Cremation Institute

Death Hacks

Dying is the last purchase your family makes on your behalf, and it’s the only one where nobody comparison-shops. These tools are our attempt to fix that: tongue in cheek, numbers dead serious, every figure sourced. The funeral industry will be fine.

The tools

The Death Arbitrage Tool

The same cremation costs $1,000+ more on one side of a state line. Run the arbitrage for your state.

Try it →

In the workshop

The casket markup calculator

What the funeral home charges vs what the box actually costs, and your legal right to bring your own.

In the workshop

The itemized bill

Build a funeral line by line and watch what they charge vs what it costs. Spoiler: embalming chemicals are cheap.

In the workshop

The haggle script

The exact words to say to a funeral director, generated for your situation. Federal law is on your side.

The straight version

Behind every joke here is a documented number and a real consumer right. Funeral pricing varies wildly for identical services, itemized price lists are required by federal law, and families who compare even two providers routinely save four figures. If you’d rather skip the jokes, start with the funeral costs tool or the direct cremation guide.