Posted by It’s nice to find both 7-OH and Pseudo products available from one vendor. Even better if you can find both tablets and shots and different dose options.
Two such vendors are Real Botanicals and Opia. One is about full-spectrum kratom products for balance and integrating seamlessly into your routine, while the other offers affordable convenience and light experiences. Here is a comparison from top to bottom with the criteria you will get used to looking for.
Company Backgrounds
Real Botanicals: This wellness lifestyle vendor aims to provide supplements that balance your routine with focus, mood, and energy. They provide education and transparency about their products and take a holistic approach. Based in South Carolina, the vendor was founded in 2021.
Opia: Education and transparency with a respect for the kratom plant distinguish Opia from many other vendors. However, they combine kratom alkaloids rather than offer any targeted alkaloid products.
The verdict: Both vendors take a holistic approach, but Opia is more about specialty combinations rather than single-alkaloid products, and Real Botanicals has full-spectrum kratom.
Sourcing and Manufacturing Practices
Real Botanicals: Whereas when you order from other vendors, you are getting products whose manufacturing has often been outsourced elsewhere, with Real Botanicals, the vendor and the manufacturer are one and the same. Ethical sourcing of kratom means respect for its native environments in Southeast Asia and sustainable practices that don’t over-harvest or take shortcuts with cultivation, harvesting, drying and other practices. Their partners and coops have a good working relationship that benefits both parties. Also, they have an advanced technology they’ve patented called ChromaPure that extracts kratom alkaloids and removes impurities at the same time. Their kratom is full-spectrum, meaning it contains up to 40 alkaloids, for a well-rounded experience that mirrors the alkaloid profile of the whole leaf.
Opia: They use whole-leaf kratom powder from Southeast Asia as the basis for their products. They include red, green, and white vein varieties for a wider alkaloid profile and layered effects that make for a smoother, more predictable experience without sharp stimulation or sudden drowsiness. This is achievable through their refined formulations that combine kratom alkaloids.
The verdict: Real Botanicals uses full-spectrum kratom for a holistic yet more potent experience as well as isolated kratom alkaloid products for wider or targeted effects, and Opia combines kratom alkaloids to avoid overwhelm.
Quality Control and Testing
Real Botanicals: Having a private lab in SC has its perks, namely the ability to perform small-batch testing and early intervention of any quality control issues. That’s even before the independent, third-party lab testing minimum. They are also GMP-compliant and have COAs for each product on their website.
Opia: Independent, third-party lab testing is a given for purity, predictable potency, and consistency in Opia’s products. It also reduces uncertainty in safety, although it doesn’t guarantee it. Also, their testing is batch-specific, so your product has a specific batch lot number you must verify to see its COA.
The verdict: Real Botanicals has better quality control for the purity and safety of its products. Also, they engage in small-batch testing with transparent COAs. The Opia Kratom website doesn’t have any information other than product listings, unfortunately.
Product Line
Real Botanicals: There are 3 product offerings in the 7-OH and Pseudo categories at the time of this writing. All contain vegan, allergen-free formulas with pharmaceutical-grade microcrystalline cellulose to keep things pure and simple.
- 7-OH tablets with 4 dose options and a peppermint flavor
- 7-OH shots in a strawberry flavor
- Pseudo tablets in a wintergreen flavor
Opia: Tablets and shots for each category give you two totally different ways to take them, but Opia also offers Pseudo + 7-OH, while there are no Pseudo-only products available.
- 7-OH tablets in Classic, Mintopia, Wild Cherry, and Sour Apple and in Regular (20 mg), High Potency (30 mg), and Ultra Strength (60 mg) dose options
- 7-OH shots in Classic, Blueberry Lemonade, Blue Raspberry, Mango Strawberry, Strawberry Watermelon, and Raspberry Peach
- Pseudo + 7-OH tablets in Classic, Spearmint, and Wild Berry
- Pseudo + 7-OH shots in Classic, Sour Watermelon, and Pink Lemonade
The verdict: If it’s a variety in flavor you’re after, then Opia has it in spades. However, Real Botanicals has 4 dose options when it comes to their 7-OH tablets, whereas Opia has only 3.
Shopping Experience
Real Botanicals: Their website is very easy to use and well-organized, with plenty of information. You can order online from them or from one of their multi-brand or retail partners. Sign up for the newsletter coupon to save and meet the order minimum for free shipping. If you’re not satisfied, you have 30 days for a refund. Their pricing is somewhat higher than average.
Opia: Their website is only for viewing information about their products. However, you can purchase their 7-OH and Pseudo + 7-OH products from multi-brand and retail partners.
The verdict: Opia is more affordable, but with Real Botanicals, you’re paying for premium quality and transparency.
Final Thoughts
One of the main differences between Real Botanicals and Opia is that Opia includes Pseudo + 7-OH products in its lineup for a broader, milder alkaloid experience. Another is transparency of information, although both provide education regarding kratom alkaloid products. Opia also works with red, green, and white vein kratom varieties for a broader alkaloid profile to provide balance, while Real Botanicals achieves that with full-spectrum kratom. As for safety, I would go with Real Botanicals’ private lab and ChromaPure technology.
You might also want to read: “Real Botanicals vs. Hydroxide: Kratom, 7-OH, and Pseudo” and “The Best Scheduling Protocol for 7-OH, Oxonol, or Pseudo“