Why US Hosts Left Swimply — and What Canadian Pool Owners Can Learn

Swimply operates in Canada, and if you own a pool in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary or Ottawa, it is probably the only pool rental platform you have come across. South of the border, where pool sharing started, hosts have been switching platforms — and their reasons come down to three things: take rate, transparency and trust. Pool Rental Near Me (PRNM) is now launching in Canada, and the offer to founding hosts is deliberately simple: 0% host fees, forever. Here is what American hosts learned the hard way, and why being early in Canada works in your favour.

The fee gap: the first thing US hosts noticed

Swimply's own published US materials put host commissions at 15–30% of every booking — its become-a-host page cites 15–25%, and its Help Center says hosts keep 70–80%. On a US pool earning $4,000 a month in peak summer, a 20% commission means handing over $3,200 across a four-month season. Those are US figures from US-facing pages — always check the booking breakdown Swimply shows you in Canada — but the lesson crosses the border intact: a percentage taken from every booking, forever, is the single largest cost of hosting on a commission platform. And in a country where the outdoor season is short, every booking matters more, not less.

PRNM's answer is a 0% host fee. Because Canada is a founding market, Canadian hosts who list now keep that rate forever — it is not an introductory rate that expires after a season.

How the money actually works for Canadian founding hosts

We would rather be plain about this than polished. PRNM is a US-built platform in the process of launching in Canada, so:

• Prices on the site currently display in US dollars. You still set your own price.
• Hosts are paid out in Canadian dollars via Stripe — payouts land in your Canadian bank account in CAD.
• You keep 100% of your price. PRNM takes no commission from hosts, and founding hosts keep 0% host fees permanently.
• There is no premium membership, no "boost" fee and no featured-placement upsell — in the US, Swimply's Help Center describes a $39.99 guest "Premium Pass" subscription; PRNM sells nothing of the kind to anyone.

List on both — and let the math decide

Nothing about listing on PRNM requires leaving Swimply. There is no exclusivity clause. The sensible move for a Canadian pool owner is to keep any existing listing, add a free PRNM listing, and compare what actually reaches your bank: every booking through PRNM pays you 100% of your price, while every booking through a commission platform pays you whatever is left after its cut.

The Canadian season sharpens the point. In most of the country the outdoor window runs roughly June to early September — short, but intense, because that is exactly when demand for a private backyard pool peaks. When your earning season is three months instead of six, a 15–30% commission takes its bite out of a much smaller pie. Keeping 100% on PRNM bookings is worth proportionally more to a host in Ottawa than to one in Arizona. A heated pool stretches the shoulder seasons in May and September and is worth calling out prominently in your listing.

Founders you can actually reach

One thing US hosts consistently valued: the people who run PRNM answer their own email. The platform was founded by Derek Bowen and is run with co-founder Brandon Elias, and because Canada is a brand-new market, founding hosts here are talking directly to the team building the Canadian launch — not to a ticket queue. That kind of access is a launch-market advantage no platform can offer once it has tens of thousands of hosts.

What to sort out before your first booking

Being early does not mean skipping the basics:

• Insurance. A standard Canadian home insurance policy may not cover paying guests using your pool. Before your first rental, ask your insurer about liability coverage for paid use, and consider a broker familiar with short-term rentals. Get the answer in writing.
• Tax. Income from hosting is generally taxable, and the rules depend on your circumstances and province. The CRA is Canada's tax authority; talk to a local accountant about how hosting income should be reported in your situation.
• Local rules. Pool fencing, gate and safety requirements vary by province and municipality. Make sure your setup meets the rules where you live before guests arrive.

The Canada hosting hub covers all of this in more depth, and there are city-level guides like the Toronto hosting page.

Listing takes about 20 minutes

Photos, a good description, your hourly price, your available hours. That is the whole job.

List your pool

FAQ

Do I have to leave Swimply to join PRNM? No. There is no exclusivity requirement. Most US hosts who switched ran both platforms first and let the take-home numbers decide.

Why do prices display in US dollars? Because PRNM is launching in Canada from its US base and currency display is still being localized. Your payout is unaffected: hosts are paid in CAD via Stripe, and you keep 100% of your price.

What does "founding host" mean? You are in the first wave of Canadian hosts on the platform. Founding hosts keep 0% host fees forever — the rate is locked, not promotional.

Is a short season worth hosting for? That is exactly when keeping 100% matters most. A short season means fewer bookings; a commission platform takes its percentage out of each one. For reference from the US market: top backyard pools in Southern California earn $800–$1,000 in a good summer week — US data, not a Canadian promise, but a sign of what peak-season demand for private pools looks like.