Ball vs Kerr
Same company, same threads, interchangeable lids. The honest answer is shorter than the question suggests.
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Ball and Kerr are both owned by Newell Brands and use the same standard thread and lid sizes, so their jars and lids are interchangeable within a mouth size. There is no safety or sealing difference between them. The practical differences are which sizes each brand offers locally and which is cheaper on the shelf.
This question comes up constantly and the answer disappoints people, so here it is with the reasoning attached rather than as a flat assertion.
The comparison
| Ball | Kerr | |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | Newell Brands | Newell Brands |
| Thread standard | Standard mason threads | Same standard |
| Regular mouth lid | About 70 mm | About 70 mm — interchangeable |
| Wide mouth lid | About 86 mm | About 86 mm — interchangeable |
| Safety difference | None | None |
| Range in stores | Usually the broader line, including decorative and specialty sizes | Often fewer variants, frequently cheaper |
| Which to buy | Whichever is cheaper and in stock | Whichever is cheaper and in stock |
What genuinely differs
- Price on the day. They are frequently priced differently in the same store for no functional reason. That is the whole decision.
- Available sizes. Ball typically carries the broader line, including decorative, colored and specialty sizes. If you want a specific unusual size, that is where to look.
- Embossing and appearance. Ball's jars are more often embossed; Kerr's are typically plainer. This matters if you are giving jars as gifts and not otherwise.
- Local stocking. Some regions carry more of one than the other, which is the most likely reason you will end up with a preference.
What does not differ
The sealing system, the thread standard, the lid sizes, the glass, and the processing times you use. A tested recipe does not care which of the two brands is holding the food. If a jar takes a two-piece canning lid of the right mouth size and its rim is undamaged, it works.
What about other brands?
Several other manufacturers make jars to the same standard mason thread, and lids from third-party brands are widely sold for both mouth sizes. The test for any of them is the same: correct mouth size, undamaged rim, a two-piece lid designed for home canning. Where a jar uses a different sealing system entirely — clamp lids with rubber rings, for instance — follow that system's own tested guidance rather than assuming two-piece rules transfer.
Quick picks
Every pick below is screened against the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s published canner rules first. Tap a row for the full write-up.
| # | Product | Best for | Key spec | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ball Regular Mouth Pint Jars (16 oz)If you buy one case of jars this season, buy this one. Pints are the size most tested recipes are written for, regular-mouth lids are the cheapest and most available lid on any shelf, and the jars are reusable indefinitely. | The default first case | 70 mm mouth, 16 oz | Check price on Amazon#ad we earn a commission · live price pending |
| 2 | Kerr Wide Mouth Pint Jars (16 oz)Kerr and Ball are the same company and the same standard threads. Buy whichever is on the shelf and cheaper; the lids are interchangeable within a mouth size and neither is safer than the other. | When Ball is sold out | Same 86 mm mouth as Ball | Check price on Amazon#ad we earn a commission · live price pending |
| 3 | Ball Wide Mouth Quart Jars (32 oz)The jar to buy when you are packing peach halves, pickle spears or anything you have to reach into. The wider 86 mm mouth is easier to fill and far easier to clean, and quarts are the standard size for tomatoes. | Whole fruit and packing by hand | 86 mm mouth, 32 oz | Check price on Amazon#ad we earn a commission · live price pending |
Ball Regular Mouth Pint Jars (16 oz)
If you buy one case of jars this season, buy this one. Pints are the size most tested recipes are written for, regular-mouth lids are the cheapest and most available lid on any shelf, and the jars are reusable indefinitely.
Published specs
- Volume
- 16 oz / 2 cups
- Mouth
- Regular, about 70 mm lid diameter
- Inner mouth diameter
- About 60 mm
- Jar dimensions
- About 5" tall x 2 3/4" wide
- Reuse
- Jars and rings reusable; flat lids are single-use
What works
- Pints fit both a water bath canner and a pressure canner comfortably, so the case is not stranded when you move up to beans
- Regular-mouth lids are the most stocked size in the country, which matters in September when shelves empty out
- The jars outlive everything else in this list. The consumable is the flat lid, not the glass
What to know first
- The narrower 60 mm opening is fiddly for whole peaches or large pickle spears — that is what wide mouth is for
- Regular and wide mouth lids are not interchangeable, so mixing both means stocking two lid sizes
- Glass. Handle the case like glass
Specs from Ball, Mason Jars & Lids, Regular Mouth. We have not handled this product — see how we pick.
Kerr Wide Mouth Pint Jars (16 oz)
Kerr and Ball are the same company and the same standard threads. Buy whichever is on the shelf and cheaper; the lids are interchangeable within a mouth size and neither is safer than the other.
Published specs
- Volume
- 16 oz / 2 cups
- Mouth
- Wide, about 86 mm lid diameter
- Lid compatibility
- Interchangeable with Ball wide mouth
What works
- Identical thread standard to Ball, so your existing lids and rings fit
- Frequently the cheaper of the two on the same shelf, for no functional difference
- Wide mouth in a pint size is the most versatile single jar in the category
What to know first
- No functional advantage over Ball either — this is a price and availability decision, not a quality one
- Same wide-mouth lid premium applies
- Decorative or embossed variants are sometimes priced above plain jars for no canning benefit
Specs from Ball, Mason Jars & Lids, Wide Mouth. We have not handled this product — see how we pick.
Ball Wide Mouth Quart Jars (32 oz)
The jar to buy when you are packing peach halves, pickle spears or anything you have to reach into. The wider 86 mm mouth is easier to fill and far easier to clean, and quarts are the standard size for tomatoes.
Published specs
- Volume
- 32 oz / 4 cups
- Mouth
- Wide, about 86 mm lid diameter
- Inner mouth diameter
- About 76 mm
- Jar dimensions
- About 6 1/2" tall x 3 1/4" wide
What works
- You can get a hand and a jar funnel into it, which turns packing peaches from a chore into a task
- Quart is the size the tomato and peach processing times in tested recipes are written around
- Much easier to wash by hand than a regular mouth quart
What to know first
- Wide mouth lids cost more than regular mouth and disappear from shelves first in peak season
- Seven quarts is a full canner load, so a quart-jar day is a longer day per jar of finished food
- A quart of anything low-acid still needs a pressure canner, and quarts take the longest processing times
Specs from Ball, Mason Jars & Lids, Wide Mouth. We have not handled this product — see how we pick.
The verdict
Buy whichever is cheaper, in the mouth size you have standardized on. If you have inherited a mixed collection of both, you have not inherited a problem — sort them by mouth size, not by brand.
Next stepEvery jar size and dimensionCommon questions
Are Ball and Kerr lids interchangeable?
Is one brand safer than the other?
Why is Kerr often cheaper?
Can I mix Ball jars with Kerr lids?
Do other jar brands work?
Sources
Product specifications are taken from each manufacturer’s own published page, cited on the product. We have not handled these products — how we pick.
