Bite
Quick verdict: Ever counted how many empty toothpaste tubes you throw out in a year? Bite’s answer is to skip the tube. The toothpaste comes as little dry tablets in a glass jar you refill: bite one, brush, and it foams up like paste. It’s a certified B Corp, it offers both fluoride and hydroxyapatite, and Wirecutter picked it as the best of the tablets they tried. You’ll pay roughly three times what a tube costs, and the first few brushes feel weird. Our rating: 3.7 out of 5.
Who they are
Lindsay McCormick started Bite in 2017 after getting fed up with the pile of tiny travel tubes she went through, and she runs it with co-founder Asher Hunt. The company trades as The Kind Lab PBC, a public benefit corporation.
It’s still the founders’ company. They went on Shark Tank and turned down Mark Cuban’s offer, and grew it without venture money. Startup databases do list one outside investor, and nobody says how big that stake is, so we’ve scored ownership a notch below fully founder-owned rather than assume it’s small.
We haven’t filled in a headquarters city. The sources we found put it in two different parts of Los Angeles, and we’d rather leave the field blank than pick one.
What they get right
The B Corp certification is real and current. We checked B Lab’s own directory, and The Kind Lab PBC is listed as certified since September 2022. That’s worth saying out loud, because three brands the internet still calls B Corps turned out not to be when we looked this year.
You choose the active. There’s a fluoride version with 0.76% sodium monofluorophosphate and a fluoride-free version with 5% nano-hydroxyapatite. That matters more than the packaging, honestly, because a tablet with no real active would just be a very tidy breath mint. If you’re weighing the two, our breakdown of hydroxyapatite vs fluoride goes through what the trials show.
It performs. That surprised us. When Wirecutter tested toothpaste tablets, Bite came out on top. It foams, it cleans, and it doesn’t leave the chalky feel some tablets do.
They tell you what’s in it and where it’s made. Full ingredient lists sit on every product, and the help center says the tablets are made in California. It also admits the toothbrushes and floss come from China, which plenty of brands wouldn’t bother mentioning.
Where they fall short
It costs more than a tube, and not by a little. A small starter jar is $12 and a four-month jar is $48, so figure about $12 a month, or around $8 on a refill subscription. A regular tube runs a few dollars a month. You’re paying for the packaging change. That’s the deal.
The subscription is where people get stuck. Bite’s BBB file isn’t a record of bad product. The complaints are mostly about refunds and subscriptions that were hard to stop. Set a reminder if you sign up.
Some claims only come from Bite. The vegan and cruelty-free marks are PETA’s, which runs on company pledges rather than audits, and Bite isn’t in either Leaping Bunny register we checked. There’s no ADA Seal either, though we couldn’t find a toothpaste tablet from anyone that has one.
The format takes a week. You chew a tablet, add a wet brush, and wait for it to foam. It’s pretty strange the first time and normal by the fifth. A few people never get past it.
What they sell and what it costs
The core is toothpaste tablets, in fluoride and fluoride-free versions across a few flavors: $12 for a one-ounce starter jar, $48 for a four-month jar, and refills listed at $48 or $32 on subscription. Alongside that there’s mouthwash tablets, floss, bamboo toothbrushes and deodorant.
Call it $$. It’s a premium over drugstore toothpaste and roughly in line with other plastic-free oral care.
Who it’s actually for
Buy Bite if the plastic tube is the thing that bugs you and you want a toothpaste that still protects your enamel. It’s also great for travel, since a handful of dry tablets doesn’t count as a liquid.
If price is the deciding factor, a clean tube is the better deal. Our natural toothpaste roundup has picks in metal tubes with fluoride or hydroxyapatite for less money a month, and our list of zero-waste bathroom swaps covers the rest of the sink.
Deals and discounts
No affiliate relationship on our side. Subscribing brings the refill price down from $48 to $32, which is the cheapest way to buy it, as long as you remember you’ve subscribed.
Related reading
Frequently asked questions
Is Bite a B Corp?
Yes. B Lab’s directory lists The Kind Lab PBC, the company behind Bite, as a certified B Corporation since September 2022. We read it in the directory itself rather than taking it from the brand.
Does Bite toothpaste have fluoride?
It comes both ways. The fluoride version uses 0.76% sodium monofluorophosphate, and the fluoride-free version uses 5% nano-hydroxyapatite instead.
How much does Bite cost per month?
About $12 a month at list price, based on the $48 four-month jar. A refill subscription brings that closer to $8.
Are Bite toothpaste tablets ADA approved?
No. Bite doesn’t carry the ADA Seal of Acceptance. We didn’t find a toothpaste tablet from any brand that does, so it’s a gap in the format rather than something Bite alone is missing.
Is Bite still independent?
Yes. It’s run by its co-founders, Lindsay McCormick and Asher Hunt, with no parent company. Startup databases list one outside investor, but no acquisition.