How much does a direct cremation cost?
Between $1,290.00 and $2,420.00 at the three providers below, depending on the home and on what the container is. A direct cremation is the cremation on its own: the home collects the body, files the permits, cremates, and returns the ashes, with no viewing, no ceremony and no embalming. Tulip Cremation Northern California publishes $1,290.00 to $3,015.00 and offers no viewing at all. Plummer Funeral Home, Decatur, Georgia publishes $1,650. Dryden Funeral Home, Heflin, Alabama publishes $2,320.00 to $2,420.00, and because it also prices two services built on top of the same cremation, its list answers the other question people ask here: the same home charges $3,270.00 once a memorial service is added and $4,340.00 for a traditional funeral with the cremation after it.
$1,290.00 to $3,015.00
direct cremation at a cremation-only provider, no viewing offered
$1,650
direct cremation as one line on a fully itemised list
$2,320.00 to $2,420.00
direct cremation, the difference being who supplies the container
Cost breakdown
Each table below comes from one source, named underneath it, with the date that source last revised the figures. Everything is a United States figure in USD.
Direct cremation at Dryden Funeral Home, Heflin, Alabama, and the same cremation with more added to it
| What you buy | Price | What is in it |
|---|---|---|
| Direct cremation, container provided by you | $2,320.00 | Removal, local transport to the crematory, the cremation, permits, basic services and overhead |
| Direct cremation, fiberboard container from the home | $2,420.00 | The same, with the container supplied |
| Offering F, cremation with a memorial service | $3,270.00 | Adds transfer to the funeral home, visitation on the day, the memorial service, coach and flower van, register book and cards |
| Offering E, traditional funeral service with cremation | $4,340.00 | Adds embalming, dressing and casketing, a viewing day and the funeral ceremony before the cremation |
| Memorial service without body present | $1,295.00 | Coordinating and supervising the memorial service, and setup and use of facilities |
| Cremation graveside service | $635.00 | Staff, authorisation, tent, chairs, temporary marker and register book |
| Open and close a grave for any cremation | $200.00 | If the ashes are buried |
| Rental casket, Vista Oak | $1,095.00 | For a viewing before the cremation, instead of buying a casket |
| Additional viewing or visitation, per day | $350.00 | On top of Offering E |
Tulip Cremation Northern California: what is inside the price and what is not
| Item | Price | Inside the direct cremation price |
|---|---|---|
| Direct cremation, full published range | $1,290.00 to $3,015.00 | This is the service |
| With a container you provide | $1,290.00 | Yes |
| With an alternative container | $1,295.00 | Yes |
| Basic services of funeral director, staff and overhead | $650.00 | Yes, already included rather than added |
| Cremation fee | $350.00 | Yes, already included |
| Sheltering in refrigeration, first five days | $300.00 | Charged separately |
| Each further day of refrigeration | $50.00 | Charged separately |
| Additional crematory fee, 300lb or more | $500.00 | Charged separately |
| Collection and delivery to the crematory | $300.00 | Charged separately |
| Mileage outside the service area, per mile | $8.50 | Charged separately |
| Shipping the ashes within the United States | $100.00 | Charged separately |
| Unwitnessed scattering at sea | $300.00 | Charged separately |
| Alternative container | $5.00 | Charged separately |
| Urns | $5.00 to $400.00 | Charged separately |
Plummer Funeral Home, Decatur, Georgia: the cremation lines on a fully itemised list
| Item | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Direct cremation | $1,650 | Priced as one item |
| Basic services of funeral director and staff | $1,900 | Cannot be declined, and is not inside the figure above |
| Removal from place of death, within 25 miles | $450 | Charged separately |
| Additional miles beyond 25 | $2.75 per mile | Charged separately |
| Rental casket | From $890 | For a viewing before the cremation |
| Dressing and casketing | $250 | Only if there is a viewing |
| Memorial service without the body, Monday to Friday | $325 | The usual service after a cremation |
| Memorial service without the body, weekend | $500 | The same service on a Saturday or Sunday |
| Live stream in the chapel | $450 | Charged separately |
A bar for each row of the table above, 9 of them, drawn to the same scale so the spread is visible at a glance. The figure beside each bar is the one the table prints.
What changes the price
- Whether the basic services fee sits inside the price or on top of it
- This is the single biggest reason two direct cremation prices are not comparable. Tulip Cremation Northern California charges $650.00 for basic services and states it is already included in the direct cremation price. Plummer Funeral Home, Decatur, Georgia charges $1,900 and it is not inside the $1,650 line. So the lower headline is not automatically the lower bill.
- Who supplies the container
- A direct cremation needs something to hold the body and it does not need a casket. Dryden Funeral Home, Heflin, Alabama publishes $2,320.00 when you provide the container and $2,420.00 when it supplies a fiberboard one, which is the whole difference between its two direct cremation prices. Tulip Cremation Northern California prices an alternative container at $5.00.
- How long the body is held before the cremation
- Refrigeration is charged by time at providers that price it separately, so a delay is a cost rather than an inconvenience. Tulip Cremation Northern California publishes $300.00 for the first five days and $50.00 for each day after that.
- Distance, once you leave the service area
- Collection is banded and then metered. Plummer Funeral Home, Decatur, Georgia includes removal within 25 miles at $450 and charges $2.75 a mile beyond it. Tulip Cremation Northern California charges $300.00 for collection and delivery to the crematory and $8.50 a mile outside its area.
- Anything you add afterwards, which is where most of the money goes
- The cremation is the cheap part and the service around it is not. Dryden Funeral Home, Heflin, Alabama publishes $2,320.00 for the cremation alone, $3,270.00 with a memorial service and $4,340.00 for a traditional funeral with the cremation after it, all on one list.
- The weight of the person, at some providers
- A few lists carry a surcharge and most do not mention one at all. Tulip Cremation Northern California publishes an additional crematory fee of $500.00 at 300lb or more, which is the only line of its kind on any list quoted on this site.
How to pay less
- Ask whether the basic services fee is inside the quoted figure
- It is the question that makes two quotes comparable and it takes one sentence. Tulip Cremation Northern California includes its $650.00 in the price; the $1,900 at Plummer Funeral Home, Decatur, Georgia sits outside the $1,650 cremation line.
- Supply the container yourself if the home lets you
- Dryden Funeral Home, Heflin, Alabama publishes $2,320.00 with a container you provide against $2,420.00 with its own fiberboard one, and the Federal Trade Commission states that a funeral home offering cremation must tell you alternative containers are available and must make them available.
- Hold the memorial separately, and later
- Nothing about a cremation requires the gathering to happen on the same day or at the funeral home. Plummer Funeral Home, Decatur, Georgia publishes a memorial service without the body at $325 on a weekday and $500 at a weekend, and Dryden Funeral Home, Heflin, Alabama publishes a memorial service without body present at $1,295.00.
- Rent a casket if there is to be a viewing first
- A viewing before a cremation does not need a casket bought outright. Dryden Funeral Home, Heflin, Alabama publishes a rental casket at $1,095.00 and Plummer Funeral Home, Decatur, Georgia from $890.
- Arrange it without delay if refrigeration is metered
- Where the days are priced, they accumulate quietly while decisions are being made. Tulip Cremation Northern California charges $50.00 for each day beyond the first five.
Questions
What is a direct cremation?
The cremation on its own, with nothing built around it. The home collects the body, files the permits and authorisations, transports it to the crematory, cremates, and returns the ashes. There is no viewing, no ceremony and no embalming, and the body is usually held in refrigeration rather than embalmed. Dryden Funeral Home, Heflin, Alabama describes its own as removal, local transportation to the crematory, the cremation, necessary authorisations, basic services of the staff and overhead, at $2,320.00.
What is the difference between direct cremation and full service cremation?
What surrounds the cremation, not the cremation itself, and one list shows it plainly. Dryden Funeral Home, Heflin, Alabama publishes $2,320.00 for the direct cremation, $3,270.00 for Offering F which adds visitation on the day and a memorial service with the coach and flower van, and $4,340.00 for Offering E which adds embalming, dressing and casketing, a viewing day and a full funeral ceremony before the cremation.
Do I need a casket for a direct cremation?
No. The Federal Trade Commission states that no state or local law requires a casket for cremation, and that a funeral home offering cremations must tell you alternative containers are available and must make them available. Tulip Cremation Northern California prices its alternative container at $5.00 and Dryden Funeral Home, Heflin, Alabama charges $2,320.00 when you supply the container yourself.
Is embalming needed before a direct cremation?
No, and that is one of the reasons the price is lower. There is no viewing to prepare for, so the body is held in refrigeration instead. Tulip Cremation Northern California publishes refrigeration at $300.00 for the first five days and $50.00 for each day beyond.
Can I still have a service if I choose direct cremation?
Yes, and holding it separately is usually what makes it cheaper. Plummer Funeral Home, Decatur, Georgia publishes a memorial service without the body at $325 on a weekday, and Dryden Funeral Home, Heflin, Alabama publishes a memorial service without body present at $1,295.00 and a cremation graveside service at $635.00.
Why is one provider so much cheaper than another?
Often because the lists are built differently rather than because the service differs. The basic services fee sits inside the price at Tulip Cremation Northern California, at $650.00, and outside it at Plummer Funeral Home, Decatur, Georgia, at $1,900, so the two headline figures are not measuring the same thing. The price-list guide on this site is about exactly this.
Where these figures come from
Every figure here is a price published by the provider named beside it, in US dollars, in the United States, from its own General Price List: Tulip Cremation Northern California effective 29 July 2026, Plummer Funeral Home, Decatur, Georgia effective 1 April 2026, and Dryden Funeral Home, Heflin, Alabama in effect as of 1 October 2026. The Plummer and Tulip lists were read on 23 September 2026 and the Dryden list on 9 October 2026. The comparison of a direct cremation against a fuller service is taken from ONE of those lists on purpose, so that neither the home nor the date changes between the rows. Three providers in three states are not a national average, and no funeral home is required to publish a price list at all, so one near you may have none. No ratio or difference between any two figures is stated on this page: the figures sit together and the arithmetic is left to the reader.