The days of metal braces as the only avenue to straighter teeth are no more. Thanks to the innovation of clear aligner systems, often referred to as “invisible braces,” adults looking to transform their smiles now have more options than ever.
While you may already be familiar with Invisalign for teeth straightening, there are many companies offering a similar product worth considering. Each company listed here is best-suited for different types of patients — the right treatment for you depends on your unique circumstances, priorities, and goals. Read on as we discuss the six best clear aligners on the market.
Table of Contents
Best Clear Aligners: At a Glance
If you’re looking for quick info, here’s an overview of the best clear aligner brands, starting with Byte, our top pick. Keep in mind that there are some pretty significant differences between each of these providers. Further down this page we go into much more detail and break down key differences and things to consider, including special promotions that can help you save on your treatment.
How we Select and Review Clear Aligner Companies
Smile Prep has reviewed a total of 12 clear aligner brands in-depth. Review candidates include not only the most popular brands, but also several lesser known options that, in our view, have something unique to offer.
Smile Prep’s reviews offer the perspective of a well-informed consumer. This means that our views are not professional opinions, and we do not independently verify the claims the manufacturers make about their products. Instead, the value that we offer is to collect the claims that clear aligner companies make about their products and compare them for your convenience. We also analyze customer perspectives, including hundreds of reviews that we gathered directly from Smile Prep’s visitors. In many cases, we have also corresponded directly with company representatives and/or sampled products or impression kits first hand. You can learn more about our review process by checking out our publishing principles.
At-Home vs. In-Office Aligners: What’s the Difference?
Before we dig into the various clear aligner companies and analyze their unique benefits, it’s important to understand the distinction between two key categories: in-office treatment (like Invisalign) and at-home treatment (like Byte, our top pick for at-home aligners).
Both types supply patients with clear plastic trays that fit your dental arches snugly and gradually shift your teeth with each new set in the series. The main difference is that at-home aligner companies enable you to sign up from home and you receive your aligners by mail, while in-office options require visits to a local dentist. Consider the following when determining which type of aligners are the best fit for you:
Choose at-home aligners if…
- You have a mild-to-moderate misalignment.
- You’re on a tight budget.
- You’d rather not make regular trips to the dentist.
- You don’t mind remote customer support.
Choose in-office aligners if…
- You have a severe misalignment or bite issue.
- You’d rather not work with remote customer service representatives.
- You don’t mind paying a little more for treatment.
- You’d feel better with in-person oversight from a dentist or orthodontist (some companies like Candid use a hybrid model, reducing the number of office visits needed).
They’re both solid options, but which one is best for you depends on your misalignment, priorities, and budget. If you are interested in an at-home option, we recommend having a check-up with a local dentist to make sure your teeth are healthy before starting treatment (at-home aligner companies have no way of conducting their own dental X-Rays or dental exam).
The 6 Best Clear Aligners
Invisalign: Best In-Office Aligners
Famous for producing the world’s first widely available clear, removable teeth aligners, Invisalign is the most established and prolific clear aligner brand in the U.S. For over more than two decades, they’ve helped patients achieve the smiles they’ve always wanted.
Administered by a dentist during regular office visits, Invisalign’s hands-on care and Smartforce attachments empower their aligners to correct even severe cases of crowding, spacing, and bite misalignments. Attachments like this can help clear aligners make complex dental movements. They’re a lot more powerful than at-home aligners, but also more expensive and time-consuming.
PROS
- Invisalign treatment achieves the same impressive, powerful results as traditional braces, but without a single metal bracket, and for approximately the same price.
- With more than two decades of successful smile transformations under their belt, Invisalign is the oldest and most experienced clear aligner producer.
- Treatment can be administered by a general dentist (rather than an orthodontist) and they have more providers than any other in-office clear aligner brand.
- Invisalign is widely available in most areas of the USA, as most cities and towns have one or more dental offices offering this option.
- Dentists can add Invisalign’s proprietary Smartforce attachments, elastics, and other dental appliances to your treatment plan to correct more complex conditions (including moderate-to-severe teeth crowding and a variety of bite misalignments).
CONS
- Invisalign is significantly more expensive than most at-home aligner brands ($5,000 on average), which presents a potential obstacle if you’re on a tight budget.
- Treatment with Invisalign requires regular office visits, so it’s a more substantial time commitment than at-home treatments.
- Invisalign’s 12–18 month average treatment time is usually significantly longer than home aligner treatment. However, that’s because Invisalign providers typically accept more complicated cases.
AlignerCo: Most Affordable At-Home Option
AlignerCo offers one of the most budget-friendly options in the clear aligner industry. What sets them apart isn’t just their competitive pricing at $995, but their reputation for quality service and results. With over 3,000 verified reviews on Trustpilot and a number of positive customer testimonials collected by Smile Prep, they’ve established themselves as a reliable provider in the at-home clear aligner market.
Like other at-home aligner services, AlignerCo’s treatment is fully remote—you’ll take impressions at home and receive your aligners by mail. Their comprehensive package includes your impression kit, all aligners, and your first set of retainers, plus they frequently run promotions that make their already competitive pricing even more affordable.
PROS
- AlignerCo’s $995 price point is among the most competitive in the industry—potentially saving patients thousands compared to in-office options and hundreds compared to many other at-home aligners. They also frequently offer promotional discounts.
- AlignerCo provides two different financing options, including one plan that doesn’t require a credit check, so everyone qualifies regardless of credit history.
- Every two weeks, AlignerCo’s dental team reviews photos of your teeth to ensure your treatment is progressing as planned, offering more consistent oversight than some competitors.
- Their nighttime-only option only requires 10+ hours of daily wear (mostly while sleeping), offering a more convenient alternative to all-day treatment.
- AlignerCo uses quality materials from Essix, a respected dental supplier, ensuring durability and comfort throughout your treatment.
- With a well-established track record and thousands of positive reviews, AlignerCo has proven itself to be a reliable option in the at-home aligner market.
CONS
- AlignerCo doesn’t have physical locations for intraoral scans, so you’ll need to use their impression kit, which some customers find challenging.
- If your results don’t match your treatment preview, refinements cost $200 each, which isn’t covered in the initial price.
- Like all at-home aligners, AlignerCo can only treat mild-to-moderate misalignments and can’t correct severe cases or significant bite issues.
AlignerCo - Our Recommendation
If you’re looking for a highly affordable clear aligner treatment from an established provider and have been confirmed by your dentist as a good candidate for at-home treatment, AlignerCo offers exceptional value without compromising quality.
Special Offer: Get $150 off AlignerCo treatment
Candid: Hybrid of In-Office & At-Home Treatment
Unlike most other providers on this list, Candid combines elements of in-office and at-home care. They started as a fully remote clear aligner service, but have since shifted to a hybrid treatment model.
Candid patients will begin their treatment in the office of a local dentist, who will stay involved from start to finish. However, unlike traditional options like Invisalign, only two in-person visits are necessary during Candid treatment — one at the beginning and another at the end. This is thanks to their “CandidMonitoring” system, which allows you to send bi-weekly photo updates to your provider so they can track your progress remotely.
PROS
- Candid’s treatment plans can straighten all your teeth, including the molars. Fully remote clear aligner services like Byte focus primarily on the front teeth and premolars.
- Services like Byte don’t offer the peace of mind that comes with having a local dentist oversee your treatment. With Candid, you can access your local provider throughout the entire process.
- Every 14 days, you’ll use the CandidMonitoring system to take images of your teeth and send them to Candid and your dentist. This is a significantly more streamlined process than you get with in-office aligners like Invisalign, which require regular in-person dental visits.
- Candid crafts their aligners from Zendura FLX, which exerts “50+% greater orthodontic force over time,” according to Zendura.
CONS
- Since you’ll need to visit a local Candid dentist to get started, treatment is only available if you live near one of Candid’s 300+ network providers.
- Although Candid treatment involves in-person care, it’s still not as comprehensive as systems like Invisalign. Completely in-person treatments let your dentist incorporate elastics or attachments in your treatment plan to make more complex adjustments, but Candid treatment doesn’t currently allow for this level of customization.
- As a hybrid service, Candid is a lot more expensive than fully remote options like Byte. However, it’s still often less expensive than Invisalign.
ClearCorrect: A More Affordable In-Office Option
Even though it hasn’t been around as long as Invisalign, ClearCorrect still boasts a strong track record of results. They’re one of the largest clear aligner producers in the U.S. Their products are extremely similar in appearance and application to Invisalign, and they’ve been FDA-approved since 2009.
Like other in-office aligners, they require regular office visits and boast more power than at-home alternatives, with the ability to treat even complex misalignments. They don’t have as many providers as Invisalign, but they often cost less.
PROS
- ClearCorrect’s in-office application allows for the addition of Engagers — tiny, tooth-colored shapes that assist with complex tooth movements, similar to Invisalign’s Smartforce attachments. This means that ClearCorrect can treat a variety of severe dental and jaw misalignments.
- ClearCorrect charges dentists less for their aligners and lab fees than Invisalign, encouraging dentists to pass along these savings to their patients.
- ClearCorrect’s parent company, Straumann, says their ClearQuartz plastic retains 10X more of its initial force than its competitors.
- ClearCorrect has multiple pricing models—including one where you pay per aligner—so your dentist can choose the one that best suits your condition.
CONS
- Treatment with ClearCorrect usually takes at least one year, which is significantly longer than home aligner treatment.
- Even though it could be less expensive than Invisalign, at $3,000–$6,000 ClearCorrect is significantly pricier than home aligners.
- Like Invisalign, ClearCorrect’s frequent office visits can be time-consuming.
NewSmile: Convenient At-Home Treatment
All at-home clear aligners are more affordable than their in-office counterparts—that’s a big part of their appeal. But NewSmile boasts even lower prices than most of their at-home competition. They are less established than some of the alternatives, but their attractive sticker price, discounts, remote oversight, and interest-free financing have earned them a reputation as a reliable, budget-friendly treatment option.
PROS
- With a $1,595 price tag, NewSmile has one of the lowest sticker prices in the industry. Compared to Invisalign and braces, most patients save a few thousand dollars. Plus, they have a financing plan that accepts everyone.
- While many budget-friendly options skip all the extras to keep costs low, NewSmile includes your impression kit, retainers, and whitening kit. That’s a couple of hundred dollars’ worth of bonus products.
- Most people finish treatment in just 4–6 months, which is significantly faster than in-office options.
- NewSmile offers nighttime-only treatment where you wear your aligners for just ten hours per day (mostly while sleeping) instead of the standard 22. It’s more convenient and discreet than all-day treatment.
- You’ll upload videos of your teeth to the NewSmile app every two weeks and their dental team will use them to keep you on track.
CONS
- NewSmile doesn’t have retail locations in the U.S. so you can’t get an in-person scan. You’ll have to use their impression kit, which can be challenging.
- Since NewSmile is a smaller and less established company, they don’t have as many reviews to look at compared to more well-established options.
- If you have a severe misalignment, NewSmile might not be able to correct it.
NewSmile - The Bottom Line
NewSmile hasn’t been around as long as some competitors, but their low pricing, nighttime-only alignment plan, and widely accessible payment plans make them a strong contender.
Special Offer: Receive $100 Off NewSmile
Motto: Most Affordable In-Office Aligners
Aspen Dental, the largest network of dental providers in the Unites States, launched Motto Clear Aligners in 2021 in an effort to compete on price and convenience with popular at-home services, while also providing in-person oversight by a local dentist.
To get started with Motto, you’ll need to visit an Aspen Dental office location. With over 1,100 Aspen Dental locations across the U.S., there’s a good chance you can find one nearby. And thanks to MottoMonitoring — a service Motto includes with every treatment plan to monitor your progress remotely via photos you submit using their mobile app — follow-up office visits are infrequent (typically once every 10 weeks).
PROS
- Aspen Dental has more than 1,100 locations throughout the U.S., making Motto treatment easily accessible. You can make an appointment for the same day if you’re in a hurry.
- Get started in-person with a 3D scan of your smile and minimize the number of future appointments by checking in using Motto’s app throughout your treatment.
- Motto is costlier than leading at-home aligner brands, but considerably more affordable than competing in-office treatment options.
- Treatment can be financed through CareCredit for rates as low as $68 per month. Motto says that 9/10 applicants are approved for this form of financing.
- Retainers and whitening are included.
CONS
- Their remote monitoring doesn’t use a scan box or scope that attaches to your phone, just a cheek retractor to help you take selfies with more of your teeth showing.
- Aspen Dental patients have reported poor customer service, unexpected outcomes, and seeing assistants rather than the doctor at certain practices. We recommend checking online reviews for your local practice.
- The Motto Assured satisfaction guarantee (30 days) is not as generous as some alternatives, for example, Byte’s “Byte for Life” guarantee.
- While Aspen Dental says that it has treated tens of thousands of Motto patients since 2021, there are not as many online reviews documenting patient experiences compared to Byte and Invisalign.
Motto - Our Recommendation
If you like the idea of getting started ASAP with aligners and want in-person dentist visits, Aspen Dental’s Motto Aligners could be the right fit for you.
Special Offer: Save $150 on Motto clear aligners
Our Recommendation
Which Clear Aligner Option is Best for You?
We totally understand if seeing all these options feels overwhelming, especially since they look so similar at first glance. At the end of the day, we believe that two clear aligner services stand out: Invisalign and AlignerCo.
Choose Invisalign if:
You have more complex misalignments, or you’d prefer to have robust, in-person oversight throughout your treatment. Invisalign is widely available in most areas of the country and has the longest track record of success for in-office aligners.
Choose AlignerCo if:
A dentist has examined your teeth and confirmed you’re a good candidate for at-home treatment, and you’re looking for an affordable option with a proven track record. AlignerCo offers some of the most competitive pricing in the industry while still providing quality treatment and remote oversight.
Other Clear Aligners Worth Considering
If you’ve searched for clear aligner companies online, you know that there are plenty more out there. Just because they aren’t in our top six doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider them. The companies above are great options, but other providers offer unique perks that might make an even better match for your specific circumstances. Below are a few more we think are worth your time.
SureSmile: SureSmile is one of the oldest clear aligner companies on the market. They got their start making intuitive archwires for lingual braces before releasing aligners in 2007, and even though they come with the same in-person care as Invisalign, their aligners often cost slightly less. Plus, they give dentists more ways to customize your treatment, and they don’t force doctors to use a specific intraoral scanner, making their treatment more accessible.
3M Clarity Aligners: 3M is probably better known for home and office supplies than orthodontics, but their Clarity Aligners boast incredible teeth-moving power, thanks to the unique way they can incorporate attachments and two different premium plastics. Plus, 3M produces Clarity Clear Braces, so they can offer combination treatment for the limited number of cases their aligners cannot address on their own. They’re one of the priciest options on the market, but many customers think their power and orthodontist oversight is worth it.
Smileie: Smileie offers very competitively priced at-home aligners, with standard treatment starting at $849 and nighttime treatment at $999. They began as a fully at-home brand, though they now also offer a hybrid model that adds some in-person care. Smileie provides regular remote monitoring through their mobile app, with check-ins every two weeks. While they appear to offer good value, they’re a newer provider in the market compared to more established options like AlignerCo.
For more key details, read through our Smileie review.
Six Month Smiles: If you like at-home aligners’ six-month time frame but prefer one-on-one care from a dentist, take a look at Six Month Smiles. Like Invisalign and ClearCorrect, it’s administered and monitored in-person by a dentist. The average cost is $3,500–$5,000, but varies depending on the dentist. The company offers clear aligners for simple crowding and spacing, and clear braces for more complex movements. Both the aligners and braces wrap up treatment within six months. Even with their clear braces, treatment isn’t quite as robust as in-office clear aligners like Invisalign.
How Should I Evaluate My Options?
Reading through this review, it’s possible that one aspect of clear aligner treatment sticks out to you. Perhaps you like the idea of getting the lowest price point, or maybe you want the fastest treatment available.
Keep in mind that not all clear aligners are equal, so it’s important to consider several factors as you make your decision. For example, one company might have great reviews, but does their treatment time frame match your goals? One might offer lower costs, but is it a lot less convenient to get started?
As you evaluate your options, we recommend considering five factors: scope of treatment, affordability, convenience, appearance, and customer support. Evaluating these five will give you a holistic view of each treatment, so you can confidently decide which is the best for your teeth, budget, and priorities.
Further Reading
While you should consider all the aspects above, it’s natural to focus on one or two in particular. That’s why we’ve created guides showing which home aligner companies excel in each category:
Final Thoughts
You’re on a journey to reach your smile goals, and this is just the beginning. Having read this guide, you have a great foundation on which to make a well-informed decision.
We encourage you to analyze the pros and cons of all the clear aligner options discussed above, and as previously mentioned, consult a dentist for a professional opinion. This way, you can confidently enter treatment knowing that by the end, you’ll get to see and feel the exact results you were hoping for!
Join The Discussion: