About Calla
A calm guide, on the hardest day
Calla is a free, independent guide to funeral and cremation in the United States, built by founder Karl-Gustav Kallasmaa. It helps families compare local providers, prices, and reviews and plan ahead — without sales pressure. Calla is not owned by or affiliated with any funeral home, and no provider can pay to change a review or its ranking.
Why we exist
Arranging a funeral is one of the few large purchases people make while grieving, often in a hurry, and usually for the first time. Prices are hard to compare, the language is unfamiliar, and it is easy to spend far more than you meant to. We built Calla to make that moment a little less overwhelming: clear prices, plain explanations, and the information you need to make an unhurried decision.
What we stand for
We are not owned by, and not affiliated with, any funeral home or cremation provider. Listings are free, and a provider cannot pay to change what a review says or to rank above better-rated competitors.
Our job is to help you, not to sell you anything. We never run cold-call sales, and we don't pressure anyone toward a more expensive option.
No countdown timers, no fear, no upselling. We state price ranges plainly and point you to the rights you already have.
We cite real sources for legal and price claims and correct mistakes when we find them. See our editorial standards for how we check everything.
About the author
Karl-Gustav Kallasmaa
Founder of Calla
I'm a software engineer by training, obsessed with one thing: making information that should be public actually accessible. I've spent my career building search and information systems — work that's all about gathering scattered, messy data and turning it into clear answers you can find in seconds. I'm relentlessly curious, I want the answer now, and I have no patience for the manual digging most people are forced to do.
That's exactly why I built Calla. I don't have a personal history in the funeral industry — I came to it as an information problem, and a stark one. Funeral and cremation pricing is some of the most consequential, most hidden information there is: families pay thousands of dollars on the worst day of their lives, with prices buried, scattered, and nearly impossible to compare. Breaking open that kind of opacity is what I've spent years building systems to do.
I'm not a funeral director, and Calla doesn't pretend to be one. What I bring is rigor about sourcing and a commitment to getting the facts right — every price traced to its source, every claim backed by an authority. For anything that calls for professional expertise, we rely on and cite recognized sources rather than our own opinion.
Contact: LinkedIn · kallasmaa.com
How we make money
You should know exactly how a free service pays for itself. Calla is funded in a few transparent ways, and none of them change the prices, reviews, or rankings you see:
We may show ads on some pages. They are labeled and kept separate from our editorial listings and guidance.
If you buy certain products (such as urns or planning resources) through a link we provide, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
If you choose to ask for a quote — say on final-expense insurance or pre-planning — we may be paid a referral fee. Only when you opt in; we never sell your details for cold outreach.
A provider may pay to be featured, always clearly labeled. It never affects another provider's reviews, prices, or ranking, and a basic listing is always free.
What we'll never do:fabricate reviews, hide a provider's prices, accept payment to remove honest criticism, or run high-pressure sales. If we ever get something wrong, tell us and we'll fix it.
Start here
If you're dealing with a death right now, our step-by-step checklist walks you through the first hours and days. If you're researching or planning ahead, the guides explain costs and choices in plain language, and how Calla works shows how to use the directory.
Common questions
How we keep this trustworthy
Our editorial standards explain how we source prices and state laws, how reviews work, and how we stay independent.
Read our editorial standards