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

Swimply operates in the UK, and if you own a pool in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds or Bristol, it may be the only pool-hire platform you have heard of. In the United States, where pool sharing began, 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 the UK, 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 the UK 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 here in the UK — but the principle travels: a percentage taken from every booking, forever, is the single largest cost of hosting on a commission platform.

PRNM's answer is a 0% host fee. And because the UK is a founding market, UK hosts who list now keep that rate forever — it is not an introductory offer that quietly expires.

How the money actually works for UK founding hosts

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

• Prices on the site currently display in US dollars. You still set your own price.
• Hosts are paid out in pounds sterling via Stripe — the payout lands in your UK bank account in GBP.
• 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 maths decide

Nothing about listing on PRNM requires leaving Swimply. There is no exclusivity clause. The sensible move for a UK 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. Over a British season — realistically May to September for outdoor pools, and year-round for heated or indoor ones — the difference compounds booking by booking.

There is also a supply argument. Private pools are scarcer in the UK than in the US, which means an early, well-photographed listing in a city like Manchester or Leeds faces far less competition than an American host would. Fewer pools listed means yours stands out. See the Manchester hosting page for city-level detail.

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 the UK is a brand-new market, founding hosts here are talking directly to the team building the UK launch — not to a ticket queue. That access is a launch-market advantage that, frankly, 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 UK home insurance policy may not cover paying guests using your pool. Before your first hire, ask your insurer about public liability cover for paid use of your pool, and consider a broker who handles short-term lets. Do not assume — ask, in writing.
• Tax. Income from hosting is generally taxable, and the rules depend on your circumstances. HMRC is the UK tax authority; talk to a local accountant about how hosting income should be reported in your situation.
• The season. Be realistic about the British summer. An unheated outdoor pool has a short window; a heated pool stretches the season at both ends, and an indoor pool can take bookings all year. Price and schedule accordingly.

The UK hosting hub covers all of this in more depth.

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 the UK from its US base and currency display is still being localised. Your payout is unaffected: hosts are paid in GBP via Stripe, and you keep 100% of your price.

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

Is there really demand for pool hire in the UK? The US market proved that people will pay for private pool time — parties, lessons, quiet swims. In the UK, private pools are rarer, which cuts both ways: a smaller pool of supply, and far less competition for the hosts who do list.