Connectors, Plugins, and Skills: Untangling the Words

These terms get mixed up constantly, and different companies use them differently. Here is the simplest way to keep them apart.

A connector is the part you see: a button in your assistant’s settings that links it to an app, with permissions and a list of what it can do. Under the hood it is usually an MCP server, but to you it is just a switch.

A skill is different, because it connects to nothing. It is a packaged set of instructions that changes how the assistant behaves, such as a house writing style, a review checklist, or the steps for producing a certain report. No server, no permissions to an outside app, just better direction.

A plugin is the word with the least agreed meaning. In some assistants it is an installable bundle of connectors, skills and tools for a job or a team. In others it is the general name for the whole directory of integrations. When you see the word, ask what it actually contains.

A simple test helps. If it reaches into another app, it is a connector or contains one. If it only changes how the assistant thinks and writes, it is a skill.

Takeaway: connectors reach into other apps, skills change behavior only, and plugin can mean a bundle or a whole directory. Always ask what is inside.

Tools, prices and features in this area change quickly. Last reviewed September 2026.