The complete daily case
First call, arrangements, tasks, documents, unlimited e-signatures, card and ACH payments, preneed, accounting, and QuickBooks sync stay on one operating record.
FuneralHQ vs Directors’ Choice
Directors’ Choice puts a live agent on every call and bills for agent time. FuneralHQ rings your own staff first, answers with an AI assistant when nobody can pick up, and leaves a draft first call sheet in the system the case will run on.
What the Platform plan includes
- Unlimited users, cases, and e‑signatures
- Case management, intake, and the whiteboard
- Documents, packets, and remote signing
- Payments, plans, and QuickBooks Online sync
$250 per location, per month. Your records export whenever you want them.
How they compare
Directors’ Choice is a 24-hour contact center that serves funeral homes, cremation providers, cemeteries, and pet services. FuneralHQ is funeral home software with optional AI phone answering. The two can run side by side, and the right choice depends on whether you want a person on every call or your own staff first with nothing to retype.
NeedDirectors’ ChoiceFuneralHQ
What it isA live 24-hour contact center for deathcare, founded in 1997 by a funeral directorFuneral home software with optional AI phone answering
Who answers the callA live agent who works only on deathcare accountsYour staff first. An AI assistant answers when nobody picks up, or first after hours if you choose
How it is billedBy agent time. No rates are publishedFuneralHQ comes in three packages: Platform, Growth, and Growth Managed
Contract termsMonth-to-month, with 30 days noticeSet out with each package. Ask on a demo
Free trial7 days, with no credit cardA demo on a test line, where the assistant takes a sample first call
SpanishEnglish and Spanish staffEnglish, Spanish, or both
Web chatOfferedThe assistant answers phone calls. Website form submissions arrive in a review queue
First call into your softwareLists CRM integrations and an API. No software partners are namedThe assistant drafts the first call sheet inside FuneralHQ, for a person to confirm. Calls from an answering service arrive by direct feed or email intake
Reaching the director on callLive transfers and dispatch, to your instructionsUp to five people texted and called in turn. The office is emailed if no one acknowledges
Price questions from callersHandled to your instructions, so check what agents are told to sayNever quotes a price. Takes the question and number for a director to return
A caller in distressA person hears distress and adapts in the momentFollows your instructions and passes the caller to a person when asked or when it cannot answer
Mobile appCogniSentA mobile app, and it also runs in a web browser. On-call staff are paged by text and by phone call
The rest of the caseOutside the service. The message stops at the handoffThe same system carries the case through documents, signatures, payments, and the books, with built-in accounting and QuickBooks sync
Statements about Directors’ Choice come from its own website, reviewed in September 2026, and may have changed since. FuneralHQ is not affiliated with Directors’ Choice. Confirm billing, contract terms, and integrations with Directors’ Choice before you decide.
Sources reviewed: Directors’ Choice: service overview Directors’ Choice: about us Directors’ Choice: frequently asked questions Directors’ Choice: technology Directors’ Choice: free trial
Why FuneralHQ should be the baseline for an independent firm
FuneralHQ runs the work an independent funeral home completes every day on one record, keeps the economics clear, and gives operators direct access to the people building the product.
Published, predictable pricing
$250 per location, per month, with unlimited users, cases, and e-signatures on the Platform plan. The same model applies at every location.
A direct path for missing workflows
Bring the exact requirement to the demo. The team building FuneralHQ will separate what ships today from configuration, integration, or development and give you a concrete answer on fit and timing.
What each is best for
Best fit for Directors’ Choice
A firm that wants a human voice on every call, web chat as well as phones, or one contact center across funeral, cremation, cemetery, and pet services. If that describes your firm, keep Directors’ Choice.
Best fit for FuneralHQ
A firm that wants its own staff to answer whenever they can, a first call captured when they cannot, the on-call director paged in order, and a draft first call sheet waiting in the morning, in the same system that carries the case to the books. FuneralHQ comes in three packages: Platform, Growth, and Growth Managed.
You can run both
Keep Directors’ Choice on the after-hours line and use the FuneralHQ assistant for daytime overflow only. FuneralHQ takes first calls from an answering service by direct feed or by email intake, and each arrives as a draft first call sheet for a person to confirm. Ask which services are connected.
Common questions
Is FuneralHQ a replacement for Directors’ Choice?
It can be, and it does not have to be. Phone answering in FuneralHQ is optional. Some firms keep a live service for nights and use the assistant only for calls their staff miss during the day. Run both for a month and compare what each captured.
How does Directors’ Choice bill, and how does that compare?
Directors’ Choice states that billing is based on agent time and that service is month-to-month with 30 days notice. It publishes no dollar rates. FuneralHQ comes in three packages, Platform, Growth, and Growth Managed, set out in the pricing section on the homepage. Bring your last three invoices to a demo and we will compare them with you.
Can first calls from an answering service reach FuneralHQ?
Yes. FuneralHQ takes first calls from an answering service by direct feed or by email intake. Each arrives as a draft first call sheet for a person to confirm. Ask which services are connected.
Will an AI answer a family at the worst moment of their life?
Only when no person at your firm can. In the default setting your staff phones ring first. If the assistant does take the call, it pages your on-call director at once and passes the caller to a person whenever they ask for one.
What does Directors’ Choice do that the assistant does not?
Directors’ Choice puts a person on the line, and a person can hear distress and change course in a way software cannot. It also offers web chat and serves cemeteries and pet services. If a human voice on every call is your standard, a live service meets it.
What does the assistant do that a live service does not?
It writes what it heard straight into the system the case will run on. The result of a call is a draft first call sheet with the summary, recording, and transcript attached, ready for a person to review and confirm. Nothing is retyped from a message.
Hear it take a first call
In 20 minutes we call a test line, let the assistant take a sample first call, and open the draft sheet it leaves, with your on-call list in place.