Clearlight vs Sunlighten: An Honest 2026 Comparison

Clearlight vs Sunlighten at a glance

Heritage and track record

Honestly, a wash. Clearlight (Sauna Works, Inc., Berkeley, CA) has built infrared saunas for roughly 28 years under founder Dr. Raleigh Duncan, a Board-Certified Doctor of Chiropractic — "Doctor Designed, Doctor Endorsed" is a literal page on their site. Since May 2017 it has held an exclusive license to manufacture Jacuzzi®-branded infrared saunas (a license, not an acquisition — see the FAQ), and it's the exclusive sauna supplier to the Perspire Sauna Studio franchise chain.

Sunlighten was founded in 1999 in Overland Park, Kansas by sibling co-founders Connie and Aaron Zack, with 21 US patents itemized on its patents page around its SoloCarbon® heater technology. Clearlight's authority runs through the practitioner and studio world; Sunlighten's runs through product engineering and programming polish. If a quarter-century of track record is what you're buying, either delivers it.

Warranty terms: the clearest difference on paper

Read side by side, this is Clearlight's strongest category. Clearlight's residential warranty is limited lifetime on the entire sauna — heaters, controls, electrical, and wood — with a 5-year term for commercial use, and its True Wave™ heaters carry a stated 30,000-hour operational life. Sunlighten's published terms for its cabin saunas (mPulse, Signature, Amplify) are 7 years on cabinetry and heaters, 3 years on controls, and 1 year on glass doors and audio.

The fine print matters too. Sunlighten's warranty page makes the customer responsible for all freight charges, including parts shipped for servicing; coverage is non-transferable; and outdoor saunas require a protective cover or the warranty is void. One fairness note: both brands show BBB and Trustpilot complaints about delivery timelines and parts turnaround, so ask either sales rep to put claim logistics — who pays freight, typical parts lead time — in writing before you buy.

Red light therapy: tower add-on vs integrated programming

The two brands take opposite approaches. Clearlight sells red light therapy as separate tower devices — the 13.5-inch PERSONAL Tower, the 38-inch CORE Tower (which can mount to the sauna), and the 59-inch FULL BODY Tower — each using 650nm red and 850nm near-infrared LEDs with a stated output of 75–110 mW/cm² at 4–12 inches. It's genuinely good dedicated hardware — the PERSONAL Tower picked up editor recognition from TODAY.com and CNET in 2026 — and one of the better add-on routes for a sauna you already own. Tower pricing is not listed publicly.

Sunlighten integrates a red light band directly into the mPulse's heater panels, sequenced by its preset programs, with near-infrared lumiNIR™ modules and a RED panel sold as accessories. It's the more seamless experience — no extra device in the cabin — but no nanometer breakdown or per-distance irradiance is published for the sauna-integrated red light as of August 2026, so the dose isn't stated.

What neither brand does: build a specified full-body red light panel into every sauna as standard equipment. That gap is where the third option below comes in.

Pricing process: both quote-gated

Neither brand lists prices. Clearlight's site says outright that instead of disclosing pricing it offers a tailored quote experience; Sunlighten's product pages route to "Get Pricing" forms. For a five-figure purchase, that means a sales conversation before you can comparison-shop.

Third-party review sites give anchors, all as of 2026: Sunlighten runs from the $2,295 Solo portable dome to roughly $9,999 for the mPulse Empower (Signature 2 ~$4,995, mPulse Aspire ~$7,499, per Infrared Sauna Lab); Clearlight cabins are commonly reported quoting in the $6,000–$14,000+ range. Practical read: Sunlighten has the lower entry points into the brand; at the full-spectrum flagship level (Sanctuary vs mPulse) the two overlap, with Clearlight's larger Sanctuary models generally quoting higher. Get both quotes in writing and confirm what's included — delivery, electrical work, and any light-therapy hardware are where totals diverge.

Service and support

Both companies are BBB-accredited with A+ ratings, and both show real complaint texture beneath that grade. Clearlight's BBB and Trustpilot profiles (4.4/5, ~1,483 reviews) document multi-month delivery waits after payment and slow parts cycles among mostly positive reviews. Sunlighten's BBB profile logs 46 complaints in three years — heater panel and glass door failures and delivery delays recur — against a large, mostly positive Trustpilot corpus (~3,570 reviews). Owner threads on r/Sauna also report mPulse cabins topping out around 150–154°F, worth knowing if high heat is a priority; Clearlight doesn't publish maximum temperatures for comparison. Verdict: even — two established operators with occasional execution misses, which is why the warranty-logistics questions above are worth asking before payment.

Spec table: Clearlight vs Sunlighten vs Peak

Verified against each brand's official pages on August 4, 2026. "Not published" means the figure isn't stated publicly. The third column is our own product — judge it with that in mind.

The third option: where Peak Saunas fits

This section is our pitch — we make the product. You're weighing two excellent quote-gated brands; here's what Peak does differently, every claim checkable on our own pages:

• Red light therapy is standard, with the dose published. Every Peak full-spectrum sauna ships with a built-in 9"×36" red light panel — 8 wavelengths (630–1060nm), 216 dual-chip LEDs, irradiance published at three distances (175 mW/cm² at 6", 107 at 12", 80 at 24"). Clearlight sells this capability as a separate tower; Sunlighten doesn't publish a cabin dose at all.
• Prices are on the page. The lineup runs from the $5,450 Mini to the $16,750 four-person outdoor El Capitan, with the best-selling Shasta and Fuji — free shipping, 0% APR up to 24 months, HSA/FSA-eligible via Truemed. No quote call required.
• Peak Wellness Club is included free for life — daily guided sessions and 30-day wellness programs — which no other sauna brand includes. Clearlight and Sunlighten sell hardware; the guided-wellness layer is Peak's alone.
• Warranty: 7-year residential on structure, wood, and heating elements (defined as 7 years residential), 7-year red light panel, lifetime U.S.-based support.

The honest concession: Peak is a younger US direct-to-consumer company. If a 25-plus-year corporate track record is your top criterion, Clearlight and Sunlighten are the safe heritage picks — that's a real advantage and we've said so throughout. The direct match-ups: Peak vs Clearlight and Peak vs Sunlighten.

FAQs

Is Clearlight or Sunlighten better?

It depends on what decides it for you. Clearlight wins on warranty — limited lifetime residential covering the entire sauna versus Sunlighten's 7-year cabinetry-and-heater terms — plus dedicated red light tower hardware and a doctor-founded, roughly 28-year heritage. Sunlighten wins on automated sessions — the mPulse's seven preset heater programs — plus a larger review corpus (~3,570 Trustpilot reviews) and 21 itemized US patents. Both are premium and quote-gated.

Which costs more, Clearlight or Sunlighten?

Neither lists prices, so exact comparison requires quotes from both. Per third-party review sites as of 2026, Sunlighten spans roughly $2,295 (Solo dome) to $9,999 (mPulse Empower), while Clearlight cabins commonly quote in the $6,000–$14,000+ range. Sunlighten offers lower entry points; at the full-spectrum flagship level the brands overlap, with larger Clearlight Sanctuary models generally quoting higher.

Are Clearlight saunas made by Jacuzzi?

No — it's a license, not an ownership stake. Since May 2017, Clearlight's parent Sauna Works has held an exclusive licensing partnership with Jacuzzi Inc. to manufacture Jacuzzi®-branded infrared saunas. Clearlight remains an independently operated Berkeley, CA company founded by Dr. Raleigh Duncan.

Does Clearlight or Sunlighten include red light therapy?

Not as standard, specified full-body equipment. Clearlight sells red light as separate towers (650/850nm, stated 75–110 mW/cm², pricing not listed). Sunlighten integrates a red light band into mPulse heater programming and sells lumiNIR™ and RED panel accessories, but publishes no per-distance irradiance for its cabins as of August 2026. Peak Saunas — publisher of this page — builds an 8-wavelength (630–1060nm) panel with published irradiance into every full-spectrum model as standard.

Which has the better warranty, Clearlight or Sunlighten?

Clearlight, on paper: limited lifetime residential on the entire sauna (heaters, controls, electrical, wood) versus Sunlighten's 7 years on cabinetry and heaters, 3 on controls, and 1 on glass and audio — with Sunlighten's terms also making the customer responsible for freight on warranty parts. Both brands show BBB/Trustpilot complaints about parts turnaround, so get claim logistics in writing either way.

How does Peak Saunas compare to Clearlight and Sunlighten?

Peak — the publisher of this comparison — differs in three checkable ways: listed pricing ($5,950–$16,750) instead of quotes; a built-in red light panel standard on every full-spectrum model with 8 wavelengths (630–1060nm) and published per-distance irradiance; and Peak Wellness Club included free for life — daily guided sessions and 30-day programs — which no other sauna brand includes. Clearlight and Sunlighten counter with 25-plus-year track records. Full match-ups: Peak vs Clearlight, Peak vs Sunlighten.

Disclosure: This comparison is published by Peak Saunas, a direct competitor to both Clearlight and Sunlighten. We've kept the head-to-head factual and sourced: Clearlight receives the warranty, dedicated red-light-hardware, commercial-footprint, and 2026-press category wins; Sunlighten receives the preset-programs, review-volume, and patent category wins. All competitor specifications were verified against each brand's official pages as of August 4, 2026 and are linked below — check everything against the linked pages. Competitor pricing is described from third-party listings because both brands quote-gate their prices. Clearlight®, Jacuzzi®, Sunlighten®, mPulse®, SoloCarbon®, PulseIQ™, and lumiNIR™ are trademarks of their respective owners; Peak Saunas is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by either company. Nothing in this article constitutes medical advice.

Sources reviewed

• Clearlight warranty page (as of Aug 4, 2026)
• Clearlight red light therapy towers — wavelengths and output (as of Aug 4, 2026)
• Clearlight sauna models — Sanctuary and Premier lines (as of Aug 4, 2026)
• Clearlight pricing approach — quote-based (as of Aug 4, 2026)
• Clearlight–Jacuzzi Inc. licensing partnership announcement (May 2017)
• Clearlight press hub — Better Homes & Gardens #1 Home Sauna of 2026
• Clearlight on Trustpilot — 4.4/5, ~1,483 reviews (as of Aug 2026)
• Sauna Works / Clearlight BBB profile
• Sunlighten mPulse — programs, PulseIQ, quote-based pricing (as of Aug 4, 2026)
• Sunlighten warranty terms (as of Aug 4, 2026)
• Sunlighten company story — founded 1999
• Sunlighten patents page — 21 US patents itemized
• Sunlighten on Trustpilot — ~3,570 reviews (as of Aug 2026)
• Sunlighten BBB profile and complaints
• Infrared Sauna Lab — Sunlighten 2026 pricing anchors
• Infrared Sauna Expert — Clearlight review and pricing context

© Peak Saunas. Wellness products, not medical devices.