Switching from Juul: What to Try Instead

Juul got a lot of people off cigarettes, and then it got hard to find. If you are looking for the next thing, the useful question is not "what is the best vape" but what did you actually like about yours. Work out which of the five below sounds like you and the answer falls out.

We do not sell Juul. Everything here is something we stock in all six shops and online.

1. You liked that it was closed, simple and the same every time

No filling, no settings. Click a pod in, draw on it, throw the pod away when it is done. If that is the part you want to keep, the closest thing we carry is the Vuse Alto.

Same shape of habit: a slim rectangular battery, a pod that clicks into the top, draw-activated with no button. Buy the power unit once, then keep buying Alto pods. The pods come in a few nicotine strengths, so you can step down over time rather than all at once.

One thing worth knowing before you buy: the Alto charges on its own magnetic charger rather than a standard cable, and a charging problem is nearly always the contacts rather than the device. We wrote the whole checklist in Vuse Not Charging: Green Light and Fixes.

2. You liked swapping a pod, but you want it to last much longer

Same motion, far more liquid per pod. These are pod kits where the pod carries tens of thousands of puffs instead of a few hundred, with a screen so you can see what is left.

The Geek Bar Mate 60K is the bigger of the two. Buy the kit once for the battery, then buy Mate 60K pods on their own after that, which is cheaper than replacing a whole device each time.

The Foger Switch Pro works the same way and is the one that sells hardest here. Start with the kit, then restock Switch Pro pods.

Both are a bigger device in the hand than a Juul. That is the trade for not buying a new one every few days.

3. You want it to cost the least over a year

Refilling it yourself is the cheapest way to vape, and it is less fiddly than people expect. The Smok Novo ECO is the low-effort entry into it.

It takes NOVO Series pods, which our page lists in Meshed 1.0 ohm, Meshed 0.8 ohm, Meshed 0.6 ohm and Dual Meshed 0.6 ohm coil options, so there is a pod on the shelf whatever you are doing with it. We stock Novo pods, Novo 2 pods and Novo 2X pods. Ask us which fits yours if you are unsure, because the coil number matters more than the generation on the box.

The part people get wrong: buy nic salt, not regular e-liquid. Juul runs on nicotine salt, which is why it never felt harsh at a high strength. Regular freebase liquid at the same number will catch in your throat and you will not enjoy it. Our best seller is Pod Juice Salt Nic.

The kit comes with a pod, so a bottle of salt is the only other thing you need to start.

4. You liked how small and quiet it was

Size is the thing people miss most. A Juul disappeared in a closed hand, and most of what replaced it does not.

The Mr. Vapor Go comes three to a pack, each one about the size of a cigarette, pre-filled and ready. Nothing to charge, nothing to fill, nothing to click together. Jon picked this one himself for exactly that reason. Fifteen flavors across the range, including a couple of tobacco profiles if that is what you were on.

5. You want the habit without the nicotine

Worth saying plainly, because a lot of people looking to leave Juul are trying to leave nicotine rather than find a better delivery of it. FUM is a different kind of object: a flavored air device with no nicotine, no vapor and no smoke.

You breathe through the mouthpiece and get flavor from a plant-based core. The Fum Smokeless Device has adjustable airflow and a soft chewable tip, no buttons and no charging, and our page rates a device at up to ten days of use. The FUM Solano is the reusable version with a walnut barrel and a clean kit, built for the same job.

The cores are the refills, in ten flavors including Crisp Mint, Spearmint Ice and Cinnamon Hearts. It will not feel like a vape, because it is not one. What it does is keep the hand-to-mouth part of the habit while you drop the rest.

Short version

Not sure which? Come into any of our six Michigan shops and tell us what you were using. We will put two or three in your hand and you can pick by feel, which beats reading about it.

Browse the full pod systems and disposables shelves, or read our other how to guides.

For adults 21+. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.