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CBD capsules are an excellent way of using CBD. They offer all the same benefits as CBD oil, but with a few advantages of their own.
People use CBD capsules to ease pain, reduce inflammation, alleviate stress and anxiety, improve sleep, and more.
Choosing the right capsule can be challenging — there are many different companies offering similar products — each claiming to have the best CBD capsules on the market.
The truth is that most capsules aren’t worth the money. It’s easy for unethical companies to sell underpowered CBD capsules at premium prices. The only way to spot high-value, premium CBD capsules it to do some digging.
We’ve done this research for you. We assessed thousands of customer-reviews, looked through dozens of independent lab reports, and tested over 26 CBD capsules. Here are three brands that stood out for offering the best CBD capsules in 2020.
Best CBD capsules to buy in 2020
- Royal CBD — Award Winning, Best CBD capsules overall
- Gold Bee – Runner Up, Quality product at a good price
- Hemp Bombs — Honorable Mention, high-potency CBD Capsules
1. Royal CBD Capsules — Best CBD capsules overall
Product Details:
| Total CBD | 750 mg |
| CBD per Capsule | 25 mg |
Royal CBD is one of our most frequently recommended brands. We’ve already reviewed the company’s CBD oil and given it two thumbs up.
The reason these capsules are also at the top of our list is because they’re made from the same award-winning oil the company is already known for.
These capsules begin as a full-spectrum CBD oil. The company sources organic hemp plants from California and Colorado — which are then extracted using supercritical CO2. This is considered the gold standard for CBD extraction because it’s clean, safe, and efficient.
Once the extract is complete, it’s dissolved into a premium MCT oil base.
From here, the CBD oil is injected into high-grade, rapidly dissolving soft gel capsules.
Each CBD capsule is standardized to contain 25 milligrams of CBD, along with a variety of other cannabinoids, terpenes, sterols, and other hemp-derived compounds.
The best part about these capsules is that they don’t cost anything extra. You can expect to pay roughly the same amount for these capsules as you would anywhere else.
All CBD products sold by Royal CBD have been independently verified to confirm the CBD levels listed on the bottle.
Royal CBD products have been awarded the number one CBD brand by SF Examiner, Metro Times, Riverfront Times, SF Examiner, Observer, Orlando Weekly, SA Current, Cleveland Scene, City Beat, CL Tampa, and more.
Pros
- Made from an award-winning CBD oil base
- Each capsule contains high-potency 25 mg CBD
- Third-party tested for quality assurance
- 30-day satisfaction guarantee
Cons
- Only available online (not sold in-store)
- No low-potency capsules currently available
2. Gold Bee CBD Capsules — Runner-Up
Product Details:
| Total CBD | 750 mg |
| CBD per Capsule | 25 mg |
Gold Bee is a much smaller (and newer) company than Royal CBD.
The company started out selling organic superfoods but recently stepped into the CBD space with a series of CBD products such as capsules, oils, topicals, and gummies.
Gold Bee CBD capsules contain 25 milligrams of CBD made from organically-grown hemp.
These capsules only became available outside the brand’s home state of California earlier this year. Gold Bee completed construction on two new extraction facilities and an online shop so they could keep up with demand.
Even with the new facilities, Gold Bee products are often out of stock.
These capsules have already won several awards. They’ve also been mentioned on several online publications as one of the best CBD capsules on the market. You’ll find mentions of Gold Bee on websites including LA Weekly, We Be High, CFAH, Daily CBD, SF Weekly, Weed News, and more.
What makes these capsules so unique is the extraction technique the company employs. The Gold Bee team extracts its hemp in very small batches. This ensures the team can maintain full control over the entire extraction process — dramatically reducing the loss of terpenes in the final product.
As a result of their efforts, Gold Bee CBD capsules contain an exceptionally high level of active terpenes — including myrcene, humulene, pinene, limonene, and bisabolol — each of which offers therapeutic benefits of their own.
Gold Bee capsules are priced competitively. Despite the brands’ popularity, the founder of Gold Bee recently stated in an interview he had no interest in raising the prices. He wants to keep CBD products affordable to anybody that needs them.
Pros
- Made from high-grade, terpene-rich organic hemp extract
- Excellent cost to potency ratio
- Third-party tested
- Available online throughout the United States
Cons
- Small production runs and high-demand sometimes result in this product going temporarily out of stock
3. Hemp Bombs High-Potency CBD Capsules — Honorable Mention
Product Details:
| Total CBD | 75 – 1800 mg |
| CBD per Capsule | 15 – 30 mg |
Hemp Bombs is a sub-brand of one of the largest CBD companies in the world. They’re part of a larger conglomerate of CBD companies known as Global Widget LLC.
The benefit of buying from a large and dominant company is that its products tend to be a little cheaper thanks to mass bulk buying and large extraction facilities.
Unfortunately, the benefits end here.
The main issue with large companies in this space is the quality of the products. Yes, they’re cheaper on average, but the quality also tends to be a little lower as well.
We’ve included Hemp Bombs as our honorable mention because despite the large size, and lack of a clear source of hemp, Hemp Bombs CBD capsules are great value — especially the higher-potency option.
Hemp Bombs CBD capsules come in two potencies (15 mg and 30 mg), and three different package sizes (5, 30, and 60 counts).
The best value, by far, is the higher-potency capsules and the larger bottle counts.
The smaller bottles and lower strength capsules seem cheap at first glance, but when you assess the cost per milligram (more info on how to do this below), it’s clear the value for these products is much lower.
Pros
- Available in multiple different potencies and bottle-counts
- One of the cheapest sources of CBD products available
- Third-party tested for quality assurance
Cons
- Hemp source not listed (questionable quality)
- Low-potency and smaller bottle size capsules don’t provide good value
Pro tips: How to not waste money on CBD capsules
If you want to try another brand or live outside the U.S. or U.K., here are some tips to follow when shopping for CBD capsules to help you avoid wasting your money on ineffective or scam CBD capsules.
A) Check the company’s hemp source
The source of hemp used to make CBD capsules matters. Companies will often try and increase profit margins by using cheap imported hemp. The problem is that if hemp is grown in contaminated air or soil, it will hyper-accumulate these toxic compounds. These contaminants ultimately end up in your CBD capsules and eventually into your body.
The best way around this is to look for companies that clearly mention that their hemp is grown in the United States or Europe, where laws surrounding hemp cultivation are strict.
The best CBD capsules are made from organically-grown hemp.
B) Look for third-party testing
Third-party testing is the only way you can trust the claims made by a CBD brand. It’s become the gold standard for corporate transparency within the CBD industry.
Here’s how it works.
A CBD company will send a sample from every batch of fresh CBD capsules it produces. The sample is tested to determine the cannabinoid content and terpene profiles. Other tests can also be done to check the sample for any known contaminants — including heavy metals, pesticides, solvents, or microbial byproducts (such as mycotoxins or endotoxins).
Independent testing is important because it’s done by a professional lab with no monetary affiliation to the CBD company. If they find something that doesn’t look right, they’ll publish it anyway.
If a CBD capsule doesn’t come with these tests, you can reach out to the company to ask for them. If you can’t track an up-to-date lab report, move on to another brand.
Low-quality CBD capsules usually won’t come with third-party testing done because the company knows it’s likely to fail.
C) Assess the price in terms of the “Cost per mg of CBD”
Looking at the overall cost of CBD capsules isn’t helpful for determining value. A lot of companies will use tricks to make it seem like their capsules are cheaper than everybody else’s.
Comparing the overall cost also makes it difficult to compare different products if the CBD content or capsule counts are different.
The easiest way to compare CBD capsules and determine the value is to find the cost per milligram of CBD. To do this, simply divide the overall cost of the capsules by the amount of CBD in the container.
The average CBD capsules should cost around $0.15 – $0.20 per milligram of CBD. Premium capsules usually go for $0.18 – $0.25 per milligram. Anything higher than this isn’t worth the money.
CBD capsule dosage: How much should I take?
The best thing about using CBD capsules is their ability to provide consistent and repeatable doses. The hardest part is determining exactly what dose of CBD you should take to begin with. But it’s not as hard as you may think.
Although everybody responds to CBD differently, the best starting dose comes down to your weight and how strong you want the effects to be.
A lighter dosage is a good starting point and is usually enough for most people to get the effects they’re looking for. We’ve outlined some general guidelines for a starting dosage in the table below.
Some people need a more potent dose — so we’ve also included a strong dosage range for each weight group.
Starting dosage for CBD capsules according to weight:
| Weight Group | Low Dose (Light Effects) | High Dose (Moderate to Strong Effects) |
| Less than 100 pounds | 5 – 10 mg CBD | 20 – 30 mg CBD |
| 100 – 150 Pounds | 10 – 20 mg CBD | 40 – 50 mg CBD |
| 150 – 200 Pounds | 20 – 30 mg CBD | 50 – 60 mg CBD |
| Over 200 Pounds | 30 – 40 mg CBD | 60 – 70 mg CBD |
Final thoughts: Best CBD capsules
CBD capsules are a great choice for a daily CBD supplement. They make dosing simple, offer excellent value, and can easily fit in your pillbox with the rest of your supplements.
CBD capsules are rapidly absorbed and offer all the same benefits as CBD oil for supporting anxiety, easing pain and inflammation, improving sleep, and protecting the digestive tract.
If you’re looking for a quick recommendation, we suggest the high-potency capsules by Royal CBD. They’re made from a premium, award-winning CBD oil base and deliver excellent value for the money.
Our runner up is from Gold Bee — a smaller CBD brand that’s been gaining a lot of attention lately in the CBD space. If you can get your hands on Gold Bee CBD capsules, they’re well worth the effort.
The product recommendations in this article are made solely by the sponsor and are not recommendations made by VentureBeat. Sponsored articles are content produced by a company that is either paying for the post or has a business relationship with VentureBeat, and they’re always clearly marked. Content produced by our editorial team is never influenced by advertisers or sponsors in any way. For more information, contact [email protected].
