Best Clear Aligners in the US

The shortlist at a glance

Prices are the providers' own, without any promotion, and were checked on the date shown. Offers are listed separately and played no part in choosing the shortlist.

The shortlist in detail

Other clinician-provided aligner systems

Invisalign is not the only aligner system dentists and orthodontists use. These are separate products from different manufacturers, offered as alternatives to Invisalign: a practice may offer one, several or none of them. As with Invisalign, the practice examines you, plans your treatment and sets the fee, so choose the clinician and compare written quotes for the same case.

Invisalign has its own place on the shortlist because it is the best known and most widely offered; that is not a finding that it works better than these systems.

• ClearCorrect

  Made by ClearCorrect, owned by the dental company Straumann. Your dentist examines you and approves a 3D plan, and what your fee covers depends on which ClearCorrect package your dentist orders, so ask which one your quote is based on.

  Price: $2,900 to $4,713. Read the ClearCorrect review

• Spark

  Made by the orthodontic supplier Ormco and offered by many orthodontists alongside Invisalign. One practice that publishes fees charges the same for Spark as for Invisalign, so get quotes for both for the same case.

  Price: $4,000 to $7,100. Read the Spark review

• Angel Aligner

  Made by Angelalign Technology and provided mainly through orthodontists, who plan treatment in Angel's software and approve it before aligners are made. Ask whether your quote is for its Pro or Select line; the features Angel promotes for complex cases rest on its own claims.

  Price: $4,000 to $7,800. Read the Angel Aligner review

Compare these providers side by side

Our comparison shows up to three providers at once, with the same facts in the same rows. Start with one of these pairings, or add any provider above with its Compare button.

Providers we reviewed but did not shortlist

Not being on this list is not a finding that a provider is unsafe or unsuitable for everyone. Each review sets out what we found.

• Smileie: Its FAQ and refund policy give different answers on what you get back if you are not suitable and on refinements. Its FAQ also says bite problems can be fixed, while its policy turns down cases that need attachments, IPR or molar movement. Separately, it does not say which of its named clinicians reviews your case.
• AlignerCo: Its terms charge for approved extra aligners, keep the kit and transaction fees if you turn down your plan, and send disputes to binding arbitration. Its Better Business Bureau profile lists 282 complaints over three years, mostly about the product and service, and its policy does not say what happens if aligners stop fitting partway through, one of the complaints we read most often. It also does not say who reviews your case or how many retainer sets you get, which is missing information rather than a problem.
• NewSmile: Its guarantee page promises a full refund if you are not a candidate, but its refund policy takes fixed fees off and ends refunds after five months. Its terms on extra aligners contradict each other, and its Better Business Bureau profile is rated F, mainly for not responding to complaints.
• Smile Perfect: Its refund pages contradict each other, and disputes go to Irish courts. It also does not name the prescribing dentist.
• PearlsWhite: Its pages give three different treatment lengths, and it describes itself as a platform rather than a dental provider. It also names no dentist.
• 2USmile: Its guarantees depend on conditions its nighttime plan cannot meet. It also names no clinician.
• Oral Creation: An aligner system prescribed by dentists. We could not confirm that it is available in the US. That is unresolved rather than a problem we found.

How we chose these providers

• Current availability

  We started from every clear aligner provider and system we review for the US, and left out one whose US availability we could not confirm.

• Exam and supervision

  We gave most weight to an exam by a dentist or orthodontist before aligners are made, because only an exam can show whether aligners suit your teeth. For a remote service, we looked for named clinicians and published terms we could check.

• What the price covers

  We preferred a published price or a clear quote process, and checked what the price includes: retainers, refinements and replacement aligners. A sale price was not a reason in itself to leave a provider out; where a provider does not say what it charges outside a sale, our review says so.

• Problems found, and information missing

  We left out providers whose reviews found a specific problem we would want resolved first: refund, guarantee or refinement terms that contradict each other, guarantees a plan cannot meet, or terms that add costs or limit your options if treatment does not go to plan. Missing information, such as an unnamed clinician, is not a problem in itself. Our reviews say where it applies, and we left a provider out for it only where it left us too little to judge by.

• A real choice

  We chose providers that work differently from one another, so the list covers practice treatment, a fixed-price clinic chain, a dental office network, home check-ins and remote treatment, rather than five versions of the same thing. Other dentist-provided systems are listed separately as alternatives to Invisalign.

Every fact on this page comes from our provider reviews, which list their sources and the date each was checked.

We did not test any treatment, examine anyone or speak to patients, and no clinician has reviewed this guide. Offers and promotions played no part in choosing the shortlist. How we compare explains how our comparison and finder work.

Not sure which to look at first?

Our finder asks up to six questions about what matters to you and suggests providers to read about, from every provider we review for the US, not only this shortlist.