Three names come up in almost every conversation about B2B cannabis software in California: LeafLink, Nabis, and Distru. BulkMarket gets lumped in with them because it's also B2B, also online, also cannabis. That's the first mistake. Look closely and none of those three are actually built for the same transaction BulkMarket is.
TL;DR
LeafLink, Nabis, and Distru are all built around packaged, retail-ready SKUs moving from brand to dispensary shelf, and all charge somewhere in the chain. BulkMarket is built for bulk wholesale, the pounds and biomass stage before packaging, and takes no cut.
They're Not the Same Kind of Tool
Some of these are marketplaces: a catalog where buyers browse multiple brands in one place. Some are compliance software with a storefront bolted on. One is a licensed distributor that also happens to run a platform. None of that is obvious from the homepage, and it matters more than which one has the nicer interface.
LeafLink
LeafLink is the name most people already know. It's the largest, most established B2B marketplace in the space, and that recognition is real value: opening a new retail account is easier when the buyer already has a login. It got bigger still after absorbing Leaf Trade, another long-running ordering platform, into its network, so what used to be two names in this conversation is now one.
LeafLink is a marketplace in the classic sense: brands list, retailers browse and order, and LeafLink sits in the middle as the platform, not as the distributor moving product. Like most marketplaces of its size, it monetizes through the seller side, not the buyer side. Exact rates aren't published anywhere public. You get pricing after you're already talking to sales.
Nabis
Nabis is a different animal entirely. It's not just software sitting on top of your existing distribution relationship, Nabis is itself a licensed California distributor. When you move product through Nabis, they're the ones physically handling the compliant transfer, not just displaying your listing.
That's a real convenience if your biggest headache is coordinating a distributor. It also means you're routing your product through their distribution business specifically, with the fee structure that comes with actual licensed distribution, not just a software subscription. Fewer vendors, less flexibility.
Distru
Distru started as seed-to-sale compliance software, inventory tracking, Metrc sync, the operational backbone a licensed business needs to run. DistruCommerce is the ordering layer they built on top of that ERP, marketed as zero-commission. That framing is accurate as far as it goes: the marketplace layer doesn't charge a transaction fee. The business itself still makes money on the ERP subscription underneath it, which is the actual product you're buying into.
The Part None of Them Are Built For
Look at what LeafLink, Nabis, and Distru all move: packaged, retail-ready SKUs. Jars, pre-rolls, vape cartridges, cases of finished product with a label and a batch number, headed for a dispensary shelf. That's the transaction all three were built around, brand to retailer, finished goods in, finished goods out.
That's not the same transaction as bulk wholesale. Pounds of flower. Biomass. Trim. Bulk oil and distillate moving between cultivators, processors, manufacturers, and distributors, long before any of it gets packaged for a shelf. That earlier, bulkier stage of the supply chain is where BulkMarket lives, and none of the platforms above were built for it. BulkMarket is the only platform actually built around bulk wholesale, not the packaged retail layer sitting on top of it.
| LeafLink | Nabis | Distru | BulkMarket | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built for bulk wholesale | ||||
| Takes a commission or fee | ||||
| Bundles licensed distribution | ||||
| Requires an ERP or Metrc integration | ||||
| Has a mobile app | ||||
| Free to use |
The Only One on the App Store
There's a more concrete way to see the gap: BulkMarket is the only B2B cannabis marketplace with an app you can actually download. LeafLink, Nabis, and Distru don't have one. If you're standing in a greenhouse or a dry room, not at a desk, that's not a small detail. Checking what's moving and posting what you've got shouldn't require sitting down at a computer.
Where BulkMarket Is Different
Every platform above makes money somewhere in the chain: a commission, a distribution fee, a software subscription. That's a legitimate way to run a business. It's just not what BulkMarket is.
BulkMarket doesn't take a cut of anything. It's free to use, for farms, brands, distributors, and micros alike. There's no commission on what you sell, because BulkMarket never touches the transaction. Deals happen off-platform, between the two licensed parties, the same way they always have. Think of it less like Amazon and more like a farmers alliance with a built-in marketplace: one place to post your menu, one place to see what's out there, no middleman taking a percentage of your harvest.
There's no onboarding call required to get started, and no Metrc integration to set up before you can post a listing. That's not a missing feature, it's a design choice. BulkMarket isn't compliance software and isn't trying to be your ERP. It's a directory and a menu system, built to get your pricing in front of buyers across the state without asking you to change how you already run your operation.
It's also built in Humboldt County, by people who came up in this industry rather than a software company that decided cannabis looked like a good market to enter. That's not a decoration on the pitch. It's the difference between a tool built by farmers who needed one and a platform built by outsiders trying to extract a fee from an industry they studied from the outside.
None of This Replaces the Fundamentals
Whichever platform you use, the compliance work doesn't disappear. You still need to verify the other party's license. You still need accurate Metrc data. If a distributor has to be part of the transfer, that requirement doesn't go away because a website made ordering feel instant. A platform can make discovery and communication easier. None of them, BulkMarket included, replace the licensed relationships and correct paperwork that make a wholesale transfer legal.
Bulk wholesale never had a platform built specifically for it until now. It does, it's free, it takes no cut, and it's the only one of these you can open from your phone standing in the field.