There are whole life, universal life, flexible payment life, annuities, term insurance and many more.  Most of the life insurance quoted, sold and sometimes issued on the world wide web are term insurance policies.

Term insurance policies are straightforward life insurance, generally with a fixed amount of insurance, typically a fixed premium and a fixed number of years it will remain in force.  Typically term policies are available usually from 5 up to 30 year terms.  Term is usually the cheapest kind of life insurance, but does not accumulate any kind of cash value. Most, if not all, of the other types of life insurance policies accumulate some kind of cash value.

Some term policies are "decreasing term insurance" meaning the amount of life insurance decreases usually monthly.  This type of term insurance if frequently called "mortgage life insurance".  The amount of insurance decreases at the same rate as your mortgage. So at the end of 30 years and a 30 year mortgage, your mortgage and decreasing term policy would be zero. Compare prices with a "straight or level" term policy before buying a decreasing term policy to get the best value.