I have sold a couple. One hard-learned lesson that hit me between the eyes was to be sure to order the unit to include a pump and a heater. Most of these have to be installed at the factory level, and absolutely cannot be added after the fact. Twas a bad time to not know the product and it's features - research wisely!

There aren't too many variations, in that a walk-in tub has a door and therefore looks a bit orthopedic. But the function is great, so don't sweat it. Something that I think CCM is alluding to is that they tend to hold a TON of water, so your regular water heater may not have enough capacity, making it useful to have a local system to either heat the water on the way in or keep it warm.

Another option would be to have a shower with a really substantial bench, hand rail, and a hand sprayer, so that it's easy to use that instead. If you can give up the soaks. :)

Yes, the heater to keep the water warm because with the jets, it will cool down quickly. And definitely the pump, so you don't have to sit there in cooling water waiting for it to drain. You can't get out of the door unless the water is out. The pump speeds up the process