Swimply: Rent Your Pool, Home or Court by the Hour

Got a swimming pool? For the past several years, a site called Swimply has proposed to help you rent out that pool by the hour to people who want to host a pool party or simply swim in a private space. And now the site also allows you to rent out your yard, court — or whole house — by the hour.

But when we re-visited this site in late January of 2025, we were disturbed by some changes in the site’s terms. However, when these terms were revised again in May, many of the things we were most concerned about disappeared. This remains a good spot to list your pool for rent.

What is Swimply?

Swimply connects homeowners with people who are looking for a pool, court or home that they can rent by the hour.

How it works

Homeowners register on the site for free, creating a profile and uploading copious pictures of their space. You are able to rent your pool, basketball/tennis/pickleball court or your whole house by the hour at this site. You set your rates for each type of rental and decide whether the rate will hinge on the number of people using the space.

Swimply review

The idea was reportedly launched when the founder, who grew up in New Jersey, started asking his neighbor if he and his friends could pay her to use her pool. The site says that people now charge from $35 to $200 per hour to allow others to do the same.

Set your own rates

You, as the pool owner, can register on the site for free, set your rates and say when your pool is available.

You also set pool rules, including whether you allow infants, pets and large groups. And, you say whether guests are allowed to use a restroom or have access to other amenities, such as pool toys, stereo speakers, barbecues, etc.

Booking options

At that point, you can let Swimply automatically accept bookings on your behalf during the pool’s available hours. Or you can review each request yourself.

If you review requests yourself, you can ask for information about the number of people; the type of event; whether the event will involve smoking, drinking, food, animals or any other item of concern.

Commissions & fees

When you accept a booking, Swimply collects the payment and takes a 20 – 30% commission. That is a relatively high commission rate for home rental sites of this type. However, it does include insurance coverage.

The site says its commission can vary from booking to booking, but is vague about why. However, you can see how much Swimply is taking before you accept a booking. Theoretically, if the site is over-charging you, you can simply turn the deal down.

Insurance

All bookings come with a Swimply guarantee that covers up to $1 million in liability losses and up to $10,000 in property damage claims. The property damage coverage does have a deductible of $250 for groups of 10 or less and $500 for larger groups.

On-Now-Off Provisions

When we re-visited the site’s terms in January 2025, they had added provisions that say you are not allowed to rent a property listed on Swimply anywhere else. This would have prevent you from listing your property on competing — and arguably better — sites, such as PeerSpace, Giggster, Avvay and Splacer.

However, this provision is now gone. The site only says that you can’t “double-book” guests, which goes without saying.

Additionally, a February provision that said the site could change your rates at its own discretion is also gone.

And, where the site tried to restrict your ability to collect deposits in the old terms, the new terms just state that you have to be clear about any additional charges you might impose on renters, such as deposits and cleaning fees.

Recommendations

If you have a pool that’s not getting much use and you don’t mind sharing it with strangers, Swimply is a decent option.  You can find Swimply here.

Additional sites that help you earn passive income by renting out your space, or a portion of it, include PeerSpace, Avvay, Splacer and Giggster.

Got spare storage space? Neighbor and Stache can help you rent it out by the month. And Sniffspot helps you rent out your yard to people looking for a private dog park by the hour.

What their hosts say (from Reddit)

I have made $2,500. I rent for $30 hour and $5 per person after 5 people. Made my profile with the aerial photos from my houses listing when I bought, as well as the nice wide angle photos they took of the whole back yard. My pool is decent size (no hot tub) I started early June and have booked parties every weekend. Amenities I provide are a BT speaker, grill, trash cans, and bathroom.

*Updated 7/11/2025