Invisalign Express vs. Byte in 2022 (Comparison Review)

Invisalign used to be the only clear aligner product on the market, but in recent years, several other brands have gained popularity.

These days, online clear aligners like Byte offer an affordable Invisalign alternative for busy adults on a budget. But how do services like Byte actually compare to Invisalign?

Since Byte is designed to be an “express” system, it’s best to compare it to the Invisalign equivalent: Invisalign Express, a shortened version of Invisalign.

In this comparison review, we’ll put Byte and Invisalign Express side-by-side to see how they stack up in terms of cost, treatment speed, and more. By the time we’re finished, you’ll have a much better understanding of which one lines up with your needs!

Spoiler Alert: Byte Wins! Based on our 5-part review criteria, Byte offers significantly better overall value than Invisalign Express.

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Snapshot: Byte vs. Invisalign Express

That’s the run-down on the basic differences between Invisalign Express and Byte. Still curious? Read on for more info on these important differences.

Why Are Invisalign Express and Byte So Different, Anyway?

On the surface, Byte and Invisalign Express seem exactly the same: they both treat tooth misalignments invisibly, and they do it fast. But when you dig into it, you realize that there are lots of differences. And all those differences boil down to one core distinction: Byte is an at-home treatment method, and Invisalign Express is overseen in person by your doctor.

As part of your Invisalign Express treatment, you’ll need to visit your dentist or orthodontist every few weeks so they can evaluate your progress, add attachments, and make timeline adjustments if necessary.

And while this helps ensure effective, safe treatment, it also makes Invisalign Express less affordable and convenient. Office visits are the main reason in-office clear aligners are more expensive. Your dentist’s time, equipment, and resources aren’t free, after all. Plus, fitting regular appointments into your busy schedule (and potentially taking time off work) isn’t ideal. The fully remote service you’ll get from at-home treatments is much more convenient, and without office visit costs, much cheaper too.

With that distinction in mind, let’s check out the other differences between Byte and Invisalign Express.

Company Track Records: Invisalign Express

To say that Invisalign is the biggest clear aligner company is an understatement. They got their start in 1997 thanks to Align Technology, a dental supply manufacturer. For about a decade, they had a complete monopoly on the clear aligner scene. Even though at-home aligner companies have since popped up, Invisalign is still a (nearly) household name. They partner with dentists around the world (more than 100,000 of them!), and as a result, they’ve served more than 8 million customers.

In terms of treatment, Invisalign’s ability to address a wide variety of conditions is their stand-out feature. They’re best known for Invisalign Full, which can treat just about any case. That’s thanks to their patented SmartForce attachments and the elastics and expanders that your orthodontist can add. Invisalign Express can’t use elastics and expanders, but they can use some SmartForce attachments.

In comparison to Invisalign, Byte is much, much newer. They got started in 2018 as the brainchild of Dr. Marashi, who has perfected smiles for several of Hollywood’s brightest stars. He wanted to bring his celebrity-level treatment to the masses, so he partnered with some fellow smile pros and got to work.

Byte wants to make you feel like an A-lister with their Smile Science. Instead of giving you a cookie-cutter smile, Byte develops a treatment plan that will straighten your smile in the way that best complements your unique facial features. They also have the fastest treatment time of any at-home aligner company and an excellent lifetime guarantee on your treatment. So while they may be the “new kid on the block,” Byte is set to make some big waves in the orthodontics industry.

Treatment Quality: Draw

The two main factors that affect your treatment quality are who designs your treatment plan and who manufactures the aligners themselves. Of those two, the treatment designer is much more important. Byte works with both general dentists and orthodontists to design their plans. They feel that this mixture of perspectives offers the best results. However, you do not get to choose the exact doctors who plan your treatment.

With Invisalign Express, you have control over who you work with. You can pick either a dentist or an orthodontist to administer your treatment since they partner with both. Normally, we’d strongly advise you to go with an orthodontist. But we’ve found that in-person treatment is usually more effective than remote, regardless of whether it’s administered by a dentist or an orthodontist. That’s largely thanks to the fact that the one designing your treatment can add in SmartForce attachments and make on-the-fly adaptations to your treatment (if needed). You won’t get that with Byte.

Treatment Speed: Byte

No two smiles are created equal. That means that your treatment prognosis will be quite different from someone else’s. How long you’ll wear your aligners will largely depend on your condition’s severity and complexity. Then, of course, there’s your own wear schedule to consider; if you follow your treatment to a “T,” you’ll finish faster than if you were to wear your aligners inconsistently.

That said, each company has its own speed. Here are the typical treatment times for Invisalign and Byte:

• Invisalign Express: 3 to 6 months
• Byte: 3 months for daytime treatment, 5-6 months for nighttime treatment

Byte is arguably the fastest option on the market, but for really minor cases, Invisalign Express comes pretty close. Your Express provider will help you narrow down exactly how long your treatment will last.

Invisalign Express is a three-level system. You’ll purchase a set of 5, 7, or 10 aligners based on how much correction you need. Understandably, the 5-aligner sets will take the least amount of time.

Byte’s speed is largely thanks to their HyperByte device, which uses gentle vibrations to help shift teeth into place more quickly. On average, Byte is a touch faster across the board than Invisalign Express — but not by much.

Thanks to the HyperByte device, Byte is able to offer faster treatment times than any other clear aligner service. With Invisalign Express, you may be able to buy a comparable device from your dentist, but it will cost between $500 – $1,000.

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Pricing & Features: Byte

A million-dollar smile is exciting, but it shouldn’t cost you a million bucks. The overall price tag of each service matters, and it’s also important to consider what your money gets you. Every treatment option means paying for a few core items: diagnostics, treatment itself, and post-treatment retainers. We’ll cover those here.

Treatment Start-Up Costs

• Invisalign Express, price varies: To kick off your Invisalign Express treatment, you’ll need to have an initial consultation with your dentist or orthodontist of choice. The cost of this consultation depends on your individual provider. Some orthodontists may offer it for free, and others will charge a small fee.
• Byte, $95: With Byte, you’ll need to purchase and complete an impression kit so your orthodontist can design your treatment plan. The kit includes putty, trays, a smile stretcher, and everything else you’ll need to complete impressions at home. They’ll even coach you through the process over video chat if you’d like. The sticker price for this kit is $95, but Byte will frequently run sales that cut the cost.

Treatment Costs

• Invisalign Express, $1,500-$4,000 (average): The actual cost of Invisalign Express largely depends on your dentist’s or orthodontist’s fees and length of your treatment. Your orthodontist or dentist will give you a full quote before you pay.
• Byte, $1,895-$2,295: Once you agree to treatment, Byte will send you your full aligner kit, from Step 1 to your last aligner. They also throw in the HyperByte (retails for $699) and a bottle of BrightByte, their whitening system, which doubles as a breath freshener and a cleanser for your aligners. Byte At-Night is a bit pricier since the aligners are Byte’s “premium” product.

Post-Treatment Retainers

• Invisalign Express, varies: Like everything else with Invisalign, your cost for post-treatment retainers will largely depend on what your orthodontist or dentist charges. The average prices we’ve seen for Invisalign Full are between $100-300 (and they’re probably similar for Express), but you may end up paying more or less.
• Byte, FREE: Byte includes your first set of post-treatment retainers for free with the purchase of your aligner kit. That’s a big plus since you’ll need it to keep your newly perfected smile in position for a lifetime. However, the retainers don’t last forever. Whenever you need a replacement (Byte recommends every six months), you can pick up more for $129.

Byte’s price is set in stone, but it’s hard to say a definitive price for Invisalign Express. So for some minor cases, Invisalign Express may be cheaper. However, since Byte cuts out office visits and their associated costs, they’re usually the more affordable option.

Customer Support: Invisalign Express

No one wants to have issues with their treatment. But sometimes, life happens. An aligner could break or go missing, payment information could change — you get the idea. When issues arise, you’ll need to get in contact with customer support.

Technically speaking, you can contact Invisalign directly via email. But the better approach is to get in touch with the orthodontist or dentist who’s overseeing your Express treatment. They’ll know the ins and outs of your case, so if you need a repair, a replacement, or a modification to your treatment, your local provider is the best way to get it.

Byte, on the other hand, is completely remote. If anything goes wrong, you can contact them via email, phone, text, webchat, or even social media. Their customer support hours are from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm PST. If you contact them through social media, you should get a response within 24 hours. The more “traditional” channels are usually a touch faster; a phone call, for example, will get you an almost immediate response.

One thing we really like about Byte is the fact that they assign a Byte advisor to each customer. This advisor becomes your personal customer service rep, so any time you have a question or concern, you’ll talk directly with a person who already understands the ins and outs of your case.

In general, the one-on-one care you get from your Invisalign Express provider leads to better customer service. That said, we think Byte’s personal advisors provide a comparable support experience.

Ease of Getting Started: Invisalign Express

Like we alluded to earlier, there are different ways to kick off your Invisalign Express or Byte treatment.

With Invisalign Express, the “trickiest” part of starting your treatment is finding your local Invisalign provider and booking a consultation. (Please note that not all dentists who provide Invisalign also provide Invisalign Express, but many do). After that, the provider will handle all the technical aspects of taking scans, X-rays, and molds of your teeth at your appointment. You just have to show up, answer questions, and, of course, keep your mouth open when asked.

Byte’s start-up process is a tad more complicated. From the start to finish of your treatment, you never actually step foot in an office. But their orthodontists still need images and molds of your teeth to design an individualized treatment plan. That’s why you’ll need to buy an impression kit from Byte for $95 (or less during sales).

Once your kit arrives, you’ll use the included trays and putty to take molds of your teeth. Then, using the smile stretcher, you’ll take a few photos so your orthodontist can get a good look at how your smile compares to your facial features and how your teeth look from different angles. After you send back the impression kit (using a prepaid shipping label) and submit your photos, Byte can begin to develop your treatment plan.

Some customers struggle to take good impressions, regardless of which at-home aligner company they use. In this category, Invisalign definitely takes a win since your dentist or orthodontist will handle the difficult parts. Byte does their best to ease the process, though; you can schedule a video chat to have one of their care assistants coach you through the steps.

Customer Reviews: Byte

In the age of Amazon and other Internet retailers, online shopping is pretty common. But savvy shoppers are careful to read reviews before clicking “Buy.” This is especially important for Byte, which you can only purchase online. Your orthodontist can give a professional opinion on Invisalign Express, but it is still nice to hear the opinions of others who’ve used the system.

You could dig through online reviews yourself, but we know your time is valuable, so we’ve made it easy. We’ve given a brief summary of the top customer likes and dislikes for both Invisalign Express and Byte. (A quick note, though: most of the Invisalign-related reviews are for standard Invisalign, but the aligners themselves are the same, so it’s still worth noting here).

Byte and Invisalign Express are both pretty well-loved by their customers. And that’s not terribly surprising, since Byte is our top-rated at-home service and Invisalign is the top in-office method. Even the best options, however, can experience minor mishaps. What’s important is that these mishaps are the exceptions for both companies, not the norm.

Refund Policies & Satisfaction Guarantees: Byte

No one wants a purchase to go wrong, regardless of whether it’s big or small. And when it comes to your teeth, your satisfaction is critical.

Invisalign Express’ Warranty

With Invisalign Express, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be too dissatisfied with your treatment because your orthodontist or dentist will be able to make small adjustments throughout the process. If there are any issues, your dentist will spot them before they become major problems, keeping your treatment on track and ensuring your satisfaction.

That said, the exact warranty you’ll get will depend on your individual provider. Some will replace a SmartForce attachment for free, some will charge you for new aligners if you lose one, and others don’t have any sort of warranty policy. You’ll have to ask your orthodontist or dentist to know for sure.

The “Byte-for-Life Guarantee”

Byte doesn’t technically have a refund policy for their aligners. You can get your money back for the impression kit, but only if it turns out that you’re not a candidate for treatment. Once you purchase the aligner kit, there’s no refund. However, Byte stands by their product with their Byte-for-Life guarantee.

This guarantee is essentially a lifetime warranty. If your teeth ever shift after treatment, Byte will send you new aligners to correct it. Similarly, if you reach the end of your treatment and you’re not satisfied, you can request a re-evaluation. As long as you’ve followed your prescribed treatment plan, Byte will help make it right.

Which is the Best Clear Aligner for You?

Let’s be clear: Invisalign Express and Byte are both good options. However, what works for one person may not be what’s best for you. Here are some general guidelines for who should choose Invisalign and who should opt for Byte:

Choose Byte If:

You’re in a rush. The treatment time for Byte takes as little as three months. Byte is also an excellent choice if you need a balance of quality and good value. And if you want the convenience of nighttime treatment, Byte is still the best option (albeit a tad slower).

Choose Invisalign Express If:

Your case is pretty minor but you still want the security of having a professional handle your treatment in-person.

Invisalign Express might be a good option if you prefer in-person care or want to use the Invisalign brand. But Byte is our top-ranked clear aligner company, and we think they’re the overall better choice.

Final Verdict: Byte Wins!

And even though they’re our #1-rated home aligner company, they’re not the only option out there. If you like the idea of straightening your teeth from home, we encourage you to compare all the top-rated home aligner services before making a final decision.

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