Build a Funeral Price Comparison Site From Real Price Lists

1. 1

   Learn the Funeral Rule as your collection charter

   Under the FTC Funeral Rule, funeral providers must give anyone who asks in person an itemized General Price List to keep, and must disclose prices over the phone. There is still no federal requirement to post prices online as of 2026 (the FTC's amendment proceeding on online display remains open), which is both why the data gap exists and why you can lawfully close it: the lists are yours to request.

2. 2

   Collect one metro completely

   Every funeral home and crematory in one metro area: visit or call, request the GPL, and log the line items that drive comparisons, including the basic services fee, direct cremation, immediate burial, embalming, viewing, and typical package totals. Completeness in one city beats thin coverage of fifty; a comparison with holes is not a comparison.

3. 3

   Structure for honest comparison

   GPLs vary in format and bundling, so define standard comparison scenarios (direct cremation, cremation with memorial, traditional burial with viewing) and map each home's items into them, showing your work. Date-stamp every price, show when it was collected, and re-verify on a stated cycle; trust in this category is earned through visible method.

4. 4

   Wrap the data in guidance families need at 2 a.m.

   Plain-language guides: what the Rule entitles you to, what is legally optional (embalming is not required in most situations), how to decline packages, what cremation actually involves, and questions to ask by phone. The guides earn the search traffic; the price tables earn the trust and the links.

5. 5

   Monetize without corrupting the mission

   Featured placement and profile enhancements for funeral homes that embrace transparency, partnerships with cremation societies and funeral consumer groups, and referral relationships for adjacent needs (flowers, memorial products, estate paperwork help). Never accept payment to remove or soften a listed price; one discovered pay-to-hide deal ends the site.

6. 6

   Handle providers professionally

   Some funeral homes will resent being listed; publishing lawfully obtained, accurate price information is protected activity, but be scrupulously accurate, correct genuine errors fast, and offer every provider a path to submit updated lists. The transparent providers become allies; many quietly want price shoppers who self-qualify.

7. 7

   Expand metro by metro with local SEO compounding

   Each city is a bounded collection project and a durable set of local search pages ('cremation cost in Tulsa'). Hire collection help once the playbook is proven, and consider the licensing lane: hospices, senior communities, and estate attorneys all field the what-will-this-cost question weekly.

Do not take our word for the money. Put your own numbers in and see what this idea has to earn before it works. Free, instant, no account needed.

Best for: A patient, detail-driven builder comfortable with a sensitive subject and slow, compounding data collection

Not for: Builders who need fast dopamine, anyone squeamish about calling funeral homes, and anyone who would quietly take a provider's money to make a price disappear.