Swim Spa or In-Ground Pool? The Honest Comparison

This post exists to answer one question: if you were going to put in a pool, should you put in a swim spa instead? We sell swim spas, so weigh that accordingly, but the comparison below is the one we actually make with customers.

Months of use per year

This is the number that settles most of it and almost nobody calculates it honestly.

An unheated pool in North Texas is comfortable roughly May through September. Heating one to extend the season is possible and expensive, because you are heating a very large volume of water that is open to the sky. Most pool owners, asked honestly, will say four months.

A swim spa holds a fraction of the water, is insulated, and sits under a hard cover. It runs in January. The difference is not marginal, it is the difference between a seasonal amenity and something you use in February.

Footprint and what it does to the yard

A pool is excavation. Once it is in, that part of your yard is a pool permanently, and so is the deck around it and the equipment pad beside it.

A swim spa sits on a concrete pad. It takes a fraction of the space, it does not require digging, and if you move house it can go with you. For a yard that also needs to hold a court, a dog, a patio or children, that difference matters a great deal.

What each one is actually for

A pool is for lounging, cooling off and having people over. It does that better than a swim spa ever will. If your picture of summer is six people in the water on a Saturday, a swim spa is not going to replace that and we would say so.

A swim spa is for using water rather than sitting in it: swimming against a current, resistance walking, rehab work, stretching, and warm soaking at the end. It is a machine for movement. It is not a place to float around with friends.

Upkeep

A pool is a chemical and service commitment, usually with a company on retainer, opening and closing routines, and a surface that eventually needs resurfacing.

A swim spa is closer to a hot tub: test the water a couple of times a week, rinse filters, drain and refill every few months. More water than a spa, considerably less regime than a pool.

Money, roughly

An in ground pool in this region is a substantial five-figure project before heating, plus ongoing service.

Certified used swim spas on our floor right now: a Master Spas Therapool D at $18,888 against $44,995 MSRP, a Trainer 15 D at $26,488 against $39,000, and an Endless Pools X2000 dual-temp at $26,488 against $64,999. New Cal Spas Swim Pro Plus models run $28,488 to $39,888.

Add a pad, a dedicated circuit and delivery, and a swim spa is usually meaningfully less than a pool while being usable three times as many months.

When the pool is the right call

Large family that swims socially. A yard with space to give up. A picture of summer built around lounging rather than exercise. Genuinely, in those cases, buy the pool.

See one running

Come and stand in one at 3289 TX-101 in Bridgeport and feel what a current actually feels like. That decides this question faster than any article.

Call 936.333.0770 or email sales@txspaguy.com. We pour the pad with the same crew and we ship nationwide.

Related: Swim spas on the floor · Concrete pads · Full backyard renovations