Are For Jars Canning Lids Worth it?

Jun 28

If you follow any kind of modern homesteading influencer, you’ve probably seen them talk about For Jars canning lids. They are a rising brand, and becoming very popular in the canning space. But — do their lids work, and if so, what’s so special about For Jars canning lids. We’ll talk about all that and more in this article.

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What are For Jars Canning Lids?

For Jars Canning Lids are lids that are created to serve as one time use lids for canning your own home preserved foods. They are made by an American company and manufactured in China. The sell a variety of lids and rings, including wide mouth 86mm, regular 70mm and “gem” 78mm, which fit gem sized jars.

The lids create an airtight seal and are guaranteed for up to 18 months. This is great since most USDA approved recipes don’t recommend eating canned foods much longer than this (however safety of foods after that time period is hotly debated).

They are safe for both boiling and pressure canning, so you don’t have to worry about what you are canning. You will get a tight seal for water bath and pressure canning alike.

Lastly, they offer a 90 day guarantee. Which to me, is an amazing deal, because try returning lids that didn’t seal to your local Walmart.

How does For Jars stack up against competitors?

This is truly a great question — how does For Jars compare to the existing competitors?

I know you all probably know of the Ball brand and also Kerr as well. How do they stack up?

Let’s talk cost first, because I know in this crazy economy, the cost of everything, especially canning your food, is important.

For consistency, we’ll talk about regular size lids for all of these companies.

For Jars, as of writing this in June of 2025, costs $0.34 per lid.

Ball, if buying on Amazon (and since For Jars is only available online, I feel using online prices is appropriate. You may be able to get better deals in person depending on your area.) will cost you $0.38 per lid.

Kerr regular jars lids are $0.52 per lid.

For Jars and Ball are definitely neck in neck when it comes to cost, but while 4 cents seems small, if you are canning 100s of jars a year (I just did 25 canning 24 quarts of strawberries into jam this year alone), the pennies can definitely add up.

But cost doesn’t matter if things are not efficient.

Based on my own experience, both For Jars and Ball lids seal well. I frankly haven’t used Kerr (or at least that I recall or can have a solid opinion on). Both Ball and Kerr have 4.9 and 4.7 reviews on Amazon respectively. Anecdotally, I’ve seen people complain that Ball isn’t the same as it used to be, however I think we can say that about most things in the modern day.

According to Ball’s website, they offer a 120 day guarantee, which is 30 days longer than For Jars. However, it does look a little more cumbersome if you don’t purchase from them directly since you have to submit receipts, etc. and if you’re a busy mom like me, those are hard to keep track of sometimes.

I am not including other off brand lids in this analysis, because I don’t have experience with them and based on my research many cheaper alternatives are not as reliable and more cheaply made. If you have any positive experiences with other brands listed on Amazon or elsewhere, I’d love to hear them in the comments.

Is For Jars Worth It?

I think yes, For Jars is worth giving a try for a few reasons. They are the cheapest “name brand” on the market (that I’m aware of) and when you are canning a lot, that can make a big impact over time.

They have a good reputation among canners, and they also have a lot of great canning accessories to give a try as well (I love my funnel from them with head rooms listed).

There’s little to no risk in giving them a try since they have a money back guarantee, which makes it easy to give them a try. They also ship directly to your house, so no need to make a separate trip to the store (especially if you live in the boonies like me).

When Should I not Buy For Jars?

If you are an occasional canner, and don’t plan on canning more than 100(ish) jars in a season (or over time, since they don’t “expire”), then you may be better off buying Ball or Kerr which are much more available in local stores like Walmart and Menards. Currently the minimum packages are 100 for For Jars.

With that said, you definitely won’t get as good of a quantity discount buying in store as the prices we compared were for quantities around 70+ for each brand we compared.

If you prefer American made goods, Ball is made in America, which is a big plus in my book. While both Ball and For Jars are American companies, they are not manufactured in the same place.

Can I try For Jars for a discount?

Yes, if you use my code, WFHS10 you can save 10% when you order through the For Jars Website.

Lauren Fieldbinder