Is Kenmore the Same as Whirlpool? The Kenmore Refrigerator Water Filter Cross-Reference

Kenmore is the house brand of Sears. It has never been a factory: Kenmore refrigerators were built under contract by several manufacturers, and which one built yours decides which water filter fits. The quickest tell is the number on the cartridge. Every Kenmore water filter number cross-references to a manufacturer's number, and in our catalog those cross-references point at four makers — Whirlpool, LG, Samsung and Frigidaire. So "is Kenmore the same as Whirlpool?" has a precise answer: for some models yes, and your filter number says which.

The cross-reference, from the catalog

Each row is a Kenmore number, the manufacturer family it belongs to, and how many live listings in the catalog name that Kenmore number as compatible (measured 09/04/2026). The listing count is evidence the way the trade treats the numbers as one cartridge.

Read the pattern: the 46-99xx and 46-908x numbers are Whirlpool's everydrop families; the 46-96xx / 46-98xx / 46-94xx numbers are LG's; 46-9101FFN-0000287 is Samsung's; the 4699xx numbers are Frigidaire's PureSource line. A Kenmore side-by-side that takes a 46-9930FFN-0000276 is a Whirlpool-built refrigerator wearing a Sears badge; a Kenmore French door that takes a 46-9980FFN-0000266 was built by LG.

What that means when you buy

• The manufacturer's cartridge fits. A Kenmore 46-9980FFN-0000266 refrigerator takes the LG LT1000P — the manufacturer part for the manufacturer's own machine, sold under LG's name at LG's price. You are not limited to a Kenmore-branded box.
• So does every compatible in that family. The family page prices all of them per filter, so the 3-packs compare to singles on equal terms.
• The reset procedure follows the builder. A Whirlpool-built Kenmore uses Whirlpool's button conventions; an LG-built one uses LG's.
• The interval is the builder's too — six months or the rated gallons, in the manufacturers' own words.

If your Kenmore number is not in the table

Two routes. Enter the refrigerator's model number in the filter finder, which answers from manufacturer fitment data rather than from the brand. Or read the number printed on the cartridge you are removing and search it on the filter-number index; the manufacturer families list the Kenmore numbers they absorb. The Kenmore filter page holds the Kenmore-branded listings we carry and the families they belong to.

Sources

• The filter catalog: every cross-reference above is printed in the titles of live listings naming both the Kenmore number and the manufacturer number as one cartridge; counts measured 09/04/2026.
• Kenmore as the Sears house brand: Sears' own Kenmore branding.