~$50 |
| What's left to keep developing the product | ~$549 |
That margin is what funds the next thing you'll ask us to build. Customer service. Dunning. Two-installment payment plans. A keyfob integration. The Drive auto-archive. Things you didn't ask for that you'll be glad we built when you need them.
Why there's a Free Forever tier
Some pool clubs are 18 households. An HOA pool with 16 homes shouldn't have to pay $199/year for a membership system. They should be able to use Poolside as a Saturday volunteer's tool, not a budget line. So Free Forever is real — no card required, no time limit, every feature included, capped at 20 households.
It costs us about $5/year to keep a Free club running. We eat that cost because (a) those clubs become loyal advocates and (b) when they grow past 20 households, we want them to upgrade with us instead of starting over with a competitor.
Why no feature paywalls
Most SaaS products gate the good stuff behind higher tiers — "you can't use SMS sign-in unless you upgrade to Pro" — to manufacture upgrade pressure. We hate that. Volunteer boards have enough decisions to make without "do we need to upgrade just to send SMS?"
Every tier gets every feature. The only thing that changes between tiers is how many households you can have. Outgrowing a tier is a good problem — your club is doing well and you have too many members. That's the right time to upgrade.
About the small percentage on member transactions
When your members pay through Poolside (via Stripe), we take a small platform fee on top of Stripe's processing rate:
| What's being paid for | Poolside fee |
|---|---|
| Annual dues | 0.5% |
| Programs, swim lessons, snack-shack tabs | 1.5% |
| Parties, events, ticketed things | 2.0% |
| Donations to the club | 0% — always free |
| Late fees, reactivation | 5% |
If you stick with Venmo / check for everything, this never applies — you only pay the subscription. The transaction fee covers the actual benefit of using Stripe (auto-charging saved cards, payment plans, instant verification, no chasing members for dues).
Money-back, no drama
If you're not happy in the first 30 days, email us and we'll refund your subscription, no forms or "exit interview." We'd rather you find the right tool than feel stuck.
"I run a pool club too. Every feature in here exists because some board member told me they needed it — not because I dreamed it up in a vacuum."
— Doug, founder