Weedmaps vs Leafly – What’s the Difference?

Posted on April 28th, 2022 to Dispensary Platforms & Softwares

Weedmaps vs Leafy

If you want your cannabis dispensary to get the recognition you need online, being listed on the largest directories is a huge step in the right direction. That being said, the two frontrunners in the world of dispensary directories are hands-down Weedmaps and Leafly.

Weedmaps and Leafly can both support the growth of your cannabusiness, whether you’re selling products online, in-store, or both. The two directories pull in an incredible level of traffic—over 20 million total visits per month combined, actually.

The big question is, how do the two stack up? Which one is better in the Weedmaps vs Leafly comparison? Below is a rundown of both cannabis directories, including features, pricing, and how the two differ.

What is Weedmaps?

Weedmaps is one of the most recognized names in the cannabis community. Not only does Weedmaps offer a huge directory of dispensaries, but they also serve as an informational hub for all things cannabis-related and have an impressive community of followers. The site boasts over 2,000 strain descriptions, which site visitors can both find for sale right from the site’s pages and share their reviews.

Weedmaps is not just a consumer-facing marketplace, however. Getting listed on Weedmaps is a big deal, but you can take things a step further. The company offers software as a service (SaaS) solutions for those in the cannabis business, including point-of-sale (POS), menu embeds, CRM, and advertising solutions.

Features of Weedmaps

When your dispensary is listed on Weedmaps, you can take advantage of the features of the site, such as:

  • Sharing your dispensary menu
  • Getting a map displayed to help visitors find your dispensary
  • A full dispensary profile on Weedmaps
  • An opportunity for dispensary visitors to share reviews of your dispensary and products
  • Customer messaging capabilities
  • Posting deals on Weedmaps for in-store specials
  • 16 million monthly users
  • Delivery services
  • Mobile app

How much does Weedmaps cost?

Getting your dispensary brand’s name listed on Weedmaps is free. However, if you want to open up all the features like a product menu, about page, and visitor reviews, you do have to pay per-month fees. Fees for the standard listing can range from around $300 to $500. Featured listings on Weedmaps give dispensaries an even bigger presence on the directory, but the fees are performance-based. In other words, the better your listing performs, the higher the costs.

Weedmaps Logo

What is Leafly?

Leafly is one of the fastest-growing marijuana directories. The site started out as a site geared specifically toward strain reviews, but once they added their dispensary directory, things exploded. Now, Leafly is just as sought-after as Weedmaps for cannabis and dispensary information. The site boasts 5,000 strains in the Leafly database, as well as over 4,600 listed retailers.

Leafly has a lot to offer cannabis brands, but their services are primarily focused on being listed in the directory and advertising. Leafly does offer the ability to use the platform to build a menu for your dispensary website.

Features of Leafly

Once your cannabusiness is listed on Leafly, you get:

  • A customized business listing with photos
  • Unlimited online orders right from Leafly
  • The ability to receive and respond to customer reviews
  • Pick-up and delivery support
  • A mapped pin of your dispensary on the dispensary finder
  • A limited ability to post deals on Leafly
  • 11 million monthly users
  • Extensive strain and product database
  • Delivery services
  • Mobile app

How much does Leafly cost?

Leafly has three options for dispensaries as far as services and plans are concerned: Starter, Pro, and Boosts. The unique thing about Leafly’s pricing, however, is that it varies based on geographic location, the exact type of business, and several other factors. Some dispensaries pay as much as $3,000 or more monthly for their plan and boosts to get their dispensary noticed. However, the basic listing plans tend to be more conservative at around $600 per month. Advertising campaign pricing is based on a cost-per-impression model.

Leafly Logo

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Weedmaps vs Leafly – A Comparison

Traffic

Weedmaps and Leafly are pretty much neck and neck when it comes to site traffic. Both directories get millions of visitors monthly, some who are looking for dispensary information and some who are looking for cannabis information. According to the latest stats, Weedmaps garnered just over 16.4 million visits in March 2022, while Leafly garners 11 million monthly visits.

It is important to note, Weedmaps and leafy can vary in what geographic locations their traffic comes from. The two sites tend to have differing levels of popularity in different regions of the country.

Pricing

Pricing between Weedmaps vs Leafly is relatively competitive. Weedmaps offers a free option that allows you to list your dispensary on the site. Even though Leafly’s pricing is a little more ambiguous, many dispensary owners report similar pricing levels for standard directory and menu inclusion. With either Weedmaps or Leafly, you pay far more when you opt for coveted listing spots and boosts.

Features

Weedmaps has a lot more to offer on the canna-marketing-tech side of things. Leafly is centered more around advertising on the directory itself, and they offer a few good tools for doing just that. On the other hand, Weedmaps has steadily added more features to its service lineup for dispensaries, such as customer relationship management solutions and logistics. Both offer menu builders, but Leafly’s menu builder is said to be a little harder to integrate with some POS systems. Weedmaps is great for helping customers find your dispensary, and Leafly is better known for having an extensive database of strains and products.

Ready to grow your cannabusiness? Canna Planners can help you through every step of the process, including getting listed on Weedmaps or Leafly. Reach out to get the discussion started.

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VP Digital Marketing, CMO

This post was written by Zach Santarsiero.

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