They get shelved together and recommended interchangeably, which is why people buy one, find it does not do what they hoped, and conclude enrichment is overrated.
They solve different problems. A snuffle mat is for a dog with too much energy. A lick mat is for a dog who needs to calm down. Buying the wrong one is the most common mistake in this whole category.
The difference in one line each
A snuffle mat is thick fabric you hide dry food in, so your dog has to search. It is active work. It uses the nose and the brain, and it tires them.
A lick mat is textured silicone you spread something soft across, so your dog has to work with their tongue. It is repetitive and soothing. It lowers arousal, and it settles them.
One winds a dog down by wearing them out. The other winds them down directly.
Buy a snuffle mat if
Your dog eats their dinner in fifteen seconds. They are restless in the afternoon. You cannot walk them as much as you would like, because of weather, an injury, recovery from surgery, or a small apartment. They are smart and gets bored. You want to make a meal last twenty minutes instead of one.
That is the BorkBrain Sniff job: turning food into a search, and turning ten minutes into something that actually tires them.
Buy a lick mat if
Bath time is a fight. Nail trims are a fight. They struggle at the vet. They are unsettled in the first half hour after you leave. Fireworks and thunder are a problem. They need to be still for grooming or for a wound to be checked.
That is the BorkBrain Lick job: giving a dog something absorbing to do with their mouth during something they would rather avoid.
How they compare on the practical stuff
How long it lasts. Snuffle mat, ten to twenty minutes. Lick mat, five to ten unfrozen, twenty to thirty frozen.
Food. Snuffle mat takes dry kibble and treats. Lick mat takes anything soft: yoghurt, wet food, pumpkin, mashed banana.
Mess. Snuffle mat leaves crumbs in the fabric. Lick mat is genuinely messy while in use and best used on a hard floor or in the bath.
Cleaning. Snuffle mat goes in the washing machine. Lick mat goes in the dishwasher, which is easier.
Where it works. Snuffle mat needs floor space. Lick mat sticks to a wall or a tile, which is the whole point of it.
Using both together
If you end up with both, they slot into different parts of the day rather than competing. The snuffle mat is a morning or afternoon item, because it replaces a meal and it tires them. The lick mat is for the moments you can predict will be hard: the bath, the evening you go out, the night the fireworks start.
Keep two lick mats loaded in the freezer so one is always ready. Keep the snuffle mat out of sight between uses, because a mat living permanently on the kitchen floor stops registering as anything.
One thing worth watching if you use both daily: it is easy to feed a dog considerably more than you meant to. Take the food out of their normal meals rather than adding it on top, or you will be wondering in three months why they have put on weight.
If you can only buy one
Answer this: is the problem that your dog has too much energy, or that they cannot cope with something?
Too much energy, start with the snuffle mat. Cannot cope with baths, the vet, being left, or loud nights, start with the lick mat.
If it is genuinely both, the lick mat is the better first purchase, because it is easier to clean, it works in more situations, and freezing gives you a reliable half hour on demand.
What neither of them does
Neither touches the chase instinct, and that is the drive behind the dog who stands over you with a ball while you are trying to work. Sniffing and licking will not satisfy it, no matter how many mats you own.
For that you need something that moves. A ball that rolls off and circles back by itself gives a dog the chase without you throwing for half an hour, and the rest of the range moves in different ways for dogs who spot a pattern quickly.
The setup that covers most dogs is one thing to sniff, one thing to lick and one thing to chase. Which order you buy them in depends on which problem is loudest in your house right now. There is more detail on each in do snuffle mats work and what a lick mat is for.