Essential oils are powerful substances that can provide important health benefits when they are breathed into the body, applied to the skin or even ingested. Therefore, it is important that you use oils of the highest quality to both get their maximum benefits and also avoid any harm to the body.
With so many suppliers out there claiming to provide ‘pure essential oils’, it can be hard to differentiate the good from the bad. If you are into your oils, you have probably heard of Plant Therapy and doTERRA, both leading sellers in the industry. But perhaps you don’t know which one to try. Well don’t worry, that’s exactly why we have compared the two brands for you to see which oils come out on top. Check out the comparison below to see which one’s a winner!
Plant Therapy vs doTERRA at a Glance
Plant Therapy Advantages
- Oils are all pure and natural
- They do rigorous quality testing
- Loads of amazing scents and blends
- They provide important information to use oils safely
- Budget-friendly
- Company transparency and sustainable ethos
Plant Therapy Disadvantages
- Not as big as DoTerra
- No direct selling model which could be a draw for some
doTERRA Advantages
- High quality pure oils
- Exhaustive quality control and testing
- Wide range of oils and products
- Educate customers through the blog
- Good company ethos
doTERRA Disadvantages
- Multi-level Marketing company
- Oils are often more expensive than competitors
- Do not supply organic oils
- Do not stock many carrier oils
Winner: And the winner is… Plant Therapy! Although both companies sell amazing, high-quality oils and blends, Plant Therapy does so at a much more affordable price. You don’t lack choice in the wide range of oils, including organic oils and even a KidSafe line. And finally, their quality and quality testing is unmatched!
Quality
Quality is obviously one of the first things to look at when buying essential oils as there are many suppliers out there who use synthetic fillers to dilute their products. It is important to use pure oils to reap all their amazing benefits.
Let’s start with doTERRA, who have an excellent brand reputation and provide awesome quality, pure essential oils. Having pure oils means that they contain no fillers or other elements that could contaminate them or change their purity in any way.
And the quality of doTERRA’s oils really is second to none. The scents are powerful and oils really do bring amazing benefits. Plant Therapy are a slightly smaller, family-owned company with lower prices, but when it comes to quality, they absolutely deliver.
Their oils are all 100% natural and pure with no additives or synthetic fillers. They really do stand out with amazing-smelling scents and blends that bring top benefits and are perfect for aromatherapy.
Winner: Plant Therapy. Although both brands deliver in terms of providing excellent quality essential oils, Plant Therapy does so for a more affordable price, giving them the edge on this one.
Testing
Testing procedures and quality controls are important to ensure that essential oils are pure and safe to use. doTERRA guarantees their oil purity with their own exhaustive quality control process, Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade (CPTG).
Every single batch goes through the same thorough testing to ensure that each batch is 100% pure. The oils then go through further third party testing including GC/MS testing (Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry) to verify potency and purity.
doTERRA focuses on oil purity claiming that impure oils can mean you won’t reap the health benefits and could even cause you harm. Finally, the great thing about doTERRA is that they are totally transparent and you can actually check the GC/MC test results online for every batch!
Plant Therapy is totally obsessed with testing their essential oils properly to guarantee the quality of every batch. Their rigorous testing program was helped developed by renowned Aromatherapy expert Robert Tisserand.
First Plant Therapy does organoleptic testing by their own aromatherapy professionals to check the oils’ scent, colour and consistency. Then the oils are checked again by a third party that performs various tests including GC/MS. You can also check the GC/MS test results online for every batch!
Winner: Both. In terms of testing, both brands go through very similar testing processes and both guarantee amazing quality. Even showing you their GC/MS test results for every batch.
Product Range
Having a wide range of essential oils and other products means that once you find a great supplier, you can stick with them everytime. There is nothing more annoying as a regular oil user than having to place various orders every month to get all your desired scents and blends.
DoTerra have an amazing and super wide selection of essential oils. They sell single oils, blends, health and body care products, kits, diffusers and accessories. I particularly recommend their proprietary blends which have been carefully put together to help bring amazing health benefits to the mind and body.
They don’t, however, seem to stock many carrier oils, only coconut oil, which is a shame if you prefer to use oils with carriers. Their oils also do not seem to be organic and they don’t carry an organic range. Plant Therapy actually also have a huge collection of oils, including singles, synergy blends, roll ons, body care products, diffusers and accessories.
If you struggle to choose your scents, you can use the fragrance wheel on their website to help you decide. If you love particular blends from competitors doTERRA and Young Living, Plant Therapy even has a chart that shows you similar blends that they stock.
Where Plant Therapy really takes the cake is that they have a fully organic oil range which many competitors do not stock. Got little ones? If you have kids, another great thing about Plant Therapy is their KidSafe range that was developed with essential oil expert, Robert Tisserand.
Some essential oils can be harmful to young children so this specially designed range for kids between 2 and 10 is 100% safe.
Winner: Plant Therapy. Although both brands have a wide range of essential oils, Plant Therapy includes a conversion table for their synergy blends as well as stocking organic and kid-safe oils.
Educating Customers
What is the benefit of buying essential oils if you don’t know how to use them correctly and safely? We think it is important for essential oil sellers to educate their customers.
doTERRA has a wide range of cross-channel resources to educate their customers on using oils and safe practices. They have a section of the website dedicated to product education which is great.
In this section you can find the science behind essential oils and a free monthly webinar class run by an essential oil expert to explain the benefits and uses of different oils. They also have ‘Living Magazine’ where you can get news and advice on essential oils and a healthy lifestyle.
They have a quarterly online summit, which provides insights from top essential oil experts, and they also have an educational podcast. They even offer an online certification course where you can learn how to become an essential oils specialist.
And they explain thor own The AromaTouch Technique, a method of essential oil application to the backs of the feet that helps you maximise their benefits. On top of all this they have both a lifestyle blog and a science blog.
These are packed with educational resources and articles on great ways to use oils, safe practices, lifestyle tips, research, the list goes on. Overall DoTERRA do an amazing job at educating their customers alongside selling essential oils.
Plant Therapy is also dedicated to educating their customers on using oils safely. As well as providing transparent information about the sourcing and testing of the oils they sell, they provide many resources to make sure their customers know how to correctly use oils.
In the ‘Learn’ section of their website the company has an educational video series you can watch, downloadable guides for oils uses, recipes etc. They also answer frequently asked questions and let you virtually ‘meet’ their aromatherapy experts.
Finally they have an accredited blog filled with articles and resources on using essential oils and their different benefits. As well as a Facebook group where people share safe essential oil recipes.
The winner: doTERRA. Although both companies are totally committed to educating their customers about safe practices, doTERRA has a slightly bigger range of educational resources.
Selling Structure and Price
The way brands sell their oils can be more important than you think. It can also affect the oil’s prices, and let’s face it, essential oils are hardly cheap to begin with.
doTERRA is a Multi-level Marketing company. This means that people can sign up as a representative in the scheme and begin selling doTERRA products to others. This can be good for essential oil lovers that want to launch their own business or like to get discounts.
However, it can also mean that unqualified reps may be able to give out incorrect, unverified claims. As essential oils are very potent and very powerful, getting advice that isn’t from an aromatherapy specialist can be dangerous. Also having this marketing model pushes up essential oil prices as the representatives take a cut of profits earned. Therefore doTERRA’s prices are significantly higher than many of their competitors.
Plant Therapy does not use Multi-level Marketing (direct selling), instead selling their products directly through the website. This means that they do not run the risk of having any incorrect advice associated with their official guidelines from aromatherapy experts.
This means you can trust all the information you hear from Plant Therapy without question. Also this means they can offer their oils at a super-affordable price. They are cheaper than many competitors even though they still have amazing quality!
Also, if you do want to get involved promoting the company then they do have an affiliate program that you can sign up to.
Winner: Plant Therapy. The fact that they don’t use Multi-level Marketing means there is no risk of incorrect advice from untrained professionals. It also means the buying process is simple and prices are super affordable!
Company Ethos
Finally, something important to consider when choosing an oil supplier is the company ethos. Do you agree with their values and do they do good in the world?
doTERRA are very selective when it comes to sourcing the plants for their oils and choosing their suppliers. They believe in the expert knowledge of local farmers, many of whom have spent generations nurturing essential oil plants, and so continue to work with local people around the world across 40 nations.
They choose places where they can improve social, economic and environmental wellbeing while finding the best quality. They champion a traceable supply chain and aim to work sustainably and help improve poverty. They also provide sourcing information for their oils. So you can really trust in doTERRAs ethos!
Plant Therapy also have a great company ethos. Their founding principles are based around having a good impact on people, their employees and the community. They strive for great quality without breaking the bank. Plant Therapy claim to be constantly working towards more sustainable and ethical practices.
They are transparent about where they source their oils and what is in them, and they even have a large range of oils that are fully organic.
Winner: Plant Therapy. Although both companies champion good practices, Plant Therapy might just win this one because of their wide selection of fully organic oils and pledge to keep improving their practices.
Conclusion:
Overall, if you buy oils from either of these suppliers you will not be disappointed by the quality, fragrances, blends and choice. However, Plant Therapy’s essential oils come in at a significantly lower price without compromising on quality.
Plant Therapy also matches its competitors on the range of products and goes one further with the organics range and the KidSafe line. Therefore Plant Therapy is our winner in this comparison. Why not try them for yourself?
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