Ready to set up your cannabis business? Or want to get it to the top? You’ll need the best operating cannabis company to place your business at its apex.
Leafly and Weedmaps are the top two leading original cannabis websites with the resources to keep your business effortlessly growing.
The question in need of an answer then becomes which one of the two is the best for your cannabis business?
Leafly and Weedmaps build up online traffic in the cannabis marketplaces like no other, and I’ll be sharing vital information about both platforms, including their history, prices, and main features.
Leafly vs. Weedmaps: How It All Began
Let’s dissect the Leafly vs. Weedmaps debate by firstly sharing detailed information on the history of Leafly and Weedmaps. We begin with Leafly;
Leafly
Leafly is a cannabis educational and usage platform founded in 2010. Since its creation, it has housed over 5000 online listed strains with millions of product reviews and enough educational articles to keep visitors occupied and their questions answered.
It was founded by Brian Wansolich, Cy Scott, and Scott Vickers in Irvine, California, and was sold to Privateer Holdings in 2011. Leafly broke more records after power was switched by becoming the first cannabis company to be featured in an advert in Times Square.
Leafly was recorded as the most visited cannabis website in 2021. It was made public after a collaboration with Merida Capital via a SPAC and has brought in over 100 million annual visitors. It runs an iFrame-based menu containing more than 5000 strains.
Weedmaps
Weedmaps, on the other hand, is America’s ultimate directory of cannabis dispensaries for hemp and marijuana dispensaries. They started up as a community that aids cannabis entrepreneurs in connecting with prospective customers.
Weedmaps became the home to both cannabis buyers and sellers because, during the legalization of cannabis, the cannabis marketplace needed a home, so they built a website suitable for the cannabis marketplace.
Nevertheless, the Weedmaps community grew into the directory for dispensaries worldwide. It was bought by General Cannabis Incorporated in 2010, which purchased Marijuana.com the following year.
The sale of Weedmaps by founders Keith Hoerling and Justin Hartfield didn’t sit well with them; they eventually rebought Weedmaps from General Cannabis Incorporated in 2013. They have since then been monetizing cannabis and its member while advocating for cannabis rights. By 2021, Weedmaps was made public.
As of June 2021, Weedmaps recorded 12.3 million monthly active users, and the cost of featuring on the website varies between $400 to $1,500 per month and more than $10,000 for more competitive markets.
Leafly vs. Weedmaps: Key Details
Now that we know how they began, how they got to where they currently are, what they offer individually, and their roles in the cannabis marketplace, I will be analyzing their key details by comparing their online traffic through their websites, their major features, and their prices, all to help you in your decision-making.
Online Traffic
Online traffic is one important area of analysis when comparing competitors. Still, they may be deceiving as stats are not always stable, which could affect the credibility of how much traffic a profile gets.
Weedmaps is most suitable for locating dispensaries and Leafly for advertising the products. While Weedmaps does get enough traffic that produces great customer returns, Leafly gets 3 times more visitors with more overall visitors.
Weedmaps is more localized to find users in California and the Midwest, limiting its scope, while Leafly dominates cannabis marketplaces worldwide. So, if you’re hoping to catch the attention of local customers, your most preferred choice as a dispensary would be Weedmaps.
Key Details
Weedmaps’ website consists of a product menu, map pin, deals on each available product, ratings and reviews, a section for customer messaging, and a full profile section for users.
Leafly has a website menu similar to Weedmaps but with few differences like profile upgrades, video showcases, additional marketing services, and company profiles.
Prices
It costs money to use either Leafly or Weedmaps, but it costs more to use Leafly than to use Weedmaps because just established dispensaries need visitors before considering traffic.
With $600, you could begin your product’s journey with Leafly, but it increases to more than $4,000 per month depending on the package and location.
While Weedmaps’ price varies between $300 and $500 to be listed on their website, it could count as a loss when no one checks out your page.
Conclusion
While Leafly’s primary goal revolves around building more traffic, Weedmaps focuses on helping nearby dispensaries get found easily. Weedmaps has also been in the cannabis industry longer than Leafly, which gives Leafly a more youthful approach and Weedmaps a more down-to-earth platform, although they have adapted and grown with time.
Most importantly, both companies have expanded their offers, packages, and basic services to benefit buyers and sellers, including going public with NASDAQ.
So, whichever you choose will serve you well enough to make better returns, and your decision on which to choose depends solely on how you want to run your cannabis business.
