Product Review Process

Finding high-quality CBD products that are right for your specific needs isn’t easy. With hundreds of brands and thousands of products, you have to know what to look for to avoid subpar, expensive, and even potentially harmful products.

That’s where CBDthinker can help. I’ve thoroughly tested over 400 CBD products from more than 50 American, Canadian, and European brands, and I know what it takes to make high-quality CBD.

Using this experience, I recommend the best products for specific categories, like the best CBD oils, cheap CBD gummies, CBD melatonin capsules, and so on. If I find relevant, high-quality CBD products I haven’t tried yet, I do my best to buy and test them out.

I also like to break down my recommendations into helpful categories, like the strongest product, the most affordable one, the best THC-free one, the best value option, and more, to help everyone find the right option.

Here are the main criteria I consider when choosing and testing CBD products:

  • Effects (to recommend products that provide greater benefits at the lowest doses)
  • Third-party test results (to verify the CBD content & extract type, lack of contaminants, and compare minor cannabinoid & terpene levels)
  • Type of CBD (to get the best results and offer THC-free options)
  • Product potency (to avoid low-strength products that are unlikely to help many people)
  • Formula (for specific benefits, e.g. products for sleep with added CBN or melatonin)
  • Hemp source (to ensure the plants used to extract the CBD are of high quality)
  • Company reputation (to verify the company can be trusted)
  • Flavor (I make sure to offer options for people who don’t like the taste of full-spectrum CBD oil and compare the taste of CBD gummies and other edibles)
  • Price (to help you save money)

Using these criteria, I give each product an unbiased rating out of five.

Most of the CBD products we tried and tested in 2022.
Most of the CBD products I tried and tested in 2022 while on a trip to St. Petersburg, Florida.

Company Review Process

When I review CBD brands, I either buy their products or ask for samples to try out. You can tell which products I tried by the original photos and the “my experience” section added underneath, which explains how our product reviewer Antonio or I used the product and what effects we experienced.

After testing the products and looking at the third-party test results and other information provided by the company, I give each brand an unbiased score out of 5 in five separate areas:

  • Products: How effective are the company’s products? Are there multiple categories (oils, capsules, topicals, gummies, etc.) with different strengths, formulas, and flavors to meet everyone’s needs?
  • Price & Value: I compare the company’s product prices ($ per mg of CBD) with what’s considered average for the industry. I also consider free shipping deals, assistance & subscription programs, and other ways to save.
  • Hemp Quality: How and where is the company’s hemp grown? Is it certified organic? Does the company do everything in-house? Does it have third-party certifications like USDA-organic or US Hemp Authority?
  • Third-Party Testing: Does the company send its products for independent potency and contaminant testing and provide up-to-date test results on its website? Do the test results match the advertised levels of CBD and other cannabinoids? Do the test reports show good levels of minor cannabinoids and potentially terpenes?
  • Customer Service & Reputation: Does the company have positive customer reviews? What’s its overall reputation in the industry? Does it have a commendable mission or donate to good causes? Does the company reveal details about who runs it, the production process, and other helpful details?

I list the score with a short explanation in every CBD brand review, so you know exactly how I calculated it. The combined ratings are divided by 5 to arrive at the company’s overall rating.

cbd products tested in 2021 and earlier
CBD products I tested out in 2020 and 2021. Most of these I bought myself while a few were free samples.