Teapots and kettles are two different kitchen tools to use for making tea even though they look similar. They complement each other in the process of making tea. A tea kettle is used to heat the water to the right temperature to pour it over the tea bags or tea infuser, whereas the tea leaves in an infuser or tea bags are placed in the teapot and then hot water is poured into it for steeping. A teapot can not be heated directly and tea kettles are not meant for brewing tea in them.