These two ways to apply or dispense chlorine in pools are different from one another, pool shock is a process where you add lots of chlorine doses, and is more concentrated, while on the other hand, chlorine tablets are more of the slow and modest form. If you intend to have a sudden boost of chlorine, you can shock your pool, you can also do it to maintain the cleanliness of your pool especially if it is always heavily used.

On the other hand, chlorine tablets are used for pool maintenance, making sure that you have enough chlorine levels to protect your pool water.