For pool service
If you run your own pool route and bill each account the same weekly service rate every month, plus chemicals and the odd repair, Zippato handles that billing for a flat $8/month. It doesn't matter if you service 20 pools or 80. Set each account to recur monthly once, and Zippato creates the invoice and emails it to the customer automatically every month, with your business name on it. Set it once and it goes out on its own. Chemical overages or a filter clean? Edit the recurring invoice before the next cycle, or send a quick one-off invoice. Repairs get their own one-off invoice. No per-pool pricing, no route software you won't use.
Heads up: the Free plan covers 5 clients, which is fine for trying it out but not for a real route. Plan on Pro at $8/month for unlimited accounts, email delivery and recurring invoices that send automatically.
Add your business name, address, default tax rate and payment instructions, like Zelle, bank transfer, check or a payment link. Payment instructions print on every invoice.
Add a name and an email. Use the notes field for what you need to remember, for example "1820 Palm Shadow Dr, gate code 2291, salt system, dog in yard on Tuesdays."
One line for the service: a flat monthly rate, or visits × per-visit rate. Tax and totals are calculated for you.
Every month, Zippato creates the invoice and emails it to the customer automatically, with a PDF attached and a link to view it online. The customer doesn't need a login. It goes out at 7 AM in your time zone on the date you pick, such as the 1st. If that date falls on a weekend, it goes out on the Friday before, unless you turn that off.
For this month's chemical overages or a filter clean, either edit the account's recurring invoice before the next cycle and add them as line items, or put them on a quick one-off invoice, emailed in one click. Repairs go on their own one-off invoice.
Zippato doesn't process payments. Customers pay you directly. Sent and overdue invoices are easy to see at a glance.
Repairs and green-to-clean jobs: bill them on a separate one-off invoice too, so the monthly service invoice stays predictable and keeps going out on its own.
Recurring invoice INV-0318 (monthly, goes out automatically on the 1st), Clearline Pool Care → R. Alvarez. Due: Net 15.
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly pool service, October 2026 (4 visits: brush, skim, vacuum, empty baskets, test and balance) | 4 | $40.00 | $160.00 |
| Total | $160.00 |
One-off invoice INV-0319 for that month's extras:
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid chlorine beyond included allowance (gal) | 3 | $8.00 | $24.00 |
| Muriatic acid (gal) | 1 | $12.00 | $12.00 |
| Cartridge filter clean | 1 | $85.00 | $85.00 |
| Total | $121.00 |
Bigger jobs get their own one-off invoices:
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green-to-clean recovery (shock, floc, vacuum to waste, 3 return visits) | 1 | $450.00 | $450.00 |
| Pump motor, 1.5 HP (part) | 1 | $320.00 | $320.00 |
| Labor: pump motor replacement (hrs) | 1.5 | $95.00 | $142.50 |
Prices are illustrative. Use your own rates. Sales tax on parts, chemicals and labor varies by state, so set the tax rate to match.
Monthly service is billed on the 1st for the previous month and is due within 15 days. Chemicals beyond the included allowance and repairs are billed at the rates shown. Accounts more than 30 days past due may have service paused until paid. Pay by Zelle (billing@clearline.example), bank transfer or check payable to Clearline Pool Care.
| Price (solo, US) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Zippato Pro | $8/mo flat, unlimited accounts | Monthly invoices created and emailed to each customer automatically. No routing, no payment processing. |
| Skimmer, Getting Started | $1 per serviced location/mo, $49/mo minimum (source) | Pool-specific: routes, service reports, photos, online payments |
| Skimmer, Scaling Up | $2 per serviced location/mo, $98/mo minimum (source) | Adds recurring work orders, route optimization, quotes |
| Jobber Core | $29/mo billed annually, $49 month-to-month (source) | Scheduling, quotes, invoices, payments |
| Housecall Pro | Basic $59/mo annual. Recurring service plans need MAX at $299/mo annual (source) | Full field-service suite |
| Invoice Simple | $6.99/mo for 3 invoices, $14.99 for 10, $21.99 unlimited (source) | Invoices and estimates |
| Square Invoices (Free plan) | $0/mo. Invoice card payments 3.3% + 30¢ (source) | Invoices, recurring invoices, card payments |
Prices checked October 2026. Plans change, so check the vendor's page.
The honest version: Skimmer is built for pools. It handles routes, chemical readings, service photos and customer reports, and if you use those, it's worth the money. If you already run your route from your head or a notebook and just need the monthly bills out the door, Zippato is $8 flat and sends them automatically every month. That's recurring billing Housecall Pro keeps on its $299 MAX plan. If you want customers to pay by card from the invoice, Square's free plan does that and Zippato doesn't.
Zippato Pro includes an MCP server, so you can hook up ChatGPT, Claude or Cursor and do billing day by just asking, from the truck between stops:
Your AI creates a draft first, and nothing goes out until you say "Send it."
Connect your AI assistant · How to invoice with ChatGPT or Claude
Most route techs bill monthly, either a flat monthly rate or the number of visits times a per-visit rate, sent at the start of the month for the month before. Repairs and green-to-clean jobs usually go on a separate invoice. In Zippato Pro you set each account's invoice to recur monthly, and it's emailed to the customer automatically every month.
Either works. Many techs include a standard chemical allowance in the rate and bill anything beyond it as separate line items with quantities, so the customer can see why the bill changed. In Zippato you can add those lines by editing the recurring invoice before the next cycle, or send them on a quick one-off invoice.
Your business name and contact details, the customer and service address, the service period, the service line (visits or flat rate), chemicals and parts as separate lines with quantities, labor hours for repairs, any tax, the total, the due date and how to pay.
The Free plan covers up to 5 clients, so it's only for trying it out. A route needs Pro, which is $8/month flat for unlimited accounts, email delivery, recurring invoices that send automatically and the ChatGPT/Claude connection.
No. Pro is $8/month regardless of how many accounts you bill.
Yes, on Pro. Set each account's invoice to recur monthly once, and Zippato creates it and emails it to the customer automatically every month. Set it once and it goes out on its own.
No. Zippato doesn't process payments. Add payment instructions (Zelle, bank transfer, check or a payment link) and they print on every invoice. Mark invoices paid when the money arrives.