Pool Robots That Clean the Floor, Walls and Waterline on Their Own
A pool robot carries its own motors, filter and brushes, so it cleans without your pump, a hose or a booster. Every robot here is a genuine Dolphin by Maytronics, corded or cordless, shipped free with the full manufacturer warranty.
A pool robot is a self-contained cleaner: drop it in, press start and it drives itself around the pool, scrubbing with brushes, vacuuming with its own pump and trapping the dirt in its own filter. Nothing connects to your skimmer, your pump or your filter, which is why a robot cleans a pool for a few cents an hour while a suction or pressure cleaner runs your pump for the whole cycle.
What to look for in a pool robot
Three things separate a robot that keeps a pool spotless from one that pushes dirt around: filtration fine enough for the debris you actually get, coverage that includes the walls and the waterline, and a drive that climbs your pool’s surface without slipping. Pool size, cable length (or runtime, if cordless) and the warranty decide the rest.
- Filter fine enough for your debris: leaves need a big bin, fine dirt needs NanoFilters™
- Floor, walls and waterline coverage on in-ground pools
- Rated for your pool length: 33 ft or 50 ft
- Weekly timer or app so it runs without you
- A 2 to 3-year warranty from an authorized dealer
The best pool robots, ranked
Ranked from the full Dolphin lineup for cleaning power, value and warranty. Four are corded; the Liberty 200 is the cordless pick. Every one ships free with a 30-day trial.
Dolphin Premier
Floor, walls and waterline on pools up to 50 ft, swappable Multi-Media™ filtration with NanoFilters™ and an oversized leaf bag, dual active brushes and a 3-year warranty.
- Floor + Walls + Waterline
- MultiMedia™ + NanoFilters™
- 3 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Dolphin Quantum
Our best seller: XXL MaxBin™ with NanoFilters™ in the box, HyperBrush™ scrubbing, waterline cleaning and a weekly timer, for pools up to 50 ft.
- Floor + Walls + Waterline
- XXL MaxBin™ + NanoFilters™
- 2 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Dolphin Sigma
Gyroscope navigation, myDolphin™ Plus app control, triple commercial-grade motors and a 3-year warranty: the flagship ProLine™ robot.
- Floor + Walls + Waterline
- NanoFilters™
- 3 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Dolphin Cayman
Floor and wall scrubbing with 2× faster HyperBrush™, the MaxBin™ filter and a weekly timer, for in-ground or above-ground pools up to 33 ft.
- Floor + Walls
- MaxBin™
- 2 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Dolphin Liberty 200
No cable and no power supply by the pool: floor and walls on pools up to 50 ft on a 1.5-hour charge, with a 2-year warranty.
- Floor + Walls
- Top-load basket
- 2 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Why a robot beats the other automatic cleaners
Suction-side and pressure-side cleaners are also “automatic,” but they borrow your pool’s plumbing and send the dirt into your filter. A robot does the whole job itself.
| Feature | Pool robot | Suction-side cleaner | Pressure-side cleaner |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it moves | Its own motors and tracks; no connection to the pool | Your pool pump pulls it along a hose from the skimmer | A booster pump pushes it along a hose from a return |
| Where the dirt goes | Into the robot’s own filter, down to 2 microns with NanoFilters™ | Into your pump basket and pool filter | Into a mesh bag on top of the cleaner |
| Walls and waterline | Climbs walls and scrubs the waterline (ProLine™) | Floor and lower walls at best | Floor and some walls |
| Running cost | About 5¢ an hour on a Max-Series™ robot | Runs your main pump for hours | Runs the main pump plus a booster pump |
| Setup | Plug in, drop in, press start | Hoses, skimmer adapter, flow adjustment | Dedicated return line and booster pump |
| Scheduling | Weekly timer or app | Tied to the pump timer | Tied to the booster timer |
| Shop | Shop Pool Robots | Read the Buyer’s Guide |
What makes a pool robot clean well
Traps particles as small as 2 microns.
Every ProLine™ robot ships with Gen-2 NanoFilters™ that capture the fine dust, pollen, silt and dead algae a standard cartridge recirculates. The Max-Series™ MaxBin™ holds 50 to 225% more debris than first-generation Dolphin filters, so a leafy pool does not stop the robot mid-cycle.
Robots with NanoFilters™ ›
Floor, walls and the waterline.
The tile line is where oils and scale show first. The Quantum, Premier and Sigma climb the walls on HyperGrip™ tracks and linger at the waterline to scrub it; the Cayman and the Explorer line climb the walls; the Escape covers the floor of above-ground and small pools.
Robots with waterline cleaning ›
Set a schedule once, forget it.
A weekly timer built into the power supply runs the Quantum, Premier or Cayman every day, every other day or once a week with no app and no Wi-Fi. The Sigma and the cordless EON add app control through your phone, with cleaning modes and manual steering.
Robots with a weekly timer ›
A cable, or a battery.
Corded Dolphins run on a schedule all season from a low-voltage power supply and carry the strongest motors, the finest filters and the longest warranties. Cordless Dolphins, the Liberty and the EON, trade a 1.5 to 4.5-hour cycle per charge for no cable at all.
Cordless robotic pool cleaners ›Every pool robot we recommend
Grouped by family. ProLine™ and Max-Series™ robots ship free from our warehouse; the cordless EON pair and the Liberty 300 are sold through Amazon.
Dolphin ProLine™ & Max-Series™ Compare the ProLine™ → Compare the Max-Series™ →
Dolphin Premier
The only Dolphin with swappable MultiMedia™ filtration.
- Floor + Walls + Waterline
- MultiMedia™ + NanoFilters™
- 3 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Dolphin Quantum
App-connected floor-to-waterline cleaning with an XXL MaxBin™ and NanoFilters™.
- Floor + Walls + Waterline
- XXL MaxBin™ + NanoFilters™
- 2 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Dolphin Sigma
The most advanced Dolphin ever, with a gyroscope and app control.
- Floor + Walls + Waterline
- NanoFilters™
- 3 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Dolphin Cayman
The best-value Max-Series™ performer with a weekly timer, for in-ground or above-ground pools.
- Floor + Walls
- MaxBin™
- 2 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Dolphin Escape
The entry Max-Series™ robot for above-ground and small in-ground pools.
- Floor only
- MaxBin™
- 2 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Dolphin Explorer™ Compare the Explorer lineup →
Dolphin Explorer E20
Wall climbing on a budget in the Explorer™ line.
- Floor + Walls
- Top-load cartridge
- 2 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Dolphin Explorer E30
Entry Wi-Fi with myDolphin™ Plus app control.
- Floor + Walls + Waterline
- Multi-layer cartridge
- 2 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Dolphin Explorer E50
Wi-Fi cleaning with waterline coverage for larger pools.
- Floor + Walls + Waterline
- Dual-layer cartridge
- 2 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Dolphin Explorer E70
A larger-pool Explorer™ that includes a caddy.
- Floor + Walls + Waterline
- Dual-layer cartridge
- 2 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Cordless Dolphins: Liberty & EON Compare the Liberty lineup → Compare the EON lineup →
Dolphin Liberty 200
Dolphin’s first cordless robot: charge it, drop it in, press start.
- Floor + Walls
- Top-load basket
- 2 years warranty
Ships free from our warehouse
Dolphin Liberty 300
Up to a week of cycles per charge, an Eco mode and Click-Up™ pickup.
- Floor + Walls
- Top-load basket
- 2 years warranty
Sold through Amazon
Dolphin Nautilus EON 100
Cordless with Wi-Fi: cleans steps, ledges, corners and the waterline.
- Floor + Walls + Waterline + Steps
- Top-load fine basket
- 1 year warranty
Sold through Amazon
Dolphin Nautilus EON 120D
Up to 4.5 hours per charge, five modes and a self-cleaning backwash filter.
- Floor + Walls + Waterline + Steps
- DebrisLock™ backwash
- 1 year warranty
Sold through Amazon
How to choose a pool robot
Start with the pool. A 33 ft robot (Escape, Cayman, Liberty-class) suits above-ground pools and small in-ground pools; a 50 ft robot (Quantum, Premier, Sigma, Explorer E30 to E70) handles full-size in-ground pools and long lap pools. In-ground pools need wall climbing and, ideally, waterline scrubbing; above-ground pools mostly need a strong floor clean. Our guides for in-ground pools and above-ground pools go deeper.
Then the debris. Leaves and acorns want a big bin (MaxBin™) or the Premier’s leaf bag; fine dirt, pollen and sand want NanoFilters™. See the guides for leaves, fine dirt and algae.
Then how you want to run it. A weekly timer is the simplest hands-off option. Wi-Fi and an app add remote starts and cleaning modes. Cordless means no cable to route but a charge between cycles.
What a pool robot costs to run
A Max-Series™ robot draws so little power that a two-hour cycle on the Cayman costs about 10 cents of electricity, and the robot’s own filter means your pool filter and pump do not have to work harder. Compare that with a suction cleaner, which needs the main pump running for the whole cycle, or a pressure cleaner, which adds a booster pump on top. Over a season the robot is the cheapest cleaner to own, before you count the chemicals and backwashing it saves.
Shop robotic pool cleaners by type
Corded or cordless, Dolphin-only or the whole field: every category page sells the same robots with the comparison that fits the question.
Pool Vacuum Robots
Robotic pool vacuums, no hose
MaxBin™ and NanoFilters™
Cordless Robotic Pool Cleaners
Liberty 200 & 300, EON 100 & 120D
No cable, pools up to 50 ft
Corded Robotic Pool Cleaners
ProLine™, Max-Series™, Explorer™
Unlimited runtime, weekly timers
Automatic Pool Cleaners
Robotic vs suction vs pressure
Weekly timers and app control
Electric Pool Cleaners
Plug-in and battery pool vacuums
Low-voltage, about 5¢ an hour
Dolphin Pool Robots
Every Dolphin by Maytronics
Authorized retailer, full warranty
Cordless Dolphin Pool Robots
Liberty 200 & 300, EON 100 & 120D
Dolphin’s battery robots
Corded Dolphin Pool Robots
Premier, Quantum, Sigma, Cayman, Escape, Explorer
Weekly timers, NanoFilters™, 3-yr warranty
Every Dolphin we sell
Nautilus, Wave, open box & more
The full shop
The smartest place to buy your Dolphin
Lowest Price Guarantee
Buy direct from our 10,000+ unit warehouse at unbeatable prices, with price match.
Fast Free Shipping
Ships free from our warehouse, usually within one business day.
30-Day Returns & Warranty
Simple 30-day returns, plus a full 1–3 year manufacturer warranty on every robot.
1-on-1 Support
Talk to an in-house Dolphin expert before and after you buy.
Pool Robots: frequently asked questions
What is the best pool robot?
For most in-ground pools we recommend the Dolphin Premier: floor, walls and waterline on pools up to 50 ft, swappable Multi-Media filtration and a 3-year warranty. The Quantum is the best seller, the Sigma the most advanced, the Cayman the best value and the Liberty 200 the best cordless pick.
Is a pool robot worth it?
If you spend more than half an hour a week vacuuming, yes. A robot cleans the floor, walls and waterline on a schedule for a few cents an hour, filters down to 2 microns and takes the load off your pool filter. Most owners say it pays for itself in the time it saves in the first season.
What is the difference between a pool robot and a robotic pool cleaner?
Nothing. Pool robot, robot pool cleaner, robotic pool cleaner and pool vacuum robot all describe the same kind of self-contained electric cleaner. Suction and pressure cleaners are the ones that are different: they run off your pool pump.
Can I leave a pool robot in the pool?
You can leave a corded Dolphin in the water between cycles, but Maytronics recommends removing it when it is not cleaning to extend the life of the cable, brushes and seals and to keep it out of chemical shock treatments. Cordless robots come out to charge anyway; most owners lift them by the handle after each cycle.
Can you run a pool robot while shocking the pool?
No. Wait until chlorine levels return to normal (about 1 to 4 ppm) before running any robot. High chlorine attacks the plastics, seals and brushes. The same goes for the hours right after adding acid or algaecide.
How often should a pool robot run?
Two or three cycles a week keeps most residential pools clean; pools under trees or in dusty areas may want a daily cycle in season. A weekly timer (Quantum, Premier, Cayman) or the app (Sigma, EON) handles this for you.
Will a pool robot pick up algae?
A robot with active brushes and fine filtration scrubs algae off the floor and walls and traps it in the filter. It will not fix the water chemistry that let algae grow, so pair it with proper sanitizer levels. For dead algae after a treatment, NanoFilters™ or ultra-fine media capture the fine particles a standard cartridge lets through.
Related pages and buying guides
Pick your pool robot
Compare every Dolphin side by side, or talk to a pool-robot specialist about your pool.