What Each Tool Is Built For
Smilecloud's pitch is a workflow: one photo becomes "a facially aligned smile design, an organized view with added 3D reference, an AI-assisted video simulation and a collaborative case — all in minutes, not hours." Their Blueprint feature brings in scan data, CBCT, and motion; their new Biometric Motion generates movement from the patient's scan and design data in "one click, ten seconds." It's a design and collaboration platform — dentists, labs, and universities working the same case in one cloud workspace, backed by multiple patents.
SmileFrame is built for one moment: the consultation. Photo in, photorealistic simulation out in about 30 seconds — or a video of the patient smiling with the result in under 2 minutes — reviewed by you before the patient sees it. No design environment, no case workspace. That's deliberate: the job is same-day case acceptance, not case engineering.
Both Have Video. The Difference Is What It Takes to Get One.
Credit where due: Smilecloud offers AI-assisted video simulation and a photorealistic before-and-after video tool — one of the few platforms besides SmileFrame that does. The difference is the input. Smilecloud's richest output draws on design and scan data inside its workflow. SmileFrame's video needs a smartphone photo and two minutes, because it's meant to happen while the patient is still in the chair.
Pricing
SmileFrame charges $5 per simulation, published on the site. No subscription, no case quota, credits don't expire.
Smilecloud lists four plan tiers — Lite and Starter (single member, 120 cases), Business (per-member pricing, unlimited cases), and Dental Group (3+ locations) — with annual billing and a 14-day free trial of the Business plan, no credit card required. As of July 2026, the dollar amounts weren't visible in plain text on their pricing page when we checked, so budget for confirming the numbers in the trial or with sales.
| SmileFrame | Smilecloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Job | Chairside case acceptance | Smile design + team collaboration |
| Published pricing | $5 per simulation | Tiered plans; amounts not in plain text (July 2026) |
| Pricing model | Pay-per-use, no quota | Annual plans; 120-case quota on lower tiers; per-member on Business |
| Time to a patient-ready visual | ~30 seconds (image), <2 min (video) | "Minutes, not hours" (design workflow) |
| Video simulation | Yes, from a phone photo | Yes, AI-assisted within its workflow |
| 3D / scan / CBCT integration | No | Yes (Blueprint) |
| Lab & specialist collaboration | No | Yes — core strength |
| HIPAA / BAA | BAA at signup, 7-day auto-delete | Not described on their site — ask |
| Free to start | First case $5, self-serve | 14-day free trial, no credit card |
What Smilecloud Does Better
- Collaboration: labs, specialists, and clinics working one case in a shared workspace
- 3D depth: scan data, CBCT, and motion integrated into the design (Blueprint)
- Design output: facially aligned, patient-specific smile designs — not just a preview
- A genuine free trial of the full Business plan, no credit card
- Patented biometric design and motion technology with an academic footprint
What SmileFrame Does Better
- Published pay-per-use pricing: $5 per case, no annual plan, no case quota, no per-member seats
- Speed to the reveal: 30 seconds from photo to patient-ready simulation
- Zero workflow adoption: nothing to learn before the first consultation
- HIPAA by default: BAA at signup, automatic 7-day photo deletion
- Dentist review before the patient sees anything
The Bottom Line
If your cosmetic cases involve labs, scans, and multi-party planning — and you want the smile design itself to be a deliverable — Smilecloud is the more complete platform, and the free trial makes it easy to verify. If what you need is the 30-second wow moment that turns a consultation into an accepted case, SmileFrame does exactly that for $5, with HIPAA handled and nothing new to learn. Plenty of practices would rationally run Smilecloud for planning and SmileFrame for the chairside close.