Weed scales are an important part of any grower or cannabis connoisseur’s collection. They are designed to measure out your cannabis products quickly and precisely so you know exactly how much product you’re buying, selling, or yielding from a plant. Whether you are looking to measure out buds to sell from your grow or you want to verify you’re receiving the right amount of weed for your money, a quality weed scale is a handy and essential tool and most can be found for under 30 bucks. Some scales are small enough to fit in your pocket so you can bring them to your dispensary or caregiver’s home, while others are more ideal for a tabletop design to keep at home.
Before buying your first weed scale, think about how exactly you plan to use it so you have an idea of what to look for. Will it only be used once in a while for personal use, or are you looking for a scale that’s better for a commercial environment? Will you be taking it to your grower to measure what you’re buying, or will it be left on a counter at your home or grow operation? How much weed do you plan on measuring at a time, a couple grams or a couple ounces? How important is discretion to you? All of these questions are important to consider before buying a scale to prevent wasting money on something that’s either too big and fancy or too cheap and flimsy for your intended use.
Regardless of how you plan on using your scale, we’ve rounded up our top recommendations for anyone looking to measure out their bud.
Best Scale For Weed
American Weigh Scales GEMINI-20 Portable MilliGram Scale
This portable milligram scale measures up to 20 grams at a time with highly accurate readings within 0.0001 grams on its large 1.3” stainless steel weighing platform. Choose from six different weighing units to accommodate various products, and easily isolate what you’re weighing using the clear flip top shield. A blue backlit LCD display and easy 4-key operation make this as user-friendly as it is small and portable. The capacity is just under an ounce, putting this weed scale on the smaller end as far as the quantity of bud you can measure. Still, it’s a great option if you need something that’s affordable and does enough to measure smaller dispensary-size quantities. Includes a 10 year American Weigh Warranty for decades of accurate measurements.
American Weight Scales 1kf - 0,1g
This durable and compact digital pocket scale will weigh up to 1000 grams of product in increments of 0.1 grams, so this is better for large quantities of bud and denser products. The intuitive design features an easy to read backlit LCD display and a flip-open lid to protect the stainless steel weighing platform. Includes trial batteries and works best with Polaroid AAA batteries. This one is also backed by a 10-year warranty so you can feel confident with your purchase.
American Weight Scales MB-100
This small weed scale by American Weight Scales has a capacity of 100 grams and accuracy within 0.01 grams. With a selection of gram, carat, grain, or pennyweight weighing units, this scale is ideal for measuring your bud, wax, concentrates, and even precious stones or jewelry beads if you need a hobby for when you smoke. At 1.4” x 2.9” x 0.5”, this is the smallest option for maximum discretion and portability.
Pollux Mini Digital Scale
This high-precision mini weed scale is the perfect option if discretion is your biggest concern, as it looks just like a vintage cigarette box and can be easily stowed away without any suspicion. The red and white stainless steel platform measures 70 x 44mm with a capacity of 200 grams and accuracy at one-hundredth of a gram. Features include backlight, auto power off, tare and lower power indicators. At less than 20 bucks, it’s a great starter scale that can be used for more than just measuring your bud.
TUFF-WEIGH Digital Mini Scale 100g x 0,01g
This scale is another nice and discreet option that’s also great for portability, as it comes with a cover and packs up nicely to throw right in your bag and go. With a 100 gram capacity, this is on the smaller scale as far as how much product you can weigh at a time, but it makes up for it in portability and discretion. Total size is 5.6” x 3.4” x 0.90” with a 2.3” x 3.0” platform.
How to choose the best digital scale for weed
If you buy one of the scales we recommend you will find a product that fits all of our criteria for a quality weed scale, but if you’re new to the game and need an idea of what to look for, these are some important factors to think about.
First, and this is for Americans in particular, you’re going to want to make sure you know the metric system for your weed measurements (if you’re a seasoned stoner, you’ve probably learned it inadvertently). Weed is most commonly measured in grams and ounces. An ounce is 28.349 grams, which can fill about 40 rolled joints.
If you’re buying more than a gram but less than an ounce of a strain of weed, you’ll probably see it labeled as an “eighth.” An eighth is simply one-eighth of an ounce, or 3.5 grams to be exact. Whether you’re buying or selling, these are numbers you’re going to want to know and remember so you can make sure you’re getting what you pay for.
Having said all of that, you’re obviously going to want to make sure your scale measures in grams and ounces, but especially grams. If you’re in the United States this is something you’ll definitely want to double check before making a purchase. Ideally, your scale should measure to a hundredth of a gram, but no less than within a tenth of a gram of accuracy. Many scales in the United States that are sold as postal or even food scales will not display grams, so always double check for this.
If you only need a scale for small personal use, one of the smaller, more affordable scales in the 20-gram maximum range will work just fine, but for anything more than an ounce at a time, you’re going to want to at least go for a 200-gram maximum weight so there’s plenty of breathing room. If you’re measuring a large quantity, also check the size of the weighing platform to make sure it can hold your product and/or weighing containers.
With these details in mind, you will have no problem finding a weed scale online that fits your lifestyle and needs. We always recommend buying products like this online rather than at a local smoke shop or office supply store; chances are Amazon or the manufacturer’s website will have a much cheaper price on the same products that are sold for a premium by head shops.
Weed Scale app, does it really work?
If you have an Android smartphone, there’s an app for all of this. The Weed Scale app is a neat little tool that will literally weigh your weed on your phone. It can be used to weigh all sorts of small things in a pinch, so if you’re a crafter or hobbyist who regularly weighs small items, this could work out great for you as well.
Although your phone does not have a scale in it, the way the Weed Scale Android app works is simple. All you have to do to calibrate your phone is to place it on a bag of chips (weird, but true), place a coin on it, and follow the calibration instructions for the coin. This uses the phone’s balance and gyroscope to estimate weight, which is then presented on your phone screen. From there, you can put anything on the coin, including small amounts of weed flower, and weigh it out.
As far as the accuracy of the weed scale app… The results we achieved during testing varied from “somewhat accurate” to “not at all accurate” when compared to the results of a real weed scale. If you plan on trying this app, we recommend comparing the results with a calibrated scale you know is accurate before trusting the results. It’s a fun little tool, but the developers have a ways to go before matching the precision of one of our recommended scales.
We hope this makes it easier for you to choose a weed scale that is right for your lifestyle and needs. Be sure to let us know if you decide to try one of our recommendations!