Best hybrid strains

Hybrids are cannabis strains created by crossbreeding indica and sativa strains — and the best hybrid strains are the ones that take the finest traits from both parents. Evenly balanced hybrids (50% indica / 50% sativa) typically deliver a well-balanced blend of sativa’s energetic cerebral euphoria and indica’s relaxing body high without making you feel lazy, sleepy, or sedated. Indica-dominant hybrid strains tend to provide a deeper body buzz and sedating effects that could keep you locked to the couch. The best hybrid strains with a stronger sativa lineage will offer an uplifting, energetic high that can keep you motivated and focused, while soothing the body without causing sedation. 

The best hybrid strains of 2024 are the ones that provide balanced high that blends the most desired traits of both sativa and indica strains. Whether you’re looking for a more indica-leaning hybrid with potent body effects, a motivating sativa hybrid that’s both relaxing and energizing, or a balanced experience that meets in the middle, following are some of the best hybrid strains you can find:

Runtz

With its sweet, fruity flavor and brilliantly balanced blend of soaring cerebral euphoria and deeply relaxing physical effects, Runtz is considered one of the best hybrid strains you can find. This Gelato x Skittlez cross contains the best traits of both its parents, delivering an uplifting euphoric head high before a heavy body buzz takes hold, leaving you happily stoned and sleepy — very likely locked to the couch. It’s considered a great hybrid for managing stress, depression, pain, and insomnia. 

Cereal Milk

Cereal Milk is a rare breed — making this sweet and creamy, fruit-flavored hybrid fan favorite a must-try when you come across it. This balanced hybrid blends a focused, uplifted head high with a calmly relaxed body high without any sedation. It’s one of the best hybrid strains for daytime use, inspiring mental clarity, creativity, and a happy feel-good high perfect for socializing. It’s known to help medical cannabis patients manage anxiety, stress, depression, appetite loss, and may help relieve chemotherapy-induced nausea in cancer patients.  

Lemon Cherry Gelato

As a slightly indica-dominant hybrid, Lemon Cherry Gelato delivers a euphoric cerebral bliss that uplifts the spirits before a soothing sensation makes its way through the body — leaving you fully relaxed and feeling creative and carefree. The taste of this brightly flavored bud reflects its name blending a tangy lemon-lime taste with sweet cherry and other berries. Its balanced effects are both uplifting and calming, making it an ideal for MMJ patients managing mood disorders like stress, anxiety, and depression.  

Permanent Marker

Despite its indica dominance, the potent Permanent Marker is one of the best hybrid strains for daytime use, thanks to its euphorically uplifting properties that deliver a creative, happy head high and soothing, relaxed body high that won’t leave you couch-locked. This sweet and earthy diesel tasting hybrid has a ridiculously high THC content — up to 34% — making it best suited for experienced consumers and medical cannabis patients interested in superior relief from stress, anxiety, and chronic pain. 

Apple Fritter

Apple Fritter is a perfectly balanced hybrid with hard-hitting effects that will land you in a euphoric state of bliss the moment you exhale the first sweet, creamy hit with a flavor that blends fresh apples with an earthy, vanilla cake flavored finish that tastes exactly like its name. This giggly, feel-good head high is quickly accompanied by a tingly physical sensation that soothes sore muscles, leaving the body totally relaxed and the mind in a state of contented ease, making it perfect for managing stress, anxiety, and depression. Notoriously strong —it made the list of High Times 2016 World’s Strongest Strains — this potent hybrid is best reserved for experienced users. 

Jealousy

Jealousy, aka Jealousy OG, is an evenly balanced hybrid with a sweet and creamy citrus taste that delivers a happy, euphoric head high and relaxed body buzz that doesn’t cause sedation. It’s the perfect daytime hybrid for keeping you motivated and focused enough to get things done, while still instilling soothing physical effects that calm any tension in the body. Medical patients swear by it for supporting stress, anxiety, and depression. Its appetite-stimulating properties — expect a solid case of the munchies — also make it beneficial for appetite loss and nausea. 

Gary Payton

If you’re looking for one of the best hybrid strains with hard-hitting, long-lasting effects, the powerfully potent, perfectly balanced Gary Payton is where it’s at. Also known as Cookies Gary Payton, the uplifting euphoria of this pungent, diesel and herbal flavored strain is felt almost before you exhale, sending the mind into a state of focused bliss that will leave you feeling energized yet totally relaxed and at ease. This strong, sometimes silly high is said to benefit anxiety, stress, and depression, as well as pain, headaches, and migraines. 

Glitter Bomb

Glitter Bomb is a super potent, indica-dominant hybrid with a soaring cerebral euphoric blast that hits just minutes after you exhale that first sweet, berry-flavored hit with a skunky floral finish. You’ll find yourself in a positive, uplifted head space without a trace of any negativity or stress. A heavy, relaxing body high following the initial head high that can leave you couch-locked and content. With its potently powerful high, Glitter Bomb is dynamite for supporting stress, anxiety, depression, pain, and PTSD.

Pink Runtz

Pink Runtz is a perfectly balanced hybrid with a fabulous, sweet fruity flavor and a euphoric, unfocused head high that will leave you talkative, silly, and giggly. This is one of the best hybrid strains to choose if you’re interested in a high that eradicates any sense of reason and leaves you feeling contentedly out of touch with reality — it has, after all, been dubbed the strain that will have you “talking to your forehead.” This high THC hybrid also has super soothing body effects that will make you relaxed and comfortable with zero sedation. While it’s a rarity, those who have used Pink Runtz therapeutically report it superior for supporting stress, anxiety, and depression. 

Zoap

Zoap is a potent balanced hybrid with high-flying, euphoric effects that hit almost instantly after you exhale, delivering a happy cerebral buzz that washes away negative or stressful thoughts and replaces them with a giggly, hazy head high that’s unfocused and fun. A relaxed body high follows, which could cause a bit of couch-lock without making you so sedated you feel like you have to stay there. This sweet and sour citrusy flavored hybrid is known to support medical cannabis patients interested in relief from anxiety, stress, bipolar disorder, and PTSD. Zoap is also said to cause a serious case of the munchies, perfect for making users with lack of appetite feel hungry. 

While cannabis affects everyone differently, the best hybrid strains typically offer an inviting balanced blend of sativa and indica characteristics. The way a hybrid makes you feel largely depends on the parent strains used to create it, but most contain a blend of euphoric, uplifting cerebral effects and relaxing physical effects. Cannabinoid content and terpene profiles also play a big role in the effects of the best hybrid strains, largely lending to a particular strain's potency and overall effects. High THC hybrids with a strong limonene or pinene content — like the iconic Blue Dream — offer a more powerful and energizing high compared to indica-dominant hybrids like Granddaddy Purple with high myrcene, a terpene known for its sedative-like effects.

Some hybrid strains can make you sleepy, especially those with a more indica-dominant profile. These strains provide a balanced high that leans more towards sedation, making them popular for insomnia or other sleep issues. The best hybrid strains for avoiding indica’s sedative-like effects are sativa-dominant varieties that deliver energizing effects and soothing physical comfort without causing sedation or couch-lock. This is the beauty of hybrids — you decide the effects you want to experience, then pick and choose from the best hybrid strains that will help you get there. 

The benefits of the best hybrid strains offer the best of both worlds. Specific benefits vary, primarily depending on the dominant traits a hybrid takes from both parents. Both rec and medical consumers report hybrid strains are beneficial for supporting stress, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, fatigue, appetite loss, nausea, headaches, migraines, and more. Whether you’re looking for something to help you sleep, clear the mental cobwebs so you stay focused during the day, or a balanced wake-and-bake burst first thing in the morning, the best hybrid strains offer a wide variety of effects that support the diverse needs and desires of both recreational and medical canna consumers.