The most common mistake we see at the counter goes like this. Someone buys a new pod kit, fills it from a 60ml freebase bottle because it looked like better value, and two days later tells us the kit is weak and the coil tastes burnt. The kit is fine. The juice is wrong.
That is the nic salt vs freebase question in real life. It decides which bottle you pick up and which nicotine strength you tick on the product page, and getting both right matters more than the flavour.
Quick answer: Nic salt is for pod kits and mouth-to-lung (MTL) devices. It comes in 30ml bottles and on our shelves runs from 20mg up to 55mg. Freebase is for sub-ohm tanks and direct-lung (DL) vaping. It comes in 60ml, 100ml and 120ml bottles from 0mg to 18mg. Pack-a-day smoker on a pod: start at 50mg salt. A few cigarettes a day: start at 20mg to 35mg.
Nic salt vs freebase in plain words
Both bottles contain nicotine. The difference is the form it is in, and what that does to the throat.
Freebase is the older, standard form. At low strengths it is smooth. Push it to 12mg or 18mg and pull a big cloud through a sub-ohm coil and the throat hit gets harsh fast. That is why sub-ohm juice is almost always sold at 3mg and 6mg.
Nic salt is nicotine made smoother so it can be used at much higher strengths. A 35mg or 50mg salt in a small pod feels fine on the throat, where the same number in freebase would not.
That is honestly all the chemistry you need. The practical rule is simpler still:
- Low power, small clouds, every puff needs to count: nic salt.
- High power, big clouds, lots of vapour per puff: freebase at a low strength.
Browse both side by side in our nic salt e-liquid and freebase e-liquid collections.
Which device takes which juice
Pod kits and MTL: nic salt
Almost every pod kit on our shelves is built for salt. Take the OXVA XLIM Pro 4: it ships with 0.6 and 0.8 ohm cartridges, fires from 5 to 30W and runs on an 1800mAh battery. Put a 30ml salt in it and it is exactly what it was designed for.
The VOOPOO Argus Z3 is even more useful as a lesson, because VOOPOO prints its own nicotine guidance for the cartridge: up to 50mg on the 1.0 ohm setting, up to 30mg at 0.7 ohm, and no more than 20mg at 0.4 ohm. Read that twice. Lower resistance means more vapour, and more vapour means the nicotine should come down. That one chart explains this whole article.
Sub-ohm tanks and DL: freebase
Now look at the VOOPOO Drag 4 177W. Its UFORCE-L tank comes with a 0.2 ohm coil fitted and a 0.15 ohm spare. That setup moves a huge amount of vapour every puff, so it wants 3mg or 6mg freebase in a 70/30 blend. Filling it with 50mg salt would be a serious mistake.
The Drag 4 is not for someone on their first device. It needs two 18650 batteries bought separately and some idea of what you are doing with wattage. If that sounds like a hassle, stay with a pod. Our full range of vape devices and pod kits covers both styles.
How to choose a nic salt strength
Every salt we stock comes in a 30ml bottle. The strengths actually on our shelves are 20mg, 25mg, 30mg, 35mg, 50mg and 55mg, and a handful of Tokyo Super Cool flavours such as Mangosteen also go up to 60mg. Each brand only makes two or three of these, so the strength you want can decide the brand for you.
| Line | Bottle | Strengths we stock | VG/PG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Super Cool Nic Salt | 30ml | 20mg, 35mg, 50mg on most flavours; some are 35mg and 55mg | Not published |
| VGOD Nic Salt | 30ml | 25mg, 50mg | 50/50 |
| Drip Down Nic Salt | 30ml | Frosty series 25mg and 50mg; Krush series 30mg and 50mg | 50/50 |
| Ox Passion Nic Salt | 30ml | 35mg, 55mg | 50/50 |
Here is how I would pick:
- 20mg to 25mg: you smoked a few a day, or you run a pod on a 0.4 ohm coil. Tokyo Super Cool Guava comes in 20mg as well as 35mg and 50mg, so it is a good flavour to test strengths with.
- 30mg to 35mg: around half a pack a day, or you are stepping down from 50mg.
- 50mg to 55mg: roughly a pack a day, on a 0.8 or 1.0 ohm pod.
Nic salt 50mg or 35mg?
This is the question we get most. If you smoked a pack a day and 35mg leaves you puffing non-stop, go to 50mg. If 50mg feels harsh or too strong, drop to 35mg. If you honestly cannot decide, buy 35mg. You can always take another puff. You cannot take strength out of a bottle.
How to choose a freebase strength
Freebase on our shelves comes in 0mg, 3mg, 6mg, 12mg and 18mg. Which of those you see depends on the line.
- 0mg: flavour and clouds only. Fine if you have already stopped needing nicotine.
- 3mg: the default for any sub-ohm tank. Start here.
- 6mg: heavier ex-smokers on a sub-ohm setup who find 3mg too light.
- 12mg and 18mg: for MTL tanks and higher-resistance coils, not for a 0.2 ohm coil at high wattage.
The VGOD Iced Apple Bomb 60ml is stocked in all five strengths, 0mg through 18mg, so it suits both camps. Tokyo Super Cool Freebase 60ml runs 0mg to 12mg depending on the flavour, and is 70/30.
Bottle sizes, and why they are different
Salt comes in 30ml because a pod sips juice. A sub-ohm tank drinks it, so freebase comes bigger: 60ml from VGOD and Tokyo Super Cool, 100ml in the Drip Down Frosty freebase range at 3mg and 6mg, and 120ml from the Dr Vapes Panther series at 3mg.
One opinion: do not buy a 120ml of a flavour you have never tasted. Try it in 60ml first.
What VG/PG means for you
Two numbers, two lines. PG is thinner and carries flavour and throat hit. VG is thicker and makes vapour.
The salts we carry from VGOD, Drip Down and Ox Passion are 50/50, thin enough to soak quickly into a small pod coil. Freebase from VGOD, Drip Down and Tokyo Super Cool is 70/30, thicker and built for big coils. Put 70/30 in a 1.0 ohm pod and the wick struggles to keep up, which is where a lot of those burnt-coil complaints start.
Start here: a simple decision table
| If you use | And you smoked | Start at |
|---|---|---|
| Pod kit on a 0.8 or 1.0 ohm coil | About a pack a day | 50mg or 55mg nic salt |
| Pod kit on a 0.8 or 1.0 ohm coil | Around half a pack | 35mg nic salt |
| Pod kit on a 0.8 or 1.0 ohm coil | A few a day | 20mg or 25mg nic salt |
| Pod kit on a 0.4 ohm coil | Any amount | 20mg nic salt, no higher |
| Sub-ohm tank or mod, 0.15 to 0.2 ohm | About a pack a day | 6mg freebase |
| Sub-ohm tank or mod, 0.15 to 0.2 ohm | Less than that | 3mg freebase |
| MTL tank or higher-resistance coil | A pack a day | 12mg or 18mg freebase |
| Any tank | You want flavour only | 0mg freebase |
Treat this as a starting point. After a week you will know whether to go up or down one step.
A few tips from the counter
- Keep bottles somewhere cool and dark. A car dashboard in a Lahore June is not that place.
- Copies of popular brands do turn up in the market. Buy from a shop that sells original stock. Everything we ship is original, delivered across Pakistan with cash on delivery.
- Write down the strength you settle on. When you reorder, it is easy to tick the wrong variant.
All of these products contain nicotine and are for adults 18+ only.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is nic salt stronger than freebase?
The number on the bottle is higher, but the two are not used the same way. A 35mg nic salt goes into a small pod that makes a little vapour, while 3mg or 6mg freebase goes into a sub-ohm tank that makes a lot. Compare the strength to your device, not to the other bottle.
Can I use freebase e-liquid in a pod kit?
You can, but most freebase we sell is 70/30 VG/PG in 60ml or bigger bottles at 0mg to 18mg. In a small 0.8 or 1.0 ohm pod that thick juice wicks slowly and the low strength feels like nothing. For a pod kit, buy a 30ml nic salt.
Can I put nic salt in a sub-ohm tank?
Do not. A tank like the UFORCE-L on the VOOPOO Drag 4 runs a 0.2 ohm coil and produces big clouds. Filling it with 35mg or 50mg salt is far too much nicotine per puff. Sub-ohm tanks take 3mg or 6mg freebase.
Nic salt 50mg or 35mg, which one should I buy?
If you smoked around a pack a day and use a 0.8 or 1.0 ohm pod, 50mg is the usual starting point. If you smoked less than that, or 50mg feels too harsh, take 35mg. When in doubt buy 35mg, because you can always take another puff but you cannot take strength out of a bottle.
Which nicotine strength should I use as a beginner?
Match it to your device first. On a pod kit, start between 20mg and 50mg nic salt depending on how much you smoked. On a sub-ohm tank, start on 3mg freebase and only move to 6mg if 3mg leaves you wanting more.
Where can I buy freebase e-liquid in Pakistan?
Vape Brothers stocks freebase from VGOD, Tokyo Super Cool, Drip Down and Dr Vapes in 60ml, 100ml and 120ml bottles, all original stock, with nationwide delivery and cash on delivery.
