Comparisons
Compare your options, side by side
Clear, honest head-to-heads on the choices families weigh most — what each costs, what you get, and how to decide.
- Burial vs CremationCremation is the lower-cost, more flexible option and is now chosen for the majority of US funerals; burial gives a permanent gravesite and a traditional service many families find meaningful. A simple cremation often runs $1,000–$3,000, while a full funeral with burial and a plot commonly totals $7,000–$12,000.Compare
- Direct cremation vs Traditional funeralDirect cremation is the simplest, lowest-cost option — cremation with no viewing or ceremony, usually $1,000–$3,000. A traditional funeral adds visitation, a service, and often burial, commonly $7,000–$12,000. The cremation itself is identical; you're paying for the services around it.Compare
- Cremation vs AquamationFlame cremation uses heat; aquamation — alkaline hydrolysis, or water cremation — uses warm water and alkali to reach the same result with a far smaller environmental footprint and no direct emissions. Aquamation is gentler on the planet but is offered in fewer places and often costs a few hundred dollars more.Compare
- Green burial vs Traditional burialGreen burial skips embalming, metal caskets, and concrete vaults so the body returns to the earth naturally; traditional burial uses embalming, a sealed casket, and usually a vault. Green burial is often simpler and cheaper and has a much smaller footprint — but it needs a cemetery with a natural or hybrid section.Compare
- Casket vs CoffinA casket and a coffin do the same job; the difference is shape. A casket is rectangular with four sides and a hinged lid; a coffin is six-sided and tapered to the body's outline. In the US "casket" is the standard term and product; "coffin" is more common in the UK and is often the cheaper shape.Compare
- Prepaid funeral plan vs Final expense insuranceA prepaid funeral plan locks in specific services with one provider, often at today's prices; final expense insurance is a small whole-life policy that pays cash to whoever you name, usable anywhere. Prepaid can guarantee prices but ties you to one home; insurance is portable but the payout may not keep pace with rising costs.Compare
- Funeral vs Memorial serviceThe defining difference is whether the body is present. A funeral is held with the body present, typically within a few days and before burial or cremation. A memorial service is held without the body, often after cremation, so it can be scheduled weeks later and more flexibly — which usually makes it less expensive.Compare
- Celebration of life vs Memorial serviceBoth are held without the body present, so the practical difference is tone. A memorial service tends to be more traditional and reflective, often with some religious structure. A celebration of life is deliberately upbeat and personal — focused on the joy of the person's life — and is usually informal, held anywhere, and scheduled whenever suits the family.Compare
- Wake vs VisitationThe terms overlap and are often used interchangeably. A visitation (or viewing) is a set time before the funeral when people come to see the body and offer condolences to the family. A wake traditionally means a similar but often longer, livelier gathering — historically an overnight vigil with the body — and in some cultures includes food and storytelling.Compare
- Preneed vs At-needPreneed means planning — and often prepaying — a funeral before death; at-need means arranging it after someone has died. Preneed can lock in today's prices and spare grieving relatives hard decisions, but ties money to a specific provider. At-need gives full flexibility and control of your money, at the cost of deciding everything under time pressure and grief.Compare
- Cremation society vs Funeral homeA cremation society specializes in simple, low-cost direct cremation — usually arranged online or by phone with little ceremony, often for $1,000–$2,500. A full-service funeral home offers the full range — viewings, ceremonies, burial, and cremation — with more in-person support but higher prices. The right choice depends on whether you want a service or just the cremation.Compare
- Burial vs EntombmentBoth lay a casket to rest, but the location differs. Burial places the casket in the ground, usually with a vault and a headstone. Entombment places the casket above ground in a sealed mausoleum crypt. Entombment typically costs more than a standard in-ground plot but skips the separate burial vault and keeps the casket out of the earth.Compare