Robotic Cleaners & Vacuums
Dolphin vs Polaris
One brand has always made robots. The other invented the category robots replaced, and still sells it. That history is the whole comparison.
We have not handled these products and we do not pretend to have. Here is what we did instead. Links to Amazon earn us a commission at no extra cost to you, and commission never decides a pick — disclosure.
| # | Product | Best for | The spec it turns on | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus Wi-Fi Robotic Pool VacuumTop pickThe corded default. Mains power means runtime is not a specification you have to think about. | In-ground pools up to 50 ft | Corded, wall-climbing with waterline scrubbing, ultra-fine top-load filter cartridges | Check price#ad |
| 2 |  Polaris Freedom Plus Cordless Robotic Pool CleanerPolaris's cordless entry, rated to 50 ft, from the brand that built the pressure-side category it is replacing. | In-ground pools up to 50 ft, cordless | Cordless, rated by the maker for in-ground pools up to 50 ft | Check price#ad |
| 3 |  Dolphin Nautilus CC Robotic Pool VacuumThe entry point to the Dolphin line, without the app and without the finer filtration, and still a genuine climbing robot. | The cheapest way into a real robot | Corded, wall-climbing scrubber brush, top-load filter | Check price#ad |
| 4 |  Polaris 9550 Sport Robotic Pool CleanerA 60 ft rating and a 70 ft cable, which is the pairing that lets a corded robot reach the far end of a long pool without dragging. | Long pools | Rated for in-ground pools up to 60 ft, with a 70 ft swivel cable | Check price#ad |
| 5 |  Polaris Vac-Sweep 280 Pressure-Side CleanerMakes sense only if your pool already has the booster pump plumbed in. Retro-fitting one to save money on the cleaner is backwards. | Pools already plumbed for a booster pump | Double venturi jet-powered, 31 ft of hose, requires a booster pump | Check price#ad |
The history that explains the ranges
Polaris built the pressure-side cleaner category. For decades, an automatic pool cleaner meant a Polaris running off a dedicated booster pump, and a great many in-ground pools built in that period were plumbed for exactly that.
Dolphin, made by Maytronics, has always made electric robots. Its range is corded units with their own filtration, their own drive and their own brushes, independent of the pool's plumbing entirely.
Robots won that argument for most new pools, and Polaris now makes cordless robots too. But the installed base of booster-pumped pools is large, and for those owners the old category is still genuinely the cheaper answer.
The comparison
| Dolphin | Polaris | |
|---|---|---|
| Core technology | Corded electric robots | Pressure-side, suction-side and cordless robots |
| Assumes about your pool | There is an outlet near it | Possibly a booster pump; possibly nothing |
| Waterline cleaning | Yes across the range | On the robots; not on pressure-side |
| Debris handling | Own filter cartridges | Own bag on pressure-side; own filter on robots |
| Published pool ratings | By model, on the listing | Publishes length ratings - 50 ft on Freedom Plus, 60 ft on 9550 Sport |
| Dealer network | Established | Established, and long-standing for spares |
| Above-ground option | Yes - a purpose-built model | Limited |
Pick Dolphin if
- Your pool has no booster pump and you are not going to install one
- You want wall and waterline cleaning as standard rather than as a step up
- You have an above-ground pool - Dolphin makes a purpose-built model for that geometry
- You want mains power and no battery to think about
- Simplicity matters: plug it in, drop it in, retrieve it
Pick Polaris if
- Your pool already has a booster pump plumbed in and working - the pressure-side range becomes genuinely inexpensive
- Your pool is long. Polaris publishes a 60 ft rating with a 70 ft swivel cable on the 9550 Sport, which is the pairing you need on a long pool
- You want a cordless robot from an established brand with a long-standing dealer and spares network
- Leaves are your main problem and you like that a pressure-side cleaner bags them rather than passing them through the filter
Where the two brands genuinely overlap
Cordless robots. Polaris's Freedom Plus and Dolphin's cordless models compete directly, and here the comparison stops being about brand philosophy and becomes the same four-number check as everything else: coverage, filtration, runtime, capacity.
Both brands publish less filtration detail than Wybot does. If micron rating is what you are buying on, that is worth knowing before you narrow to these two. See best robotic pool cleaners.
The picks
Top pick - In-ground pools up to 50 ft
Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus Wi-Fi Robotic Pool Vacuum
The corded default. Mains power means runtime is not a specification you have to think about.
The published figure
Corded, wall-climbing with waterline scrubbing, ultra-fine top-load filter cartridges
A corded robot has no battery to degrade and no runtime ceiling. That single fact removes the constraint every cordless unit on this page is designed around.
Wall climbing and waterline scrubbing are the two features that separate a robot from a floor vacuum, because the waterline is where the oily scum line forms and no floor-only unit touches it.
The cable is the cost: it tangles, and you have to lift a wet robot with a cord attached out of the pool.
What it does well
- No runtime limit and no battery to degrade
- Climbs walls and scrubs the waterline, not just the floor
- Top-load filter cartridges, which are the easiest kind to empty
What it costs you
- Cable tangling on pools with a lot of steps and features
- Heavier to lift out than a cordless unit
Skip it if your pool has no convenient power outlet, or you want to drop a cleaner in and walk away without managing a cord.
Pick 2 - In-ground pools up to 50 ft, cordless
Polaris Freedom Plus Cordless Robotic Pool Cleaner
Polaris's cordless entry, rated to 50 ft, from the brand that built the pressure-side category it is replacing.
The published figure
Cordless, rated by the maker for in-ground pools up to 50 ft
Polaris spent decades on pressure-side cleaners that ran off a booster pump. Freedom Plus is the company's answer to the cordless robots that made that category obsolete for most owners.
A 50 ft length rating is a straightforward sizing figure: measure the long axis of your pool and compare.
Polaris parts and dealer support are widely available in a way that the newer direct-to-consumer brands are not, which matters more in year three than year one.
What it does well
- Length rating published in a directly checkable form
- Long-established dealer and parts network
- No booster pump, unlike the brand's pressure-side range
What it costs you
- Fewer published filtration and coverage specs than the Wybot units
- Cordless battery is still the wear part
Skip it if your pool is longer than 50 ft. The maker's rating is the limit, not a suggestion.
Pick 3 - The cheapest way into a real robot
Dolphin Nautilus CC Robotic Pool Vacuum
The entry point to the Dolphin line, without the app and without the finer filtration, and still a genuine climbing robot.
The published figure
Corded, wall-climbing scrubber brush, top-load filter
The difference between this and the CC Plus is app control and filter fineness, not the drive system or the climbing.
For a simple rectangular pool with no steps to negotiate and no interest in scheduling from a phone, that difference is worth less than the price gap.
Corded, so the same runtime advantage and the same cable nuisance as its more expensive sibling.
What it does well
- Climbs walls, which floor-only cleaners at this price do not
- No battery to degrade
- Top-load filter access
What it costs you
- No app scheduling
- Coarser filtration than the Plus
Skip it if you want scheduling or fine-silt filtration. Those are exactly what the price step buys.
Pick 4 - Long pools
Polaris 9550 Sport Robotic Pool Cleaner
A 60 ft rating and a 70 ft cable, which is the pairing that lets a corded robot reach the far end of a long pool without dragging.
The published figure
Rated for in-ground pools up to 60 ft, with a 70 ft swivel cable
Cable length has to exceed the pool length by a margin, or the robot spends the cycle fighting a taut cord. Polaris publishes both figures here, which makes the sizing check trivial.
The swivel is what stops the cable twisting into a knot over a long cycle. It is a small feature that decides whether a corded robot is tolerable.
For pools over 50 ft this is one of the few units that publishes a rating that covers them.
What it does well
- 60 ft pool rating with a 70 ft cable published together
- Swivel cable reduces tangling on long cycles
What it costs you
- Corded
- Heavier than the cordless units
Skip it if your pool is under 40 ft — you are paying for reach you cannot use.
Pick 5 - Pools already plumbed for a booster pump
Polaris Vac-Sweep 280 Pressure-Side Cleaner
Makes sense only if your pool already has the booster pump plumbed in. Retro-fitting one to save money on the cleaner is backwards.
The published figure
Double venturi jet-powered, 31 ft of hose, requires a booster pump
Pressure-side cleaners run on water pressure from a dedicated booster pump. Many older in-ground pools were plumbed for one, and in that case the cleaner is inexpensive and the infrastructure is already paid for.
If your pool has no booster pump, adding one costs more than the difference between this and a robot, and it adds a second pump's electricity to every cycle.
Its debris goes into its own bag rather than through the filter, which is genuinely useful for leaves.
What it does well
- Cheap to buy if the booster pump already exists
- Handles leaves in its own bag rather than through the filter
- Long-established design with plentiful spares
What it costs you
- Requires a booster pump, which is an expensive retrofit
- Runs a second pump's worth of electricity every cycle
- Does not clean the waterline
Skip it if your pool has no booster pump. The retrofit cost makes this the expensive option, not the cheap one.
Questions people actually ask
Is Dolphin better than Polaris?
Do I need a booster pump for a Polaris pool cleaner?
Which brand is better for a long pool?
Which brand cleans the waterline?
Sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these. Where a number could not be sourced, the page says so rather than estimating.
- Skim & Soak methodology - the constants, formulas and worked examples behind every dose on this site
- Polaris Vac-Sweep 280 Pressure-Side Cleaner - Amazon listing, read 2026-09-02
- Polaris 9550 Sport Robotic Pool Cleaner, 60 ft rating - Amazon listing, read 2026-09-02
- Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus Wi-Fi - Amazon listing, read 2026-09-02
Read next
Best corded range
Dolphin Pool Cleaners
The Nautilus range decoded: what each price step buys, and the model built specifically for above-ground pools.
Top pick
Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus Wi-Fi Robotic Pool Vacuum
In-ground pools up to 50 ft
Best for long pools
Polaris Pool Cleaners
Pressure-side, suction-side and cordless robots, and the booster-pump question that decides which is genuinely cheap.
Top pick
Polaris Freedom Plus Cordless Robotic Pool Cleaner
In-ground pools up to 50 ft, cordless
Best robotic cleaner
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Corded and cordless robots compared on coverage per cycle, micron rating and runtime, with the sizing rule that decides it.
Top pick
Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus Wi-Fi Robotic Pool Vacuum
In-ground pools up to 50 ft
What a Robotic Pool Cleaner Costs to Run
Electricity per cycle and per season, computed from published power draw, plus the consumables that cost more than the power does.
Top pick
Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus Wi-Fi Robotic Pool Vacuum
In-ground pools up to 50 ft