By the Sevetu team
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We run Sevetu, one of the options compared here. Every app below was checked on its own page or store listing on 12 November 2026. Prices change, so open the page again before you pay.
Short answer
If you want to choose the cook yourself and pay nothing to hire, use a direct app such as Sevetu: you post the meals, timing and salary, cooks apply, and you agree terms in writing. If you'd rather browse profiles and phone people, a pay-to-see-contacts app like Cookzy sells plans for that. If you want someone to find the person and promise a replacement, an agency does it for a fee. For one-off kitchen help, a by-the-hour app books a worker for the hours you need.
Direct hiring: post the job, cooks apply (free)
You describe the job. Cooks who want it apply. You choose. Nobody takes a placement fee or a cut of the salary.
Sevetu works this way. You pick "Cook", say how often (part-time, full-time, live-in or occasional), then write the meals, family size, cuisine, time slot and salary. Cooks near you apply. Many carry a Verified badge from an identity check with Aadhaar, and you can see that before you speak to anyone. You chat in the app without sharing your number. When you agree, Sevetu turns the terms into a written record you both keep. Posting and hiring are free for households, and joining and applying are free for cooks1.
The honest trade-off: nobody replaces the cook for you, and the Verified badge is an identity check, not a police check2. You run the interview and the trial yourself. How to apply for police verification, city by city →
Pay to see contacts: browse, then call
These apps let you browse cook profiles and pay to contact them.
- Cookzy. Says it is "NOT a Staffing Agency"; cooks sign up themselves. Its App Store listing shows in-app purchases of a ₹9 trial plan, ₹499 weekly, ₹899 monthly, and ₹699 for 7 call credits or ₹999 for 123. It advises verifying identity before hiring.
- Helpers Near Me. Lets you connect with cooks "at a nominal fee, starting at ₹99", and sells a background report on a cook for ₹2494.
This suits a household that's happy to phone several people. Check what a "call credit" buys and whether profiles are near you before you pay.
Agencies: someone finds the cook for you
An agency shortlists, sends people to you, and usually promises a replacement for a period. In this market the fee is often about a month of the cook's salary, sometimes with GST on top. What agencies charge, and what you get for it →
By-the-hour apps: Snabbit and InstaHelp
Snabbit and Urban Company's InstaHelp send a worker for kitchen prep, dishes or cleaning, booked by the hour. Snabbit lists kitchen prep and dishwashing from ₹99 an hour5. That's useful when your cook is on leave. It isn't the same as a cook who learns how your family likes its dal. Home cook vs tiffin service, the monthly maths →
The building WhatsApp group
Free and fast. It will find you a cook in four minutes. It will also find you three plumbers, a lost cat and a debate about parking. Nothing is checked, nothing is written, and her number ends up in forty phones by evening. So does yours.
Our take: your building group is the least private way to hire in India. If you use it, move the conversation somewhere you can check identity and write the terms down.
Which one should you use?
| Your situation | The route that fits |
|---|---|
| You want to choose, and pay nothing to hire | Direct hiring, such as Sevetu |
| You'll phone ten people to find the right one | A pay-to-see-contacts app |
| You have no time and want a replacement promise | An agency, budget about a month's salary |
| Your cook is on leave for a week | A by-the-hour app |
| Your neighbour's cook has a free evening slot | The building group, then write it down |
Hiring a cook in five steps
- Write the job properly. Meals, people, cuisine, time slot and the salary. What to pay a cook in 2027 →
- Shortlist three. Check who has verified their ID.
- Pay for a trial. One or two days of real cooking. Taste it.
- Agree the terms. Pay, pay date, weekly off, leave, notice.
- Write it down. Both of you keep a copy. What to put in it →
Read next: find a cook in Bangalore
Questions people ask
It depends on what you want the app to do. To choose the cook yourself and pay nothing to hire, a direct app such as Sevetu fits: post the job, cooks apply, and you agree terms in writing. To browse and call, a pay-to-see-contacts app like Cookzy sells plans. To have someone else find the cook, an agency charges a fee.
Yes. On Sevetu, posting a job and hiring are free, with no placement fee and no commission on the cook's salary. You pay only the salary you agree, directly to the cook.
Post the job with the meals, family size, cuisine and time slot, so the cooks who apply are ones who can actually do it. Then shortlist, run a paid trial and check references.
It varies, so ask what "verified" means on each one. Some check identity, some search court records, some do a police check on request. Sevetu's badge is an identity check through Aadhaar; you can apply for police verification yourself through your city police.
For a few hours a month, yes. For cooking every day, a monthly cook usually costs less and learns your family's food. Do the sum with the price your app shows you.
Sources
- Sevetu, Pricing, read 10 November 2026: households post, review applicants, chat and hire free, with no placement fee, platform fee or subscription; workers join and apply free; Sevetu takes no commission. sevetu.com/pricing/
- Sevetu, Verification, read 10 November 2026: an identity check against Aadhaar or another government ID; the badge does not screen criminal records; references and past employers are not verified by Sevetu. sevetu.com/verification/
- Apple App Store (India), Cookzy, read 12 November 2026: "Cookzy is NOT a Staffing Agency"; in-app purchases Trial Plan ₹9, Weekly Plan ₹499, 7 Call Credits ₹699, Monthly Plan ₹899, 12 Call Credits ₹999. apps.apple.com
- Helpers Near Me, How to find a good & reliable home Cook in Delhi NCR in 2026?, read 12 November 2026: "connect with multiple Cooks at a nominal fee, starting at ₹99"; a background report "a nominal fee of ₹249 only". helpersnearme.com
- Snabbit, Cook and kitchen help cost in India, read 12 November 2026: kitchen prep, dishwashing and kitchen cleaning "booked by the hour from ₹99, with no monthly commitment". snabbit.com
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Written by the Sevetu teamSevetu is a hiring marketplace for household work in India, operated by Fiel Private Limited. These guides come from the questions families and workers ask us. Nothing here is sponsored, and where a number has no defensible source we say so instead of inventing one. About Sevetu
