What You Get at Every Tier
Compare features across all five vendor tiers. Apex Partner included — roadmap items (Verified Purchase badges, custom landing pages, and others) marked separately.
Vendor Tier Comparison
What each tier delivers today. Apex roadmap items marked separately with target timeline.
| Feature | Free | Verified | Featured | Elite | Apex |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core | |||||
| Directory listing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Approved COA required for listing | Required | Required | Required | Required | Required |
| Forum posts/month | 0 | 2 (Vendors only) | 8 posts | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Reply in journals (when @tagged) | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Public COA quality grade | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Public weight accuracy display | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Public vendor replies to reviews | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| COA Verified badge | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Discount codes | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Advertising | |||||
| Sidebar ads | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Category banner ads | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Homepage featured section | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Analytics | |||||
| Affiliate click tracking | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Traffic source breakdown | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Review score breakdown | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ad performance (impressions, CTR) | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Discount click tracking | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Forum engagement stats | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Data export (CSV) | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Historical trend comparison | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| SEO Benefits | |||||
| Public listing page (indexed) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sitemap priority | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| JSON-LD structured data | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dofollow backlink to your site | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Review rich snippets (stars in Google) | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Homepage crawl equity | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Apex Marquee Exclusives | |||||
| Top banner (image / GIF / 15–30s video) | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Priority 24-hour COA review | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Featured homepage spotlight | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Direct founder access (1 business day SLA) | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Charter Five permanent designation | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Private Apex Slack + quarterly Roundtable | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| White-glove COA upload service | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Apex Roadmap | |||||
| Verified Purchase badges on reviews | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Q3 2026 |
| Custom branded landing page | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Q3 2026 |
| Sponsored thread surfacing in your category | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Q3 2026 |
| Reciprocal homepage footer logo | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Stage 2 |
| Custom partner-specific badge | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Stage 2 |
| Monthly newsletter lead-story slot | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | When newsletter ships |
| Free annual COA re-scoring under v3 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | When COA v3 ships |
Items marked Stage 2 are scheduled for build immediately following this update. Items marked Q3 2026 are platform roadmap. Operational perks (founder access, Slack, Roundtable, white-glove COA upload, COA review priority) are delivered today via direct founder communication while the corresponding automated UI / queue is built out.
Ready to Upgrade?
Get your peptide business in front of the VialTalk community with analytics, SEO boosts, and ad placements.