Everything is a trade-off. First you have to establish that it actually works, and is not just another patent medicine. There's all kinds of magical systems that "cut chlorine use in half" or "never need chlorine again", but there's always a catch:
1) it doesn't actually work that way and you risk yours and your family's health.
2) It costs 10x-20x more to use than chlorine.

The ONLY non-chlorine/bromine system I know of that works AT ALL is an artificial pond fed by a constant flow of fresh water, like a natural pond. But they can be easily polluted and I guess cleaning them is a disaster.

Using chlorine or salt is easy. Yeah, there are trade-offs, but they are FAR in favor of chlorine. BTW, salt systems generate low, but constant levels of chlorine.

I suggest you read our guides on algae, pool maintenance, chlorine usage and general chemical balancing. Once you understand it all and how it works (at least superficially), pool maintenance is very, very easy. Nothing mysterious, and not expensive. It requires only one thing: Consistency.

And we are here to help you understand that and help you through the vultures who will do or say almost anything to separate you from your money. They'll tell you salt is bad. They'll tell you liquid chlorine and bleach are bad. They'll tell you that calcium is necessary in a vinyl pool. And all these things are untrue--and all have been said to me.

My pool takes me very little effort. A couple of minutes a day and 15 minutes every weekend. My pool is clean, safe and rarely do you even smell the chlorine. The other moderators and many of our denizens have pools that are, in that way, exactly like mine.

Pool care doesn't have to be hard work, it doesn't have to be mysterious, and it doesn't have to be expensive.