Skolbot vs Gecko: which student engagement chatbot for your school?
Gecko is a UK student engagement platform — chatbot, cloud call center, events, forms — established in the UK and the US. Skolbot is an admissions assistant built for the French-speaking European market. The comparison comes down to the market served and the scope.
When should you choose Skolbot?
Skolbot suits teams that want to answer prospective students on their website and engage prospects already in their CRM.
- Answer programme, campus and admissions questions before asking for contact details, using your approved information.
- Keep your CRM: captured context supports follow-up through the fields and integration agreed with your team.
- Start a WhatsApp conversation or voice callback from the CRM, then pass the context to admissions.
| Skolbot | Gecko | |
|---|---|---|
| Education-specific | Documented Source · | Documented Source · |
| Multilingual (6+ languages) | Documented Source · | Conditional or unspecified Source · |
| EU data residency | Documented Source · | Conditional or unspecified Source · |
| CRM handoff or sync | Documented Source · | Documented Source · |
| After-hours responses | Documented Source · | Documented Source · |
| WhatsApp channel | Documented Source · | Documented Source · |
| Lead qualification | Documented Source · | Conditional or unspecified Source · |
Gecko: Documented capabilities
- Chatbot pre-trained on the school's information, with human handover
- Documented multi-channel: live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram
- Documented CRM sync: Salesforce, Slate, Ellucian, Microsoft Dynamics, plus webhooks
- Documented 24/7: 60% of messages handled outside working hours, 95%+ without human input
- Broader suite: cloud call center, event management, forms, SMS/email campaigns
- Published university references: Glasgow, Goldsmiths, UC Irvine, Illinois Tech
Gecko: Points for a school to verify
- Pricing not published: custom quote required
- No language count published; French support is not documented
- Hosting location not specified; the privacy policy allows transfers outside the UK/EEA
- Lead scoring and qualification are not documented publicly
- No French or continental-European institution among the named clients
Official sources
Comparison written by Skolbot using public sources. An unspecified feature is not an absent feature. Confirm the proposed scope in your demo.
Use-case summary
Gecko documents a solid engagement platform on channels and CRM, proven in the UK and the US. Skolbot documents a multilingual admissions journey built for European schools. The choice follows the institution's market and its data-residency requirements.
What your demo should prove
- Can the agent answer a real programme question without imposing a form?
- Which fields, triggers and updates does the integration support in your CRM?
- How are consent, opt-outs and human handover handled?
- Which channels, languages, fees and limits are included in your setup?
See Skolbot in action on your site
Try the free demo