The three families in two minutes
- Suction: plugs into your skimmer, moves on your pump's flow, sends everything to YOUR filter. Cheapest to buy, priciest to run.
- Pressure: driven by a booster pump with its own debris bag. Great on leaves, but the booster adds real installation and energy cost.
- Robotic: self-contained motor and filter, plugs into a wall outlet. Highest sticker price, lowest running cost, only family that reliably does walls and waterline.
The total-cost math
Suction looks free until you count pump hours and filter cleanings. Pressure adds a booster pump drawing real power every cycle. A robotic cycle costs cents and touches nothing else in your system.
Over five years, the price ladder often inverts: the expensive robot ends up the cheap option, in the $800-1,500 sweet spot for most pools.
Cleaning quality: no contest anymore
Only robotics climb walls and scrub the waterline as standard. Pressure units handle heavy debris well but need the booster; suction units do floors adequately and nothing more. The coverage gap is why the market has moved.
Who should buy which
- New pool owner starting fresh: robotic, full stop — mid-range covers everything that matters.
- Existing booster-pump plumbing and heavy leaf fall: your pressure cleaner still earns its keep; replace it when it dies.
- Tight budget, strong pump, simple pool: an entry suction unit remains the honest cheap seat.