Both are UK-built swim school platforms with GoCardless payments and STA support. The difference comes down to pricing structure and how much that matters as your school grows.
Disclosure: This comparison is written by SwimsCool. We've tried to represent iSplash fairly based on publicly available information, but you should read their own site and ideally trial both platforms before deciding.
SwimsCool and iSplash are the two most comparable UK-built swim school management platforms on the market. Both cover the core features — scheduling, GoCardless payments, STA award tracking, parent and staff portals — and both are built specifically for UK swim schools rather than adapted from a US platform.
The main difference is how they charge. iSplash prices by swimmer count: £90/month for up to 250 active swimmers, then £18 for every additional 50. SwimsCool uses flat-rate pricing, so your monthly bill doesn't grow as your school does.
For a school with under 200 swimmers that wants an established platform with official STA accreditation, iSplash is a reasonable choice. For most other schools — especially growing ones — the pricing model becomes a significant factor.
iSplash pricing: £90/mo base (up to 250 swimmers) + £18/mo per additional 50 swimmers. SwimsCool pricing shown is the Starter plan flat rate. iSplash SMS costs (4.75p/message) and email overage (£5/5,000 beyond the free 5,000/month allowance) are not included above — these add up quickly during term-start communications.
| Feature | SwimsCool | iSplash |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Starting price | £29/mo Lower | £90/mo |
| Pricing model | Flat rate Predictable | Per swimmer |
| SMS cost | Included | 4.75p/segment extra |
| Setup fee | ✓ None | ✓ None |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card Yes | Not advertised |
| Payments | ||
| GoCardless Direct Debit | ✓ | ✓ |
| Stripe card payments | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automated invoicing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Overdue payment tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scheduling & Classes | ||
| Class scheduling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Session attendance tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Makeup / catchup tokens | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-venue support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Waitlist management | ✓ | ✓ |
| Skill Tracking & Frameworks | ||
| Swim England framework | ✓ Both | Via STA only |
| STA framework | ✓ | ✓ Official partner |
| Custom skill frameworks | ✓ | ✓ |
| STA Digital Awards integration | — | ✓ iSplash wins |
| Portals & Communication | ||
| Owner / admin portal | ✓ | ✓ |
| Teacher / staff portal | ✓ | ✓ |
| Parent portal | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automated email notifications | ✓ | ✓ |
| SMS notifications | ✓ Included | ✓ Pay-as-you-go |
| Security & Compliance | ||
| Multi-factor authentication (MFA) | ✓ All accounts Yes | Not advertised |
| UK-built & hosted | ✓ | ✓ |
| GDPR compliant | ✓ | ✓ |
This is the clearest practical difference between the two platforms. iSplash's per-swimmer model means your monthly cost increases automatically as you enrol more pupils — which is exactly when you'd expect software to become better value, not more expensive.
A school that grows from 150 to 400 swimmers over two years goes from paying £90/month to £126/month on iSplash, with no change in the features available to them. On SwimsCool, the price stays the same.
Example: A swim school with 400 active swimmers pays roughly £126/month on iSplash (£90 base + 3 × £18 for the extra 150 swimmers beyond 250) versus £29/month on SwimsCool — a difference of £1,164/year for identical core features.
This is iSplash's strongest differentiator. As an official STA partner, iSplash integrates directly with STA's Digital Awards system, allowing certificates to be issued digitally without manual admin. If your school is STA-affiliated and issues a high volume of awards, this integration saves genuine time.
SwimsCool supports STA and Swim England frameworks for skill tracking and progression but does not currently integrate with STA Digital Awards directly. If digital award issuance is central to your workflow, that's worth weighing up.
SwimsCool offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required — you can set up your classes, add your teachers, and see exactly how the platform works before committing. iSplash does not publicly advertise a free trial; schools typically need to book a demo to evaluate the platform.
SwimsCool includes TOTP-based MFA (two-factor authentication) for all user accounts — owners, teachers, and parents. With safeguarding and data security increasingly scrutinised in the children's activities sector, this is a meaningful feature that iSplash does not currently highlight.
We can help you migrate your class data, swimmer records, and payment history. Get in touch and we'll walk you through it.