Last updated 9 August 2026 · Originally published 29 December 2020
Two bottles on the same shelf. One says hemp oil, one says CBD oil, and one costs five times as much.
They are not the same thing, and the difference isn’t marketing. It’s which part of the plant they came from.
The short version
CBD oil is made by extracting CBD from the cannabinoid-rich flowers and other above-ground parts of hemp, then mixing that extract with a carrier oil.
Hemp seed oil is pressed from the seeds. The seeds don’t naturally contain CBD or THC, though tiny traces can be picked up from other parts of the plant during harvesting and processing.[2]
Hemp seed oil is a genuinely good product. It’s rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and it’s a decent culinary and skincare ingredient.[1] It just isn’t CBD, and it won’t do what CBD does.
Why the confusion happens
Partly it’s honest — both come from the same plant, and “hemp oil” sounds like it should contain the thing hemp is famous for.
Partly it isn’t. Some sellers know exactly what they’re doing when they put a cannabis leaf on a bottle of seed oil and let you draw your own conclusion. Marketplace listings are the worst for this.
How to tell them apart
Look at the ingredients, not the front of the bottle.
These mean seed oil, with no CBD:
- Hemp seed oil
- Cannabis sativa seed oil
These mean CBD:
- Cannabidiol
- CBD, with an amount in milligrams
These might mean CBD, but need checking:
- Hemp extract
- Full-spectrum or broad-spectrum hemp extract
- Plain “hemp oil” — a vague marketing term used for both
The best evidence is a stated CBD amount and an independent lab report that matches the product’s batch number. If a product claims to contain CBD but doesn’t say how much, or has no certificate of analysis listing cannabinoids, treat the claim as unproven.
One thing that trips people up: hemp seed oil is often the carrier in a genuine CBD oil. Seeing it in the ingredients doesn’t mean you’ve been sold seed oil — the seed oil is the base, and a separately listed cannabidiol or hemp extract supplies the CBD.
Price can be another clue, though not proof. Extracting CBD is expensive; pressing seeds isn’t. A large bottle of “hemp oil” for a few pounds is almost certainly seed oil.
Hemp and cannabis: same species, different job
Behind all this sits a bigger confusion. Hemp and marijuana aren’t separate botanical species. Both are forms of cannabis — “hemp” is mainly a legal and agricultural category, based on how the plant is grown and how much THC it contains.
Hemp is grown for fibre, seed or cannabinoids such as CBD. Drug-type cannabis is generally bred for higher THC. Historically hemp was grown tall and spindly for its stalks, while drug-type plants are shorter and bushier — but modern hemp grown for CBD looks much more like them, because it’s being grown for the same part of the plant.
Close up, the buds can be almost impossible to tell apart. They look similar and they smell similar, and only a lab test can distinguish them reliably.
That has caused real problems. Police officers can’t tell hemp from cannabis by sight either, and people have been arrested transporting legal hemp across state lines.
If you’re thinking of travelling with hemp flower, check the law at your destination and anywhere you’ll pass through. A certificate of analysis may help explain what it is, but it’s no guarantee against confiscation or arrest — and don’t take it across an international border without confirming the law first.
Which should you buy?
Depends what you want it for. Plenty of people drawn in by the general promise of “hemp wellness” actually want what hemp seed oil offers — the nutrition, the fatty acids, the skincare properties. But it isn’t a substitute for CBD if cannabidiol is specifically what you’re after.
Hemp seed oil if you want a nutritious cooking oil or a fatty-acid-rich skincare ingredient. It’s inexpensive, nutritious, and useful as a cooking oil or an emollient.
CBD oil if you specifically want cannabidiol. Just go in knowing what the evidence does and doesn’t support — our guide to CBD and what the research actually shows covers that in detail.
What you shouldn’t do is pay CBD prices for seed oil, which is what happens when the labelling does its job badly.
For more, see our guides to full spectrum, broad spectrum and isolate and CBD cosmetics, or browse CBD Basics.
References
- Callaway JC. Hempseed as a nutritional resource: an overview. Euphytica. 2004;140(1–2):65–72. doi:10.1007/s10681-004-4811-6
- VanDolah HJ, Bauer BA, Mauck KF. Clinicians’ guide to cannabidiol and hemp oils. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2019;94(9):1840–1851. doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2019.01.003
About this article
Substantially rewritten in August 2026, bringing together our earlier reporting on hemp oil, CBD oil and the difference between hemp and cannabis. This update explains how to tell the two oils apart on a label, and why the plants themselves are harder to distinguish than people assume. With earlier reporting by Asia Mayfield and Sabina Pulone.
