The Best Robotic Cleaners for Inground Fiberglass Pools

Every pool owner should have a good working knowledge of pool maintenance. To avoid pool maintenance issues, it’s important to stay on top of pool maintenance from the time you open your pool in the spring until you’re preparing to close it for the winter.

Robotic pool cleaners can be a great help when it comes to keeping your pool clean on a regular basis. Choosing a robotic pool cleaner can be a bit overwhelming as there are hundreds of automatic pool cleaners on the market, each with different benefits. Above-ground pools need a different type of robotic cleaner than inground pools, and some robotic pool cleaners will have features that you don’t need. So make sure you’re searching for the automatic pool cleaner that’s right for your needs and specific pool type. Let’s take a look at some of the best robotic pool cleaners on the market that offer great value for the price.

Hayward TigerShark  

The Hayward TigerShark can easily scour a 20 x 40 foot pool floor, walls and water line in just three hours. It’s available in three models: the standard TigerShark, the TigerShark Plus Robotic Cleaner with Remote Control and the TigerShark QC with Quick Clean (featuring a patented 90-minute quick clean alternative.) It has an easy-to-clean cartridge filter system, and the 24-volt motor is designed to use less energy, saving you pool maintenance costs over time.

Given that it runs separately from the pool’s filtration system, you’ll need fewer backwash cycles. It’s self-contained and easy to use with no extra hoses, hookups or pumps required. The TigerShark is widely recognized by pool maintenance pros for its reliability and efficiency. It comes in at just under 22 pounds.

Average Price: $800

Highlights:

• Easy to clean cartridge
• Lightweight
• On-board pump for intense vacuum power
• 55’ cord to reach the length of your pool
• 1 to 3-year warranty, based on the specific model you choose

Dolphin Nautilus Plus

The Dolphin Nautilus Plus is an award-winning design with over 25 years of technological and innovative leadership. It weighs only 22 pounds and comes with a 2-year warranty. It’s the top of the line and a best seller in the market. The Dolphin Nautilus Plus has CleverClean technology that creates a swivel system for tangle-free operation. The CleverClean system enables the robotic pool cleaner to scrub, filter, and vacuum the floor, walls and water lines of inground pools.

The Dolphin Nautilus Plus also has built-in scanning software that enables it to scan the pool’s dimensions for best cleaning. To help remove the algae, dirt, bacteria, and biofilm, it’s equipped with a system called PowerClean that creates high RPMs for a deeper clean. It’s also armed with their HyperGrip Tracking System–rubber tracks that grip the surface and walls of the pool. This allows the cleaner to get the small corners and areas of the pool, such as the edges of tanning ledges.

Average Price: $1000

Highlights:

• Easy to clean cartridge
• Lightweight
• Suitable for large pools such as the Wellspring, Lil Box LX, Cathedral or Monolith
• Swivel cables
• 3-year warranty

• NOTE: For optimum performance, clean after every use

Polaris F9350 Sport Robotic Pool Cleaner

The Polaris F9350 is a lightweight, 2-wheel robotic cleaner. The “Aqua Trax” tires enable the Polaris to move freely over any surface–floors, steps, and walls. It’s enabled with a navigation system that automatically controls the robot’s position at all times, allowing complete cleaning coverage without any hang ups. The cleaner also uses a system called the Vortex–a vacuum that filters out particles and gathers large debris in a short amount of time. This robotic pool cleaner is the perfect choice for larger pools with lots of angles like the Lil Bob LX or the Sun Day.

Average Price: $950

Highlights:

• Able to climb walls and steps
• Time and energy efficient
• 2-year warranty
• Quiet
• Lightweight and easy to remove from the pool–with the touch of a button, it surfaces and waits for you to grab it, then automatically evacuates water for effortless removal from the pool
• The long cord is efficient for large pools
• NOTE: For pool owners who aren’t technically inclined, it can be complicated to reprogram

Aquabot Pool Rover Junior

The Aquabot Pool Rover Junior is a great lightweight option for a smaller robotic pool cleaner, and it comes in below $500. It has a 40-foot long cable that allows the rover to move freely throughout the pool. The ultrafine filter bag enables the robot to reach the small crevices of the pool’s floor, making it an excellent option for curvy pools like Titus and Sandal.

Average Price: $300

Highlights:

• Lightweight
• One-year warranty
• Automatic shut off timer
• NOTE: The Aquabot Pool Rover Junior doesn’t have the ability to clean the walls of the pool. It’s just for floors

Proper pool maintenance is incredibly important to ensure that your pool is in great shape for years to come, and there are lots of great pool maintenance tools available to help you keep up with it. Aside from reading about the most common pool maintenance mistakes, you may want to enlist the help of a pool maintenance pro near you for bigger tasks such as opening and closing the pool.

Regular maintenance like vacuuming is easy with the right robotic pool cleaner. The only fiberglass pool innovation that robotic cleaners haven’t quite caught up to yet is the built-in tanning ledge, which is a very popular feature. While they easily scale walls, they’re not able to climb and stay on top of a tanning ledge, so if you have a fiberglass pool with this feature, you might have to touch it up separately.

Regardless of what kind of robotic pool cleaner you buy for your inground fiberglass pool, the investment will pay off in saved pool maintenance time, giving you more time to do what you want to do … enjoy your pool.