Backpack vs Rift Chat
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Backpack
This social media app focuses on sharing curated moments with a limited number of items each week. Content resets weekly, encouraging intentional sharing without follower counts or endless scrolling. Connect with friends through a private feed and discover nearby users.
- Limited item slots per week
- Weekly content reset
- No follower counts
- Friends-only feed
- Nearby user discovery
- Curated weekly snapshots
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Backpack is a small, friendly place for sharing a few of the little things that represent you and your daily life. Pack your slots with music, photos, movies, books, thoughts and more, and keep adding all week. Add your friends and you'll see what they're carrying too, and anything of theirs you love, you can repost into your pocket. Then every week your backpack wipes clean and you start fresh with whatever you're into next. What's inside: - Slots to pack with music, photos, GIFs, thoughts, links and more - A pocket for reposting what your friends packed - A quiet, friends-first feed with no follower counts and no algorithm - A fresh start every week, at the same time for everyone No follower counts to chase. No endless scroll to steal your time. No algorithms or "influencers" or incessant content to consume. Just a concise, honest snapshot of your week that you curate intentionally, and share with the friends who are actually part of your life. Pack your slots and share your own real-life inventory! Terms of Use: https://mybackpack.lol/legal/terms Privacy Policy: https://mybackpack.lol/legal/privacy
Rift Chat
Connect with communities, friends, and groups through real-time chat and voice channels. Enjoy private direct messages with end-to-end encryption for secure conversations. This platform offers a focused communication space without advertisements or user tracking.
- Create or join Shards
- Talk in channels
- Direct messages
- Voice chat
- End-to-end encryption for DMs
- Ad-free experience
- No behavioral tracking
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Rift is a chat and voice app for communities, friends, and real-time hangouts. Create or join Shards, talk in channels, message friends in DMs, and hop into voice. Direct messages use end-to-end encryption so Rift cannot read your DM text. Built for people who want a focused place to talk without ads or behavioral tracking, loaded with features and versatility.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Rift Chat at none against Backpack's 2. Backpack's advantage is ratings volume (8 vs 2). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Backpack sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Rift Chat asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Backpack against 5.0 for Rift Chat. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Backpack ships an update weekly, Rift Chat every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Backpack | Rift Chat |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (8 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 8 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 64 MB | 101 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Jared Heath Defriese | Rift Communications LLC |
Customer experience
Backpack
Rift Chat
In-app purchases
Backpack
- Backpack+ Monthly$3.991 Month
- Backpack+ Yearly$29.991 Year
Rift Chat
No in-app purchases









