By the Sevetu team
Short answer
For one person, a tiffin service is usually the easier choice and costs about the same as a part-time cook plus groceries. For two or more people, a home cook usually costs less, because tiffin is priced per plate and a cook is priced per slot. Bengaluru tiffin listings run about ₹95 to ₹140 a veg meal1; a part-time cook is ₹3,000 to ₹8,000 a month plus groceries2.
The maths
Tiffin is priced per meal, per person. A cook is priced per slot, however many people she cooks for (within reason). That's the whole difference.
- Bengaluru tiffin listings, for example, show veg meals from ₹95 at one service and from ₹140 at another, and monthly veg plans around ₹4,9991.
- Two meals a day for 30 days is 60 meals per person: ₹5,700 to ₹8,400 at ₹95 to ₹140.
- For four people, that's 240 meals: ₹22,800 to ₹33,600.
- A part-time cook for one or two meals costs ₹3,000 to ₹8,000; full-time, ₹8,000 to ₹18,0002. Add your grocery bill, which you'd have some of anyway.
Tiffin is cheaper until the fourth day of dal.
What each is good at
Tiffin is good for
One person, no kitchen time, no shopping, no one in the house during the day, and trying out a new city before you settle.
A cook is good for
Families, your own cuisine and spice level, a child's or an elder's food, guests, and fresh rotis instead of ones that travelled.
Tiffin's catch
The same menu for everyone, plastic or steel boxes to manage, and a cost that multiplies with every person.
A cook's catch
You buy groceries, she needs a slot that fits your day, and leave days need cover.
Switching to a cook
When the household grows, or you're tired of someone else's salt, a cook usually pays for herself. Post the meals, people, cuisine and time slot, and pay inside the range. What a cook costs in 2027 → · Where to hire a cook, including free ways →
Read next: questions to ask a cook before hiring
Questions people ask
For one person, about the same, and tiffin is simpler. For two or more people, a cook is usually cheaper, because tiffin is priced per plate and a cook per slot.
Bengaluru listings show veg meals from about ₹95 to ₹140 each. Two meals a day for a month is ₹5,700 to ₹8,400 per person.
On Sevetu's published ranges, ₹8,000 to ₹18,000 a month full-time, plus groceries. Part-time for one or two meals is ₹3,000 to ₹8,000.
Sources
- Karnataka.com, Tiffin service in Bangalore, read 12 November 2026: Mom's Food "Rs. 140/- onwards per meal (vegetarian)"; Apna Thakur's Kitchen "Rs.95/- onwards for a veg meal"; Dabba Meals "Monthly Meals: Rs.4999 (Veg)". karnataka.com
- Sevetu, Hire a cook, cost section, read 12 November 2026: part-time ₹3,000 to ₹8,000 a month; full-time ₹8,000 to ₹18,000. sevetu.com/hire-a-cook/
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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
