Comparison

Pool vs WaterLink Home

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Pool

This app simplifies swimming pool and hot tub chemistry maintenance by performing all necessary calculations. It provides clear instructions on chemical dosages to maintain balanced, clear water, eliminating the need for complex charts and formulas.

Highlights
  • Chemical dosage calculations
  • Pool volume calculation
  • Chemical effects analysis
  • Customizable chemical ranges
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Looking for help with calculations for your swimming pool or hot tub chemistry maintenance? The Pool Calculator does all the math for you, making chemical testing and treating your pool or hot tub a breeze. Pool Calculator is easy to use, and tells you exactly how much of each chemical to add to keep your water in balance and crystal clear. No more puzzling over complicated charts and formulas. Bring your iPhone or iPad out to the pool and have all the chemical information and calculations you need right at your fingertips. Pool Calculator works offline and online, so if you have poor internet reception by your pool, you’re still able to get test results. Pool Calculator provides a complete tool kit to make pool care easy. You get: • Chemical Calculator • Pool Volume Calculator • Chemical Effects (What-if) Calculator CHEMICAL CALCULATORS You can use whichever test strip or test kit you prefer for testing your pool or hot tub. Pool Calculator provides calculations for: - Chlorine (FCl) - Raising pH - Lowering pH - Total alkalinity (TA) - Calcium hardness (CH) - Stabilizer (CYA or cyanuric acid) - Salt - Borate (Borax) - Calcium saturation index (CSI, similar to LSI) RECOMMENDED CHEMICAL RANGES- USE OURS OR DECIDE YOUR OWN With Pool Calculator, the recommended ranges for your chemicals are based upon whether you have a pool or hot tub, and the surface material (plaster, vinyl or fiberglass) of your pool or hot tub. You can choose from several pre-defined ranges or customize based on your or your pool pro’s preferences. POOL VOLUME CALCULATOR To keep your swimming pool or hot tub at its best, it’s important that you accurately calculate your water volume. All of the chemical balancing recommendations you receive from the Pool Calculator are based on it. You can calculate the volume of your pool in metric units (liters) or in imperial units (gallons). The Pool Volume Calculator can be used for: • Rectangular Pools and Hot Tubs • Oval Pools and Hot Tubs • Round Pools and Hot Tubs CHEMICAL EFFECTS CALCULATOR “What if” analysis for adding chemicals to your pool or hot tub! Ever want to know the impact of adding a given amount of Chemical has on your swimming pool or hot tub chemistry? The Chemical Effects Calculator calculates the impact adding a specific amount of chemical has on your pool chemistry. It does this not only for the primary purpose of the chemical, but also on the other important measurements for your pool. For example, adding Trichlor not only raises your Free Chlorine, it also increases your Cyanuric Acid, lowers your pH and increases your Salt. Adding Cal Hypo raises Free Chlorine, and also raises Calcium Hardness (CH) and Salt. With the Chemical Effects Calculator, you can measure the effects on pool chemistry of adding a given dose of: • Bleach • Trichlor • Dichlor • Cal-hypo • Lithium Hypochlorite • Chlorine gas • Muriatic Acid • Dry Acid • Washing soda • Soda Ash • Borax • Sodium Tetraborate Pentahydrate • Boric Acid • Caustic Acid (lye) • Baking Soda • Calcium Chloride • Calcium Chloride dihydrate • Stabilizer • Liquid Stabilizer • Salt PoolCalculator can be used for in ground or above ground pools, spas and hot tubs, chlorine or salt pools, and a broad range of surfaces. Running into problems? Let us know at support@poolcalculator.com!

About

WaterLink Home

This app provides detailed water analysis for pools and spas, offering step-by-step treatment recommendations. It supports multiple testing methods and allows customization of chemicals and dosage rates. Connect with professionals for tailored advice.

Highlights
  • Pool and spa water analysis
  • Step-by-step treatment recommendations
  • Multiple supported test methods
  • Customizable chemical and dosage rates
  • Historical test data storage
  • Connect with pool professionals
Features
Read full description

WaterLink Home puts powerful, prescriptive water analysis in your hand. For the DIY homeowner or aquarist looking to take water analysis to next level, WaterLink Home is a fully featured, powerful water analysis app. Based on our professional grade WaterLink Solutions Pro software, WaterLink Home provides only the features you need without sacrificing any of the power. --Analysis for Pools, Spas & Aquariums -- Create up to 5 unique bodies of waters to monitor and analyze water chemistry. Water tests produce detailed, step-by-step treatment recommendations tailored to your water. Every historical test is saved in your free account, with helpful charts and graphs for easy data analysis. --Amazing Supported Test Methods-- WaterLink Home offers three incredible testing methods for submitting test results. • The LaMotte ColorQ2x Photometer • The industry leading LaMotte Spin® • Photo-scan several supported LaMotte Insta-TEST® test strips • LaMotte Pulse® • Custom Test methods allow manual input of test results --Customizable-- Customize the chemicals and dosage rates based on the products you use to treat your water. --Homelinks-- The Homelinks feature allows WaterLink Home Users to connect with WaterLink Solutions Pro accounts. This allows Home users to stay in touch with their local pool and spa professional. When connected to a Pro account, Home users can utilize the treatment profiles and chemicals from their local pool and spa professional, receiving treatment recommendations based on chemicals sold at their local shop. Pro users can monitor Home user testing in real time. --Absolutely Free!-- WaterLink Home is absolutely free to use. Simply download the app and create a free account to get started.

Screenshots

Pool4 screens
WaterLink Home3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: WaterLink Home at Free against Pool's $4.99. WaterLink Home also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.1). Pool's advantage is ratings volume (630 vs 86). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

WaterLink Home is free to download; Pool costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

WaterLink Home holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pool has 630 ratings behind it against 86, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 22% of Pool's written reviews are positive against 28% of WaterLink Home's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pool ships an update every 5 weeks, WaterLink Home every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Pool versus WaterLink Home: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPoolWaterLink Home
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.1 (630 ratings)4.6 (86 ratings) — better
Positive reviews21.8% of reviews28.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings630 — better86
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB130 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPool and Spa Resources, LLCLaMotte Chemical Products Company

Customer experience

Pool

All ratings629 ratings
Positive80.3%
Neutral5.4%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews101 reviews
Positive21.8%
Neutral19.8%
Negative58.4%

WaterLink Home

All ratings80 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral1.3%
Negative8.8%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive28.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative68.0%

Bugs and requests

Pool

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes on launch for many users
  • Keyboard issues preventing data entry
  • Incorrect chemical effect information (e.g. soda ash)
  • Volume calculation not updating properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to save and track test history
  • Support for multiple pools/spas
  • Metric-only unit support
  • More detailed chemical dosage information (e.g. weight-based)

WaterLink Home

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Pool

No in-app purchases

None

WaterLink Home

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pool free?
Pool costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is WaterLink Home free?
WaterLink Home is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pool or WaterLink Home?
WaterLink Home is rated higher. Pool averages 4.1 out of 5 from 630 ratings, while WaterLink Home averages 4.6 from 86 ratings.
Do Pool or WaterLink Home have ads?
Neither Pool nor WaterLink Home shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pool or WaterLink Home?
Pool ships an update every 5 weeks, and WaterLink Home every 6 weeks. Most recently, Pool was updated on October 29, 2026 and WaterLink Home on October 29, 2026.

Other comparisons