
SmileDirectClub was a popular teeth straightening service known for its low prices (much cheaper than Invisalign or braces) and convenient at-home treatment plans (skipping the dentist office!). SmileDirectClub went out of business in late 2023 and is no longer available for purchase. The good news is that in 2025, there are more options than ever before when it comes to affordable clear aligner treatment.
In this roundup, we highlight and review four clear aligner services that we think are most similar to SmileDirectClub in terms of affordability and convenience. We dive into the pros and cons of each service and highlight what makes each one stand out.
Table of Contents
Best SmileDirectClub Alternatives: At a Glance
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.
Detailed Provider Overviews
If you’re looking for a service similar to SmileDirectClub (SDC), it would be hard to go wrong with any one of these companies. Like SDC, all of them use remote check-ins via their mobile app to help make treatment more convenient and accessible than traditional teeth straightening options that must be completed in person at a dental office (we’re looking at you, Invisalign and braces!).
Once you’ve found the perfect match, we always recommended visiting with your dentist before diving in. They can ensure your teeth are healthy enough for clear aligners and address any cavities, gingivitis, or other issues that might affect your treatment. This is especially important if you opt for a fully remote treatment option like Byte or NewSmile, as their fully-remote plans mean they aren’t able to complete a dental health check-up of their own.
Byte: Our Top Pick
Important Notice: On October 24, 2024, Byte's parent company (Dentsply Sirona) announced it would suspend sales of Byte aligners indefinitely. According to the company, this decision came after consultation with the FDA regarding regulatory requirements. Byte aligners are currently unavailable for purchase, and it remains unclear whether they will resume sales in the future. Learn more about what happened to Byte.
We think Byte is best alternative to SmileDirectClub for anyone seeking affordable and convenient at-home treatment. Byte was SDC’s closest competitor and, in our view, was always the better choice!
Since launching in 2018, they have established a reputation for delivering innovative technology, personalized customer support, and industry leading customer guarantees. Byte is owned by Dentsply Sirona, which is one of the largest dental equipment manufacturers in the world.
Byte offers competitive pricing, accessible financing, and is HSA / FSA eligible.
Pros
- Byte has a convenient mobile app (My Byte) where you can get reminders to change your aligners, upload photos of your teeth for review, track your HyperByte usage, and live chat with customer support.
- Byte will refund the cost of your impression kit if your teeth don’t qualify for treatment. Additionally, If you lose or break your aligners, you can reach out to Byte support for a replacement. Byte advises you wear the previous aligner set tray while you wait for your replacement aligners to arrive. Byte also offers a Protection Plan that includes coverage for lost or stolen aligners as well as 5 years of retainers post-treatment to maintain your new smile. The Byte Protection Plan is a non-refundable warranty on Byte aligner treatment; once added, it cannot be removed.
- Unlike several other invisible aligner companies, Byte offers multiple financing options to ensure clear aligner treatment is more accessible and affordable. Byte accepts all major debit and credit cards including Care Credit. Byte also accepts eligible insurance and you can pay with your FSA/HSA.
- Byte’s Hybrid program also provides an alternative to the at-home impression kit. You can schedule a free consultation with a Byte-affiliated dentist near you, and you will receive an oral scan to create a digital impression of your teeth.
Cons
- Byte is a bit more expensive than some newer, less established at-home clear aligner brands such as NewSmile.
- Byte is only suitable for mild-to-moderate misalignments. The company says that it will not accept you for treatment if you aren’t a good candidate.
Byte - Our Recommendation
If you’re intrigued by the HyperByte and Byte-for-Life warranty, and you prioritize customer support, check out Byte.
Special Offer: Save 80% off your impression kit + $100 of your treatment + free BrightByte Pro whitening with code SMILEPREP
Candid: Premium Treatment
Candid started selling at-home aligners in 2017, and they’ve since become one of the clear aligner industry’s most well-known brands. Today, they offer a “hybrid” treatment that involves both in-person care and remote monitoring, keeping a local dentist in the loop for your entire treatment.
Their CandidMonitoring service offers intensive remote oversight from your dentist and Candid’s team, and their treatment plans can move even the molars when it’s necessary.
Pros
- While fully “at-home” providers like Byte and NewSmile primarily focuses on moving the front teeth, Candid’s treatment plans can move all your teeth — even the molars — which makes for more comprehensive treatment.
- You’ll begin your Candid treatment in person with a local dentist who will collaborate with Candid throughout the entire treatment process.
- Using their CandidMonitoring system (which consists of a specialized device and a mobile app), you’ll send images to your dentist and Candid’s clinical team every 14 days so they can evaluate your progress. Research suggests that this kind of remote monitoring is accurate enough for clinical applications. Other providers on this list don’t include special remote monitoring equipment, but simply request that customers periodically submit photos to ensure treatment remains on track.
- Candid provides easy access to their support team seven days a week via their mobile app.
Cons
- Since you’re required to visit one of Candid’s network dentists to get started, Candid treatment is only available if you live near one of their 300+ providers nationwide.
- Because Candid treatment includes in-person care and more comprehensive plans, it costs $3,500+, depending on your dentist’s location and rates. This is obviously much more expensive than fully at-home providers like Byte and NewSmile.
- To finance Candid treatment, you’ll need to enroll in a payment plan through your dentist’s office or a third-party company, and it might require a credit check. By comparison, Byte automatically offers financing to every customer, regardless of your credit score.
NewSmile: Budget Friendly Option
NewSmile is a smaller brand that is less well-established than many of the other companies on this list, but they offer treatment for some of the lowest prices in the field. With a nighttime-only option, frequent discounts, interest-free financing, and remote oversight, they’re a solid all-around option, and a more budget-friendly SmileDirectClub alternative. Similar to Byte (and SmileDirectClub), treatment with NewSmile is fully remote. That means there are no dental office visits and you’ll take an impression of your teeth from home to get started.
Pros
- NewSmile’s $1,595 sticker price is hundreds less than Byte, and potentially thousands less than in-office and hybrid aligner treatments. They occasionally run discounts that make it even more affordable.
- You’ll submit videos of your teeth via the NewSmile Monitoring App every two weeks so their team can regularly evaluate your progress.
- They include your impression kit, retainers, and three months of whitening products at no extra charge. Some competitors charge extra for these items.
- NewSmile provides a nighttime-only plan that only requires you to wear your aligners for ten hours per day. This option costs $1,695 instead of $1,595, but NewSmile’s price is still less expensive than many of their competitors’ nighttime aligners, including Byte.
- NewSmile says they’ll work with you if your finished smile doesn’t match your treatment preview, providing free refinement aligners if necessary.
Cons
- NewSmile doesn’t offer dental scans; you’ll have to get started with an impression kit instead.
- NewSmile is a smaller and less well established company with fewer online reviews than other providers on this list.
- NewSmile is only suitable for mild-to-moderate misalignments. Like Byte, the company says it will not accept you for treatment if you aren’t a good candidate.
- Unlike Byte, NewSmile does not offer a lifetime guarantee, so you’ll want to be extra diligent about wearing your retainer after completing treatment
NewSmile - Our Recommendation
When you’re on a tight budget, teeth straightening treatment can seem overwhelmingly expensive, but NewSmile provides a much more affordable option.
Special Offer: Receive $100 Off NewSmile
MottoComplete: Easiest to Get Started
Motto by Aspen Dental is the newest aligner treatment option on this list. Aspen Dental is the second largest network of dental providers in the United States. It launched Motto in 2021 in an effort to compete on price with new and innovative providers like Byte and SmileDirectClub (before it closed down).
For patients that want to be able to check in from home, the premium MottoComplete package makes that possible. You’ll still need to visit an Aspen Dental location (you can make a same-day appointment!) to get started, but with MottoComplete, you can conduct most routine follow up check-ins virtually using your smartphone.
Pros
- Aspen Dental has more than 1,000 locations throughout the U.S., making MottoComplete easily accessible.
- Get started with an in-office appointment where they scan your smile and save time by checking in using the app throughout your treatment (with the MottoComplete plan). You’ll leave your first appointment with Tray 1 (they say “Tray 1 on Day 1”) which you can use to apply their included whitening treatment while you wait for the rest of your trays.
- Treatment financing is available through CareCredit at rates as low as $68 per month with no down payment.
- Refinements can be requested within 30 days of treatment completion if you’re not in love with your smile through their Motto Assured satisfaction guarantee. While a pro, this is also a con; 30 days is not generous compared to Byte’s “Byte for Life” guarantee.
- Motto is suitable to treat a wider range of conditions than fully remote services like Byte or NewSmile, making it most similar to Candid’s “hybrid” in-office and remote treatment platform. Note that more advanced cases treated with Motto are likely to come at a much higher cost than the advertised $2,495 price point.
Cons
- Customer satisfaction seems to vary by Aspen Dental location (some locations receive better reviews than others). We recommend looking at reviews for your local offices to determine the best option.
- Final treatment price depends on the extent of treatment; patients with straighter teeth at the beginning will pay less than patients with more complex cases.
- As with Candid, getting started requires an initial office visit to get your teeth scanned. On the other hand, this also means you won’t need to deal with mailing in an impression of your teeth. A key difference between Candid and Motto is that, with Motto, you’ll need to go back to Aspen Dental to pick up your dental trays and have buttons placed (if applicable). With Candid, your aligners are mailed to you.
- Candid’s remote monitoring system is more high-tech and thorough than the Motto app.
MottoComplete - Our Recommendation
If you’re itching to get started today and are interested in a “hybrid” treatment option that combines in-office and at-home care, MottoComplete could be right for you.
Special Offer: Save $150 on Motto clear aligners
Side-by-Side Comparison
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of these clear aligner brands’ most important info, so you can compare and contrast with ease.
Byte | Candid | NewSmile | Motto | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Price | All-Day: $2,199 At-Night: $2,599 | $3,500+, but depends on the dentist | All-Day: $1,595 At-Night: $1,695 | $2,495+ |
Financing | All-Day: $0 down, 36 monthly payments of $94 (plus interest) At-Night: $0 down, 36 monthly payments of $111 (plus interest) | Varies between dentists | All-Day: 36 monthly payments of $58 At-Night: 36 monthly payments of $64 | $68+ per month |
Advertised Treatment Duration | All-Day: 4–5 months At-Night: 5–6 months | Around 6 months | All-Day: 4–6 months At-Night: 8–10 months | 6 months (5.4 months on average) |
Startup Options | Impression kit | In-person dental scan | Impression kit | In-person dental scan |
Nighttime Option | Yes | No | Yes | No |
Includes | Aligners, whitening, case, HyperByte, 1 set of retainers | Varies between dentists | Aligners, impression kit, case, whitening, 1 set of retainers | Starter aligners with whitening kit, aligners, case, 1 set of retainers |
What About Invisalign?
Invisalign is the original clear aligner system and the industry’s most well-established brand. They’ve transformed over 15 million smiles to date, and they’re widely respected by dentists and patients alike. So why aren’t they on this list? Because, while Invisalign might deliver a similar product, on the whole, their processes are quite different.
Unlike the other companies on this list, Invisalign is developed and administered completely in-office by your dentist. Fully at-home systems like Byte and NewSmile (and SmileDirectClub before it went out of business) have licensed dental professionals that develop aligner treatment plans remotely, but customers must administer them from home. And while so-called “hybrid” options like Candid and MottoComplete do involve a small number in-office visits, they handle routine check-ins with remote monitoring via a mobile app.
Invisalign has trained and licensed 100,000 dentists and orthodontists in 90 countries to offer their treatment. Choosing Invisalign would mean that you must make regular office visits for your dentist to monitor and adjust your aligners (if necessary). Further, it also gives them the opportunity to apply elastics, buttons, and other attachments that induce more intricate tooth and jaw movements.
This increases the cost of Invisalign ($3,000–$8,000) and makes it more time-intensive (12 months on average), but it also means that Invisalign’s treatment can correct a wider scope of conditions (including bite issues like overbite, underbite, and crossbite). If your condition turns out to be too severe for home aligner treatment, or if you’re simply more comfortable seeing your dentist face-to-face each month, Invisalign is a powerful, reliable option.
Read our full Invisalign review for a lot more information, and our Invisalign customer reviews for a look at the typical patient experience.
How Should I Evaluate My Options?
This is a basic overview of a few different clear aligner options with similarities to SmileDirectClub, but choosing one company over another is a multifaceted decision. It’s important to avoid focusing too much on just one aspect of a particular company, like price or treatment time. When evaluating your options, we recommend researching and considering all the following categories:
- Scope of Treatment: Who is in charge of your treatment plan? Do you receive in-person oversight? Can the aligners incorporate attachments? All these things can influence a treatment’s scope of treatment. Before anything else, you’ll want to make sure a treatment can actually correct your condition.
- Affordability: If you’re on a budget or just a habitual bargain hunter, low costs might be your priority. This isn’t just the initial cost that you find on a company’s homepage. You should also consider their financing options, payment plans, and what items the sticker price includes.
- Convenience: Several factors affect convenience. How easy is it to get started, and how long will it take to get started? Is there an office nearby you can go to for a 3D dental scan? Or do you need to wait for an impression kit to arrive in the mail? The ability to complete check-ins remotely also factor in.
- Appearance: Clear aligners are pretty discreet, but by experimenting with different plastics, surfaces, and designs, home aligner companies have made them even more so. Aesthetics somewhat depend on personal preferences, though, so what looks “best” might vary based on a customer’s tastes and style.
- Customer Experience: When completing aligner treatment mostly (or entirely) from home, patients depend on companies having a strong remote customer service game to answer questions and resolve issues. Contact channels, responsiveness, helpfulness, and refund policies all play into the quality of a company’s customer care. This is less of an issue for options that involve in-person check-ins at a local dentist office.
Which Factors Are Most Important?
While you should certainly consider all the aspects above when deciding on a treatment option, it’s natural to focus on one or two in particular. That’s why we’ve created the following guides outlining which clear aligner services excel in each category:
Final Thoughts
SmileDirectClub reinvented the orthodontics industry by introducing affordable, at-home aligner treatment. Though SDC is no longer in business, there are now more options than ever before when it comes to straightening your teeth on a budget.
Ultimately, teeth straightening treatment is an investment, and like any investment, you should consider all the options before making a final decision. If you saw a company here that caught your attention, dig into further research and reach out to them with any questions. This way, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge to make a well-informed, confident decision and get started transforming your smile.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which at-home aligner companies offer nighttime-only treatment?
SmileDirectClub, Byte, AlignerCo, and NewSmile. Byte, AlignerCo, and NewSmile charge more for nighttime treatment than daytime treatment, while SmileDirectClub charges the same amount.
What is the cheapest alternative to SmileDirectClub?
Byte offers fairly affordable prices and automatic financing approval, and NewSmile’s sticker price is even lower. But if you’re looking for the lowest price possible, AlignerCo is your best bet. Their $995 sticker price is easily the lowest in the industry. And they offer multiple financing options to make treatment even more accessible. Read our guide on the Most Affordable Clear Aligners to learn more.
What is the best at-home clear aligner service?
In our opinion, Byte offers the best overall value, but there’s no one-size-fits-all teeth-straightening solution. For a comprehensive analysis of the best options available, visit our review of the five best at-home clear aligners.
Which conditions can at-home aligners treat?
Home aligners are primarily designed to treat mild-to-moderate cases of crowding and spacing, along with some mild bite issues. If your case is severe or includes a jaw misalignment like overbite or underbite, home aligners might not have the capacity to induce the larger tooth and jaw shifts you’re after.
Does insurance cover clear aligner treatment?
Getting insurance coverage for orthodontics depends entirely on your provider and plan. Byte, for example, has partnerships with Aetna, Anthem, Humana, and Guardian to provide coverage on certain plans. But having orthodontic benefits doesn’t automatically mean you’ll receive coverage. You should check with your insurance provider to find out for sure.
How do I get started with home aligners?
You’ll need to order an impression kit and create molds of your teeth, then send them to your company of choice. If you go with SmileDirectClub, you can visit one of their physical locations for a free teeth scan, which replaces the impression kit process. SmileDirectClub also has a partnership network that includes more than 1,500 dentists nationwide, so you can get started in an office if you’d prefer.
Are home aligners safe?
At-home clear aligner treatment plans are always designed and/or approved by a licensed dentist or orthodontist — as long as you’re buying from a legitimate clear aligner service.
The main concern regarding the safety of fully-remote clear aligner treatment is the lack of face-to-face care. Since you won’t be seeing a dentist in-person during treatment, you won’t receive the same level of support that you’d get with traditional in-office aligners like Invisalign or ClearCorrect. That said, a recent NIH-funded survey found the majority of at-home aligner customers were satisfied with their results, and only 6.6% experienced side effects necessitating a visit to their local dentist.
Read our guide to safe home teeth straightening treatment for more information.
Do clear aligners hurt?
Customers often report experiencing tightness or discomfort during the first 1–2 days of wearing a new set of aligners, after which the discomfort subsides. Some companies provide “chewies” or other devices to help ensure a more comfortable aligner fit.
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