I'm not sure if Nailene makes perfectly straight nail guides or not, but I've used other types of tape (Scotch tape, masking tape etc) and I find the biggest problem is that it leaves traces of glue on the nail that you then have to remove before applying the top coats. The nail guides do not leave any trace of glue so they're worth the money, imo, especially since I can use one guide three times and cut it to shape for 1.5 manicures.