Casket vs Coffin: The Difference, and How Much a Casket Costs

A coffin has six sides and tapers: wider at the shoulders, narrower at the feet. A casket is a rectangle with four sides and, usually, a split lid so the top half opens for a viewing. That's the whole difference in shape. The bigger difference is which word your country uses: "casket" is the North American word for the box a body is buried or cremated in, and "coffin" is the British one.^[6]

The federal Funeral Rule defines what American funeral homes sell as a casket, "a rigid container which is designed for the encasement of human remains" and "ornamented and lined with fabric."^[7] So in the United States a search for coffin prices turns up casket prices: a $2,500 median for a metal casket at a funeral home,^[4] and $1,399 to $1,599 for 20-gauge steel bought online, which the funeral home must accept without a handling fee.^[1][5]

A few retailers, Titan among them, sell tapered coffins as a separate collection.^[5] Everything below is about the box you'll be shown in the showroom, which is a casket.

Caskets are often purchased within days of a death, and many families have never compared them before.

The cost of a casket is often one of the largest single items on a funeral bill. The National Funeral Directors Association's most recent price study puts the median price of a metal burial casket at $2,500.^[4] The Federal Trade Commission tells consumers that the average casket costs slightly more than $2,000, and that mahogany, bronze, and copper models sell for as much as $10,000.^[1]

That casket sits inside a median bill of $8,300 for a funeral with viewing and burial, excluding cemetery costs, or $6,280 for a funeral with viewing and cremation.^[4] For the full bill broken down line by line, read How Much Does a Funeral Cost in 2026?

As of September 18, 2026, Titan Casket lists its 20-gauge steel Orion series at $1,599 and its Andover series at $1,399. Its main casket page carries models in multiple gauges and designs.^[5] Those examples are below the NFDA funeral-home median for a metal casket. The FTC's shopping checklist confirms that you can buy a casket from a third-party dealer or website, and the funeral home must accept it.^[1] Confirm specifications, delivery timing, return terms, and the complete funeral bill before choosing.

No federal law caps what a funeral home can charge for a casket. The FTC Funeral Rule is a disclosure and purchasing-rights law. It requires the funeral home to give you a printed Casket Price List before showing you caskets. In the FTC's words to funeral homes, consumers "should not first learn of casket prices by entering the casket showroom."^[3]

The provider must disclose the price in advance. It doesn't have to disclose its wholesale cost, and federal law doesn't limit the retail price. Prices can reflect the casket's materials and design as well as the provider's staffing, facilities, inventory, and other operating costs.

You may buy a casket from another seller. Compare the provider's Casket Price List with outside options, then account for specifications, delivery, returns, and timing. We cover the full regulation in The Funeral Rule: Your Federal Funeral-Price Rights.

Under the Funeral Rule, three things are settled law:

• You can supply your own casket or urn. The FTC says this directly in its consumer guidance.^[2]
• The funeral home must accept it. It can’t turn away a casket because you bought it somewhere else.^[1]
• No handling fee. The FTC's compliance guide tells funeral homes they "cannot charge an additional fee or surcharge to consumers who purchase a casket elsewhere."^[3]

Order the casket, give the retailer the funeral home's address, and confirm the delivery date in writing before scheduling the service. If the bill includes a receiving, handling, or outside-casket surcharge, ask the provider to remove it and cite the Funeral Rule. Report unresolved violations to the FTC and your state funeral board.

The funeral home's basic services fee still applies. The FTC's compliance guide states that this same fee "shall be added to the total cost of your funeral arrangements if you provide the casket."^[3] Compare the complete bill before deciding.

If you want a viewing followed by cremation, you don’t have to buy a casket at all. The FTC's checklist lists renting one from the funeral home as a standard option for the visitation and ceremony, which keeps the purchase price off the bill entirely.^[1] Rental caskets are built for reuse. The body rests in a simple insert inside the shell, and the insert is what goes to the crematory.

The NFDA's 2023 price study didn’t publish a national median for casket rental, so the price is whatever your funeral home sets. The Funeral Rule requires the general price list to itemize the goods and services the home sells, so if it offers rentals, get the rental price in writing before you commit.^[3] For what happens after the viewing, read our guide to the cremation process and its real costs.

No casket preserves a body indefinitely. Federal law prohibits funeral providers from claiming that a funeral product will "delay the natural decomposition of human remains for a long term or an indefinite time."^[3]

Metal caskets may be described as "protective," "sealer," or "gasketed." Those terms refer to a gasket around the lid. The FTC's consumer checklist says these features "just add to the cost of the casket."^[1] Sellers can't make unsupported claims that a casket or vault will prevent water, dirt, or other gravesite conditions from reaching the body.^[3]

A casket holds the body for viewing, transport, and burial. Higher prices may reflect materials, construction, finishes, hardware, and design. Choose those features when they matter to the family, with the understanding that they don't stop decomposition.

If you choose direct cremation with no viewing, the funeral home is required to offer an alternative container: an unfinished wood box or a receptacle of fiberboard, pressed wood, or similar material.^[3] The 2023 NFDA median price for one was $160.^[4] It does the job.

Between the $160 container and the $2,500 showroom casket sits a wide middle. Plain pine boxes and biodegradable caskets are sold by the same online retailers that sell steel; Titan lists pine box caskets and an eco-friendly line alongside its metal models.^[5] If the burial itself is the part you want to change, read our complete guide to green burial, which covers biodegradable caskets, shrouds, and cemeteries that skip the concrete vault.

Six steps, backed by the numbers and law above:

• Get the price lists first. The General Price List and Casket Price List are yours by federal right before you see the caskets.^[3]
• Review the list away from the showroom. Decide with the prices and features in front of you.
• Check an outside price before deciding. Compare specifications, delivery, and return terms as well as price.^[5]
• Viewing plus cremation? Ask for the rental price. A rental casket may avoid a purchase.^[1]
• Direct cremation? Ask for the alternative container. The funeral home must offer one.^[3]
• Don’t rely on preservation claims. Federal rules prohibit false or unsupported claims that a casket prevents decomposition.^[3]

The casket decision is one piece of a hard week. How to Arrange a Funeral walks through the rest of it, step by step.