Invisalign Maker Align's $31.75 Million SmileDirectClub Aligner Settlement: Approved, Payments Reported Under Way

The case is Snow v. Align Technology Inc., Case No. 3:21-cv-03269-VC, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California before Judge Vince Chhabria. It was filed on May 3, 2021. The plaintiffs claim that Align, which makes Invisalign aligners sold through dentists, entered an anticompetitive agreement with SmileDirectClub that suppressed competition in the market for aligners sold directly to consumers, so SmileDirectClub customers overpaid.

According to class counsel's summary of the complaint, Align agreed in written agreements not to compete with SmileDirectClub in direct-to-consumer aligners in exchange for a minority ownership stake, and a 2018 arbitration award extended the non-compete terms until August 18, 2022. The claims were brought under Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which bars every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade. Our overview of antitrust laws explains how agreements not to compete can be illegal.

Align denies wrongdoing and says the challenged conduct was lawful, and the court never decided whether Align broke the law. SmileDirectClub itself was not a defendant; in 2022 the court denied Align's motion to add it to the case. SmileDirectClub's customer records were used to identify buyers for automatic payment.

The court defined the settlement class as all persons in the United States who purchased, paid for, or reimbursed some or all of the purchase price of SmileDirectClub aligners acquired for personal use from October 22, 2017 until August 18, 2022. That class period covers nearly five years, from October 22, 2017 through August 18, 2022. A parent who paid for a teenager's aligners counts as a purchaser.

When the earlier version of the settlement was filed in 2024, class counsel described the class as about 1.45 million consumers. The class excludes class counsel and their employees, Align's officers, directors, and employees and its counsel, federal and state government entities, the judge and his family and staff, and anyone who opted out.

This settlement covers only SmileDirectClub aligners. People who bought Invisalign through a dentist were not in this class.

The settlement website estimated that each class member with a valid claim would receive $40 to $60, and not less than $10. The amount is the same for everyone, whether they were paid automatically or filed a claim, and it does not depend on how much you spent on aligners. It is an equal share of the net fund after deductions.

Item	Terms
Settlement fund	$31,750,000
Attorneys' fees requested	Up to 25% plus expenses
Class representative awards	Up to $7,500 each
Notice and administration	Paid from the fund
Per-person payment	Estimated $40 to $60

The estimate assumed a certain number of valid claims; more claims would lower each payment and fewer would raise it. As of September 2026 we have not found an official figure for the actual per-person amount paid, so treat $40 to $60 as the court-approved estimate, not a confirmed result. For how these shares are set, see how class action money is divided.

There were two paths to payment:

• Automatic: class members identified as purchasers in SmileDirectClub's records were treated as having valid claims and did not need to file anything.
• Claim form: class members not in those records had to submit a claim form online or by mail, postmarked by October 27, 2025, to Snow v. Align Class Action, Settlement Administrator, PO Box 2830, Portland, OR 97208-2830.

The claim deadline was October 27, 2025, and the opt-out and objection deadline was October 30, 2025; both have passed. The administrator can be reached at 1-888-788-8304 or info@SDCAlignerSettlement.com.

Event	Date
Class period	October 22, 2017 to August 18, 2022
Preliminary approval	May 28, 2025
Claim deadline	October 27, 2025
Opt-out and objection deadline	October 30, 2025
Final approval hearing	November 20, 2025
Final approval granted	November 21, 2025

Class counsel Hagens Berman reports that Judge Chhabria granted final approval on November 21, 2025 and that pro rata cash payments will be sent to class members. ClaimDepot, a settlement news site, reported in an August 2026 update that the administrator began issuing payments in March 2026. The official settlement website had not posted a payment update when we checked in September 2026.

If you were an automatic class member or filed on time and have not received anything, contact the administrator at 1-888-788-8304 with your name and the email or address you used with SmileDirectClub. Check spam folders for digital payment emails, and remember that uncashed or unclaimed digital payments may expire. Our guide on what to do if you have not received a settlement check walks through the steps.

If you were not in SmileDirectClub's records and did not file by October 27, 2025, you cannot get a payment, and unless you opted out by October 30, 2025, you released your claims against Align over this conduct. See opting out or objecting for how that release works.

Other antitrust settlements include the RealPage rent price fixing settlements, which are still taking claims, and the NAR realtor commission settlement. Browse all open settlements. For this one, the official settlement website linked above is the only source for payment status.