Stride Vs Bilt Lab
Bilt Labs vs Stride Soles: We Read Both Process Pages. One Of Them Never Watches You Walk.
Two custom orthotics, roughly $250 each, six months to return either. So we went past the marketing and read how each one actually captures your foot. Bilt Labs takes a foam impression you post back. Stride takes a 3D scan and a video of your gait. The published research says that difference matters more than anything else on either website.
Both companies laser scan something. Only one of them scans your foot.
The verdict, if you are in a hurry
Both build a real custom orthotic. Only one of them ever sees your foot move.
Bilt Labs takes a foam impression you press at home and post back, laser scans that block of foam at the lab, and designs your device from it plus a written questionnaire. No gait or motion capture appears anywhere in its published ten-step process.
Stride Soles designs from a 3D scan of your foot and a video of you walking, both taken on your phone in about five minutes, then has a podiatry team build the prescription from both. In the published research, foam is the least reliable common method for recording an arch, and a foot standing still is a poor guide to a foot under load.
Research referenced above: Farhan, Wang, Bray, Burns and Cheng, systematic review, Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, 2021, 14:2 (capture method reliability). Buldt, Levinger, Murley, Menz, Nester and Landorf, Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, 2015 (static foot posture against gait kinematics). Both are described in full further down.
What is genuinely the same
Both are real custom orthotics, not heat-moldable shelf inserts. Both are ordered from home with no prescription. Both are FSA and HSA eligible. Both give you six months to send them back for a full refund. Single-pair pricing is close enough that nobody wins on cost.
Bilt Labs is not a fly-by-night operation and this page does not pretend otherwise. It manufactures in its own Houston lab, carves its shell from medical-grade polypropylene on a CNC mill, has designs reviewed by Dr. William Naughton, DPM, a board-certified podiatrist, and publishes all ten of its manufacturing steps in the open, which is more transparency than this category usually offers.
That last point is the reason this comparison exists. Because when you read those ten steps closely, something is missing from them.
The foam problem
Bilt Labs' customization process page names the medium. At step two, your foam impressions are unpacked and checked into the lab. At step three, those foam impressions are laser scanned. So the order is: foam records your foot, the post carries the foam, the scanner records the foam.
A foam box captures your foot as one static compression. How deep it goes depends on how hard you press, how fast, and where your weight sits in that moment. Each side can only be done once. Then the block travels through the postal system, where it can be knocked out of shape. Those are precisely the conditions that make a capture hard to reproduce, and the literature shows it.
Farhan, Wang, Bray, Burns and Cheng, systematic review, Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, 2021. ICC is a reliability score from 0 to 1; higher is more repeatable. Stated fairly: the same review found overall accuracy between methods broadly comparable, and noted the literature here is limited. The weak figures are specific to the foam impression method, which is the method Bilt Labs' own process page describes.
And the laser scan comes too late to fix it. Bilt Labs describes building a digital twin of your foot at micron precision. Read the step order again: that twin is built from the foam block, not from you. Micron precision applied to a capture that scored 0.25 on reliability gives you a micron-precise copy of an unreliable capture. Nothing downstream can add detail the foam never held.
The thing missing from all ten steps
An orthotic exists to change what your foot does while you are on it. How the arch loads. When the heel everts. How pressure travels from heel strike to toe off. That is a moving problem. A foam impression is a still photograph of a foot doing none of it.
Cavanagh, Morag, Boulton, Young, Deffner and Pammer, 1997 (static structure against dynamic plantar pressure); Buldt, Levinger, Murley, Menz, Nester and Landorf, Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, 2015 (Foot Posture Index items against gait kinematics); Cornwall and McPoil, 1996 (17 static measurements against rearfoot motion); Dicharry, Franz, Della Croce, Wilder, Riley and Kerrigan, Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, 2009 (talonavicular mobility, static against dynamic). Stated fairly: this literature is not unanimous. Chuter, Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, 2010 found the Foot Posture Index predicted rearfoot eversion more strongly. The weight of evidence points one way, but there is real disagreement in it, and anyone telling you otherwise is overselling.
Bilt Labs publishes ten process steps. Kit arrives, foam checked in, foam laser scanned, device designed in software from your weight, activity and pain points, podiatrist review, toolpath setup, milling, hand finishing, quality control, ship. There is no walking assessment, no gait capture and no motion data anywhere in that sequence. The design inputs are a foam impression and a written questionnaire.
Stride records you walking. The capture is a 3D scan of each foot plus a short gait video, both taken on the same phone in about five minutes, and both feed the prescription the podiatrist designs from. It is the pairing a clinic uses: look at the foot, then watch the foot work.
How Stride Soles actually works
Full disclosure, since it belongs here rather than in the small print: this comparison is published by Stride Soles, which sells custom orthotics. Every Bilt Labs fact above comes from Bilt Labs' own website, reviewed in August 2026, and every research finding comes from the peer-reviewed studies named alongside it.
Take the assessment
Four minutes of questions about where the pain sits, what you have already tried, and how long you spend on your feet. No card details to see your result.
Capture your feet on your phone
A 3D scan of each foot plus a short walking video, about five minutes in total, on iPhone or Android. The scan gives the shape. The video gives the motion. A bad take is redone in seconds.
A podiatrist designs the prescription
Every pair is designed in Oberkochen, Germany by Dr. Dietmar Walter and his third-generation clinic, the same team that prescribes orthotics in hospitals and physiotherapy practices.
It arrives in 10 to 15 days
Free shipping, with Express (7 to 10 days) and Skip the Line (3 to 5 days) at checkout. Nothing goes in the post in either direction.
Find out what your feet need before you spend $249 with anyone
The full assessment is free. Here is what the pair itself comes with.
Do they work? Here is what customers say.
*Reported by Stride Soles on stridesoles.com. Results vary, and orthotics do not resolve every condition.
"Stride Soles have really helped me out. They are really affordable compared to what I used to get..."
"I have been using the Stride Soles custom orthotics for about 2 months now in my Brooks running shoes..."
"It's been about a year now so I figure it's time for a review! I wear my Stride's in all of my shoes..."
"My Stride Soles inserts are absolutely amazing. A lot of my hip, knee, back pain, is relieved..."
"Before Stride Soles, I used to feel like a dog walking on a treadmill! Now I'm able to be on the..."
Bilt Labs and Stride Soles, side by side
| Public information, August 2026 | Bilt Labs | Stride Soles |
|---|---|---|
| Is your walking recorded? | No gait or motion capture appears in its published ten-step process | Yes, a gait video is recorded and used in the design |
| How your foot is captured | Foam impression kit posted both ways, then the lab scans the foam | 3D scan of your foot on your phone, nothing posted |
| Arch capture in studies | Foam method, ICC about 0.25 to 0.49 | Direct 3D scan, up to ICC 0.96 to 0.97 |
| Single pair | $285 on the product page, $30 new-patient code at checkout. The FAQ page still says $249 | $249 flat, listed from $499 |
| Multi-pair pricing | Not listed | 2 pairs $174.50 each, 3 pairs $139.67 each |
| Order to delivery | Kit ships in 1 to 2 days, then up to 21 business days after your molds arrive, plus postage both ways | 10 to 15 days from your scan |
| Guarantee | 6-month money-back, free adjustments | 180-day money-back, free return shipping, no restocking fee |
| Construction | CNC milled medical-grade polypropylene, hand finished | Vegan leather top, foam mid-layer, TPU base |
| Made where | Houston, Texas, reviewed by Dr. William Naughton, DPM | Oberkochen, Germany, by Dr. Dietmar Walter's clinic |
| Stated lifespan | 2 to 3 years minimum, top covers refurbishable | 3 to 5 years depending on use |
| HSA and FSA | Eligible | Eligible |
Bilt Labs figures are from biltlabs.com, verified August 2026, and may change. Its product page and FAQ page quoted different single-pair prices at the time of writing, so confirm before ordering. The gait row reflects what those public pages describe; if Bilt Labs collects motion data by another route, it is not published there. ICC figures describe capture methods in general, not either company's finished product, and come from Farhan, Wang, Bray, Burns and Cheng, systematic review, Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, 2021, 14:2. Bilt Labs is a trademark of its owner and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Stride Soles.
Being honest: when custom orthotics are not worth it
This page is published by Stride Soles, so here is the part you would not expect us to write.
✗ Probably not worth it if you…
- Just want a bit of extra cushioning now and then
- Get mild aches that come and go
- Have not yet tried a decent shelf insert or better shoes
- Already own custom orthotics that are working for you
✓ Worth it if you…
- Get pain when you walk, run or stand a shift, which is what the gait video records
- Want the arch captured by the most reliable method in the literature
- Do not want a foam kit going through the post twice
- Want to be wearing them in 10 to 15 days rather than four to six weeks
If you have diabetes, neuropathy, an open wound or a suspected fracture, neither box applies. See a clinician in person first. That is not an online decision.
"Most reliable method in the literature" refers to Farhan, Wang, Bray, Burns and Cheng, systematic review, Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, 2021, 14:2, which reported the highest reliability for direct 3D scanning and the lowest for foam impressions when capturing the medial arch. The same review found overall accuracy between methods broadly comparable and noted the evidence base is limited.
Six questions to ask any mail-order orthotic company
Screenshot this and use it on Bilt Labs, on us, or on anyone else selling customs online.
Does anything in your process record how I walk?
Ask it in those words. A device meant to change how your foot loads should be designed from data about how your foot loads.
What exactly gets scanned, and when?
Some labs scan your foot. Some scan a foam block you made and posted. Both get called 3D scanning. Only one of them is scanning you.
If my capture is bad, what happens?
A scan is retaken in seconds. A single-use foam block means another kit and another week.
What is the total timeline in calendar days?
Including any kit round trip, not just the build window quoted in business days.
What is the real price today?
Check the product page and the FAQ, since they do not always agree, and check whether a strike-through price is a genuine discount.
Who pays return shipping, and are remakes free?
A six-month guarantee means less if sending them back costs you money.
Scan tonight. Wearing them in 10 to 15 days.
Four minutes of questions, five minutes to scan your feet and record your walk, then a podiatrist-designed pair built in Germany from both. If they are not right we remake them free, and you still have six months to send them back at our expense.
Check My Feet, Free ›Questions people ask before they order
Bilt Labs vs Stride Soles: what is the real difference?
Both are genuine custom orthotics at a similar price with a six-month refund window. The difference is what each company knows about your foot before designing. Bilt Labs works from a foam impression you post back, which the lab then laser scans, plus a written questionnaire. Stride works from a 3D scan of your foot and a video of you walking. Stride delivers in 10 to 15 days rather than 21 business days plus postage.
Does Bilt Labs analyse how I walk?
Not according to its own published process. Bilt Labs sets out ten steps from kit arrival to shipping, and none involves walking, gait video or motion capture. The design inputs described are the foam impression and your questionnaire answers on weight, activity and pain points. If it collects gait data another way, it is not documented on the pages we reviewed, so ask before ordering.
Why does gait matter if the orthotic itself does not move?
Because the device's job is to change how your foot loads while you walk, and the shape a foot takes standing still is not a reliable guide to what it does under load. Studies have found static structural measurements explain only around a third of the variance in dynamic plantar pressure, that most static foot posture items do not correlate with rearfoot or midfoot motion during walking, and that maximum foot deformation happens mid-stride. This is not a settled question, and at least one study found stronger predictive value in static measures, but the weight of evidence favours capturing motion where you can.
Research referenced: Cavanagh, Morag, Boulton, Young, Deffner and Pammer, 1997. Buldt, Levinger, Murley, Menz, Nester and Landorf, Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, 2015. Cornwall and McPoil, 1996. Dicharry, Franz, Della Croce, Wilder, Riley and Kerrigan, Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, 2009. Contrary finding: Chuter, Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, 2010.
Is a foam impression kit less accurate than a 3D scan?
For the arch, the published evidence favours the scan. In a 2021 systematic review, foam impressions had the lowest reliability for medial arch height, roughly 0.25 to 0.49 on ICC, while 3D scanning reached 0.96 to 0.97 in one study. Overall accuracy between methods was found broadly comparable, and plaster casting outperforms foam, so this is not a claim that foam kits do not work. It is a claim about which method is most repeatable for the measurement a corrective orthotic depends on.
Research referenced: Farhan, Wang, Bray, Burns and Cheng, comparison of 3D scanning against traditional methods of capturing foot and ankle morphology, systematic review, Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, 2021, 14:2. The review notes the evidence base in this area is limited.
Bilt Labs says it uses 3D laser scanning. Is that not the same thing?
Same technology, different point in the process. Bilt Labs' process page places the laser scan after your foam impressions arrive at the lab, so the scanner is modelling the foam block. Stride scans your foot directly. Scanning precision downstream cannot add detail the foam never recorded.
Will they fit my shoes, and will they hurt at first?
Stride makes orthotics for nine shoe types plus custom sandals, and the standard pair fits most everyday shoes. The known exceptions are climbing shoes and high heels. Some soreness during break-in is normal for any corrective device rather than a sign yours are wrong. Give your feet at least 21 days, starting with one to two hours a day and building up.
Can I pay with HSA or FSA?
Both companies accept HSA and FSA cards and provide an itemised receipt. Eligibility ultimately depends on your plan administrator, and you are responsible for substantiating the claim.
Is there a cheaper alternative to both?
For mild pain and structurally normal feet, a quality over-the-counter arch support at roughly $48 to $90 is the cheaper first step. Custom orthotics from either company make sense for recurring pain, a structural cause, or long hours on your feet. The free assessment will tell you which side of that line you are on.
So which one should you buy? The honest answer.
If your pain shows up when you move, buy from the company that watches you move. Bilt Labs designs from a foam impression you press at home and post back, plus a written questionnaire. No gait or motion capture appears anywhere in its published ten-step process.
Stride captures a 3D scan and a gait video in about five minutes on your phone, has a podiatry team design the prescription from both, and delivers in 10 to 15 days for $249 with 180 days to change your mind.