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Cannabis Analytics & Market Intelligence Platforms

Cannabis Analytics & Market Intelligence Platforms

Entries: 12 | Last refresh: 2026-04-17 Auto-generated by generate_refs.py -- do not edit manually

Overview

Sales analytics, menu performance, benchmarking, market research. Some platforms pull retailer data (Headset); others run survey panels (BDSA, New Frontier, Brightfield).

Not strictly required, but common enough that operators without one are the exception.

This file covers 12 platforms (12 active). Full per-platform metadata lives in the platforms table; use python query.py platform "<name>" for the full record.

Market Landscape

  • Tier 1 (deep profiles, completeness >= 70): 3 platforms -- Headset, BDSA, Weedmaps
  • Tier 2 (core fields populated, 40-69): 4 platforms
  • Tier 3 (minimal entries, < 40): 5 platforms -- included for breadth; use query.py platform "name" for what we know

Platform Profiles

Headset (Tier 1)

Founded 2015 | HQ Seattle, WA | 50-100 employees | series b

Headset is the leading retailer-level cannabis analytics platform, with 3,500+ retailers contributing data and ~500 paying customers (retailers + brands). Founded by Leafly co-founder Cy Scott in 2015, Headset's moat is the largest SKU-granular data footprint in cannabis, fed by tight POS partnerships with Treez, Dutchie, and Flowhub. Brands pay for category and competitive intelligence; retailers pay for benchmarking. Total raised: $36.6M.

Full profile: python query.py platform "Headset"

Analytics capabilities: Retailer Level Data, Brand Reports, Category Insights, Sku Level Detail, State Comparisons

Pricing: flat-saas -- Retailer (read-only): $500-1,500/mo (est.); Brand / Supplier: $2,000-6,000/mo (est.); Enterprise: custom (confirmed)

Market: States: CA, CO, OR, WA, NV, AZ, MI, MA, IL, FL, NJ, NY, MD, MO | Clients: 3,500+ retailers contributing data; 500+ paying customers | Share: ~3,500+ retailers contribute data (retailer-level leader)

Strengths: largest retailer-level data footprint; SKU-granular insights; tight POS partnerships (data ingestion via Treez, Dutchie, Flowhub); strong brand-reporting product Known issues: expensive for small operators; retailer customers sometimes feel their data is being monetized

Technical: API: rest

Moat: Largest retailer-level data set; strong POS partnerships (Treez, Dutchie, Flowhub).

Website: https://headset.io

BDSA (Tier 1)

Founded 2015 | HQ Boulder, CO | 25-50 employees | series b

BDSA is the leading market-level cannabis analytics platform, with ~90% menu coverage across major US markets and ~300 enterprise customers (brands, CPG companies, financial research firms). Founded in Boulder in 2015 and having raised $18.2M, BDSA complements Headset -- Headset owns retailer-level SKU data, BDSA owns market-level menu and consumer insights. Used heavily by financial analysts covering public cannabis companies.

Full profile: python query.py platform "BDSA"

Analytics capabilities: Market Level Data, Menu Coverage, Consumer Insights, Financial Research

Pricing: flat-saas -- Market: $3,000-10,000/mo (est.); Enterprise: custom (confirmed)

Market: States: CA, CO, OR, WA, NV, AZ, MI, MA, IL, FL, NJ, MD | Clients: ~300 enterprise customers (brands, CPG, financial) | Share: ~90% menu coverage across major states

Strengths: 90%+ menu coverage; enterprise CPG credibility; financial-market data offerings Known issues: expensive; menu-level not SKU-level -- less granular than Headset for retailers

Technical: API: rest

Moat: Market-level menu-coverage data + enterprise CPG relationships.

Website: https://bdsa.com

Weedmaps (Tier 1)

Founded 2008 | HQ Irvine, CA | 500-1000 employees | public | Ticker: MAPS

Weedmaps is the largest cannabis consumer-facing marketplace, listing 5,000+ dispensaries nationwide. Founded in 2008, went public via SPAC in 2021 (MAPS). Retailers pay listing fees for visibility on the marketplace, with premium tiers for featured placement and menu integration. Dual role: both a marketing channel and an ecommerce enabler.

Full profile: python query.py platform "Weedmaps"

Analytics capabilities: Menu Analytics, Competitive Intelligence, Market Data

Pricing: flat-saas -- Listings: $200-600/mo (est.); Plus (featured listings + menu): $800-2,000/mo (est.)

Market: States: nationwide | Clients: 5,000+ listed dispensaries

Strengths: largest consumer traffic in cannabis; dual sided network effects; public-company transparency Known issues: listing fees can feel rent-seeking; orders-via-Weedmaps force data flow to competitor; past scandals around fake listings

Technical: API: rest | webhooks

Moat: Largest cannabis consumer-facing marketplace by traffic; dual-sided network effects.

Website: https://weedmaps.com

Leafly (Tier 2)

Founded 2010 | HQ Seattle, WA | 100-250 employees | public | Ticker: LFLY

Leafly is a cannabis content, strain database, and ecommerce marketplace (LFLY) serving ~4,000 dispensaries. Founded in 2010 in Seattle, Leafly's primary asset is its deep strain database and consumer-education SEO authority. Ecommerce listings are a distant second to Weedmaps by traffic.

Full profile: python query.py platform "Leafly"

Analytics capabilities: Menu Analytics, Strain Data

Pricing: flat-saas -- Listings: $100-400/mo (est.); Premium (menu + strain data): $500-1,500/mo (est.)

Market: States: nationwide | Clients: ~4,000 listed dispensaries

Strengths: strain database depth; consumer-education SEO; public-company transparency Known issues: ecommerce traffic lags Weedmaps; content business has distracted from ecommerce product velocity

Technical: API: rest | webhooks

Moat: Deep strain + consumer-education content library; SEO authority on cannabis topics.

Website: https://leafly.com

LeafLink (Tier 2)

Founded 2016 | HQ New York, NY | 100-250 employees | series d

LeafLink is the dominant B2B cannabis wholesale marketplace, with ~4,500 brands and ~3,500 retailers transacting. Also offers a market analytics layer fed by order data.

Full profile: python query.py platform "LeafLink"

Analytics capabilities: Wholesale Market Data, Brand Catalog, Order Data

Pricing: pct-sales -- B2B marketplace fees: 1-3% of GMV (est.)

Market: States: nationwide | Clients: ~4,500 brands + 3,500 retailers

Strengths: largest B2B cannabis marketplace; order + catalog data depth Known issues: primarily a marketplace, analytics is secondary; marketplace fees cause friction

Website: https://leaflink.com

Surfside (Tier 2)

Founded 2019 | HQ New York, NY | 25-50 employees | series a

Surfside is a data-driven marketing attribution + audience targeting tool for cannabis brands and retailers.

Full profile: python query.py platform "Surfside"

Analytics capabilities: Marketing Attribution, Audience Data

Pricing: flat-saas -- Standard: $500-1,500/mo (est.)

Market: States: nationwide

Strengths: attribution depth; audience data Known issues: not a full CRM -- attribution + audience tool

Website: https://surfside.io

LeafTrade (Tier 2)

Founded 2017 | HQ Chicago, IL | 25-50 employees | series a

LeafTrade is a B2B cannabis wholesale marketplace focused on Midwest and East Coast markets.

Full profile: python query.py platform "LeafTrade"

Analytics capabilities: Wholesale Market Data, B2B Marketplace

Pricing: pct-sales -- -

Market: States: IL, MI, MA, MD, NY, NJ, PA

Website: https://leaftrade.com

Tier 3 (Niche / Minimal Data)

  • New Frontier Data (Tier 3) -- New Frontier Data publishes cannabis market research and industry forecasts. -- https://newfrontierdata.com
  • Brightfield Group (Tier 3) -- Brightfield Group is a cannabis + CBD consumer insights research firm. -- https://brightfieldgroup.com
  • Cannabis Benchmarks (Tier 3) -- Cannabis Benchmarks publishes wholesale cannabis spot-price indices by state. -- https://cannabisbenchmarks.com
  • Dabble (Tier 3) -- Dabble is a cannabis retailer analytics tool. -- https://dabble.io
  • Gras (Tier 3) -- Gras is a cannabis brand insights platform. -- https://gras.com

Feature Comparison Matrix

Tier 1 + Tier 2 active platforms only. Unmarked cells mean either unsupported or undocumented -- assume the safer interpretation (unsupported) for purchase decisions, and verify with the vendor.

| Platform | Menu analytics | Consumer insights | Wholesale | Market research | Competitive | SKU detail | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Headset | - | - | - | - | - | Yes | | BDSA | - | Yes | - | - | - | - | | Weedmaps | Yes | - | - | - | Yes | - | | Leafly | Yes | - | - | - | - | - | | LeafLink | - | - | Yes | - | - | - | | Surfside | - | - | - | - | - | - | | LeafTrade | - | - | Yes | - | - | - |

Recommendation Table

| Scenario | Recommended | Rationale | |----------|-------------|-----------| | Best for retailer-level sales analytics | Headset | Retailer-contributed data, real-time sales + menu analytics | | Best for market research + surveys | BDSA | Panel-based consumer research + sales estimates | | Best for wholesale market data | LeafLink | Wholesale B2B marketplace data | | Best for long-form market research | New Frontier Data / Brightfield Group | Qualitative + quantitative market intelligence |

Common Switching Patterns

  • BDSA -> Headset when: operators want real-time retailer-level data vs. panel estimates
  • Headset + BDSA together is common for MSOs that need both real-time retailer data AND consumer research panels

Market Dynamics

  • Retailer data vs panel data: Headset (retailer-contributed) competes with BDSA/Brightfield (survey panels). Neither is ground truth; operators triangulate.
  • Acquisition risk: BDSA was acquired; consolidation in the research layer is plausible.
  • In-POS analytics improving: Treez/Dutchie native analytics have matured, reducing standalone analytics demand for single-store operators.

Data Sources

  • Platform profiles: platforms table (seeded by db/seed_platforms.py). Completeness scores reflect field-population fraction per D-12.
  • Integration metadata: platform_integrations table. Query with python query.py integrations "<platform>".
  • Refresh: regenerate via python scripts/generate_refs.py tech_analytics.