Nathan FieldBackpack vs Skoot comes down to price and scope: Backpack is $9 a month for five jobs, and Skoot is $99 a month for a bigger CRM. We make Backpack, so read this knowing that. Both are tools for Skool community owners. Both message members whose card fails or who cancel, send welcome messages, schedule posts, and keep running when your computer is off. Every Skoot fact below comes from Skoot's own pages, checked on 29 September 2026.
Backpack costs $9 a month for every feature on every Skool community you admin, including connecting Claude or ChatGPT. Skoot's standard plan is $99 a month and it lists more tools: tags, notes, pipelines and a setup call, with an AI Sales Rep and Skoot MCP on a higher tier. Both handle failed payments, cancellations and scheduled posts with your computer off.
Backpack vs Skoot at a glance
| What you get | Backpack | Skoot |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9 a month | $99 a month (standard plan) |
| What the entry price includes | Every feature | Follow-ups, member tagging, failed payment and churned member recovery, scheduled posts, setup call and DM support |
| Communities per plan | Every Skool community you admin | Not listed on their pages |
| Failed payment messages | Yes | Yes |
| Cancellation messages | Yes | Yes |
| Welcome messages | Yes | Yes |
| Post scheduling | Yes | Yes |
| Connect Claude or ChatGPT (MCP) | Yes, included | Skoot MCP, on the premium tier (price not listed) |
| Runs with your computer off | Yes | Yes |
| How you pay | Backpack community on Skool | Skoot community on Skool |
| Chrome Web Store | Not on it yet | Yes |
Prices are in USD, from each tool's page on Skool. "Not listed" means we could not find it on Skoot's pages, not that Skoot cannot do it.
Price: what $9 and $99 get you
Backpack has one plan. It is $9 a month with every feature, for every Skool community you admin, with no limit on members and 7 days free. There are no add-ons and no higher tier.
Skoot's page on Skool shows $99 a month. That standard plan lists automated follow-ups, member tagging and tracking, failed payment and churned member recovery, scheduled posts, and a setup call with DM support. A premium tier adds an AI Sales Rep, "Manage Your Community With AI (Skoot MCP)", lead magnets, upgrade and churn tracking from classroom data, and priority support. A VIP plan is yearly only, and Skoot sets it up for you. Skoot's pages do not print the premium or yearly price. Its store listing says a free trial is included.
So the gap is $90 a month on the standard plan, plus whatever Skoot's premium tier costs if you need its AI features.
Failed payments, cancellations and welcomes
These are the jobs both tools share. Skool already retries a declined card on its own, marks the member "Declined", and lets you see the retries and retry by hand (Skool's help article). What both tools add is a direct message on top.
Skoot lists failed payment and churned member recovery on its $99 plan. Its store listing describes welcome and follow-up DM sequences, and failed payment and cancellation DM sequences. Its retention page says these trigger when a member cancels, when a payment is declined, and after churn.
Backpack does three versions of this. Payment Recovery starts within an hour of a failed payment and stops once the member pays. Cancellation Recovery fires when a member cancels and stops if they resubscribe. Welcome Drip sends your welcome within an hour of someone joining, then a check-in a few days later. You write every message. Backpack fills in the member's first name and sends exactly what you wrote, from your own Skool account, as a normal DM. More on this job: what to do when a Skool payment fails.
Post scheduling
Both schedule posts, and Skoot includes it on its $99 plan. Backpack's Post Scheduler lets you write the title, body and category, pick a day and time in your own time zone, and edit or cancel the post until it goes out. It posts from our servers, from your own Skool account, so your laptop can be shut. See our guide to scheduling Skool posts.
Connecting Claude or ChatGPT
This is where the price gap is widest. On Skoot, "Skoot MCP" sits in the premium tier, and that tier's price is not listed. Skoot's premium tier also has an AI Sales Rep, which Backpack does not have.
On Backpack, connecting your own Claude or ChatGPT is part of the $9 plan. You paste one link and sign in with your email. Then you can ask who failed a payment this week, or have it write a post and put it in your schedule. Your AI sees your Backpack data and nothing else, and it cannot send DMs or change the messages you wrote. If you never connect one, nothing goes to an AI provider. Here is how connecting Claude or ChatGPT to Skool works.
Running with your computer off
A Chrome extension only runs while Chrome is open. Skoot's blog said so in March 2026: "Skoot used to only run automations while your browser extension was open." It went on: "Now all automations run 24/7 on our servers. Your computer can be off." Backpack works the same way, so a card that fails at 3am gets its follow-up at 3am.
To act inside Skool while your laptop is shut, a tool's servers have to act as you. Backpack stores your Skool session, encrypted at rest, with the key held apart from the database. It uses it for three things only: reading the member list and payment state of each community you switch on, sending the messages you wrote, and posting what you scheduled. It never asks for or stores your Skool password. You can revoke access at any time, and the session is deleted when you do. The full detail is in our privacy policy.
Skoot's Chrome Web Store listing declares that it handles personally identifiable information, authentication information, location, web history, user activity and website content. Its privacy policy, updated 7 September 2026, does not say whether it keeps your Skool session, so ask Skoot if that matters to you. Backpack has no store listing yet, so its privacy policy is the place to check.
Where Skoot is the better pick
Skoot is the better pick if you want more than the core jobs. It lists tools Backpack does not have:
- A member CRM: tagging and tracking, notes, reminders and pipelines.
- Slash commands.
- An AI Sales Rep, lead magnets, and upgrade and churn tracking from classroom data, on its premium tier.
- A setup call and DM support on the $99 plan, and a yearly VIP plan where Skoot sets it up for you.
- A listing on the Chrome Web Store today, with a free trial.
Its listing also says it "Works with both Skool hobby and pro plans". If you want hands-on setup help, or a full CRM to tag, note and move members through a pipeline, Skoot does that and Backpack does not. If $99 a month is small next to what your community brings in, the extra tools may well be worth it.
Where Backpack is the better pick
Backpack is the better pick if the core jobs are what you need and you want them for less. It is a Skoot alternative for owners who:
- Want failed payment, cancellation and welcome messages, plus scheduled posts, for $9 a month instead of $99.
- Want to connect their own Claude or ChatGPT without moving up a tier.
- Want one price with every feature in it, and nothing held back for a higher plan.
- Want to write every message themselves, with no AI inside the tool.
Know the limits before you pick it. Backpack only works in communities you admin. It is not a full CRM like Skoot's. It is not on the Chrome Web Store yet. And it is not made by or affiliated with Skool.
Which one to choose
Start with the job. If you need failed payments, cancellations, welcomes, scheduled posts or your own AI, both do those, so Backpack vs Skoot is mostly a question of $9 or $99. If you want a CRM with pipelines and a setup call, Skoot has them and Backpack does not. For the other Skool tools in this space, see our Skool Chrome extensions comparison. If Backpack fits, you can try Backpack free for 7 days.
FAQ
Is Backpack cheaper than Skoot?
Yes. Backpack is $9 a month with every feature, for every Skool community you admin. Skoot's standard plan is $99 a month on its Skool page. Skoot's premium tier, which adds its AI Sales Rep and Skoot MCP, has no printed price, so ask Skoot if you need those. Both tools are paid through a community on Skool.
Do Backpack and Skoot work when my computer is off?
Yes, both do. Skoot's blog says all its automations now run 24/7 on its servers, so your computer can be off. Backpack also sends from its servers. To do that, Backpack stores your Skool session, encrypted, and uses it only to read members, send your messages and post what you scheduled.
Does Backpack need my Skool password?
No. Backpack never asks for your Skool password and never stores one. It stores your Skool session, encrypted at rest, with the key held separately from the database. You can revoke it any time by disconnecting Skool or emailing us, and it is deleted when you do.
Can I use Backpack or Skoot for more than one community?
One Backpack plan covers every Skool community you admin, with no limit on members. You connect Skool once, then switch each community on from that community's page. Skoot's pages do not say how many communities one plan covers, so ask Skoot before you buy if you run several. SkoolKit and Panda both say one plan covers several communities.
Which one lets me connect Claude or ChatGPT?
Both offer an MCP connection, on different plans. Backpack includes it at $9: paste one link, sign in with your email, and your own Claude or ChatGPT can read your Backpack data and add posts to your schedule. Skoot lists Skoot MCP on its premium tier, and its pages do not print that tier's price.
Is Backpack on the Chrome Web Store like Skoot?
Not yet. Skoot is listed on the Chrome Web Store today. You join Backpack through its community at skool.com/backpack, where Skool takes the $9 monthly payment and where you cancel. Uninstalling the extension does not cancel anything or stop billing, so cancel your membership there when you want to stop.