A personal chef cooks for your household on your schedule, whether that is a fridge full of meals every week or a family dinner on Friday. Chefpost matches you with a vetted local chef who plans the menu around your tastes and diet, shops, cooks in your kitchen, and leaves it clean. Everyday eating, handled by a professional.
A personal chef service is a vetted chef who cooks for your household in your home. Most clients use it for weekly meal prep, a chef cooks several days of meals and leaves them portioned in the fridge, but the same chefs also cook family dinners, special-diet menus, and small gatherings. Chefpost lets you compare chefs, read real reviews, and book online. Meal prep usually runs $200 to $350 per week, and one-off dinners start around $65 to $150 per guest.
The chef builds the menu around how you eat, whether that is high-protein, plant-based, gluten-free, kid-friendly, or a specific cuisine you love. You get restaurant-quality food that fits your real life, with none of the planning, shopping, cooking, or cleanup. Browse chefs near you to get started.
The everyday version of hiring a chef: less about a single event, more about eating well all week.
You tell the chef your tastes, your diet, your household, and your schedule. They plan the menu, buy the groceries, cook in your kitchen, and leave everything labeled and clean. Book it weekly, every other week, or as a one-off. Nothing about the food is off-the-shelf.
Every Chefpost personal chef is background-checked, food-safety verified, and rated by real clients. You browse profiles, see menus and pricing, and pick the chef who fits. We are the layer that makes finding a trustworthy chef fast instead of a guessing game.
Four steps from first message to a stocked fridge. No planning, shopping, cooking, or cleanup for you.
Your household, diet, favorite cuisines, any allergies, and how often you want a chef.
Weekly meal prep, family dinners, special-diet cooking, or a mix, built to your tastes.
We surface vetted local chefs who fit your menu, schedule, and budget, each with real reviews.
Your chef shops, cooks in your kitchen, portions and labels everything, and leaves it spotless.
The same vetted chefs, matched to whatever your household needs most.
The most-booked service. A chef cooks several days of meals and leaves them portioned in your fridge, usually around $200 to $350 per week. Explore meal prep.
A fresh, cooked-to-order dinner on the nights you want one, without the shop-cook-clean grind. Kid-friendly menus welcome.
High-protein, plant-based, gluten-free, diabetic-friendly, or a plan from your nutritionist, cooked to spec every week.
A standing weekly slot with the same chef who learns your household over time. The closest thing to a chef of your own.
When you are hosting, the same chef steps up to a plated, multi-course dinner. See private chef for a dinner party.
A relaxed spread for a birthday, a shower, or a lazy Sunday with friends, set out and served at home.
People use the terms interchangeably, and at Chefpost the same vetted chefs do both. The labels really describe two ends of one spectrum.
| Personal chef | Private chef | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Everyday eating, weekly meal prep | Dinners, events, special occasions |
| How often | Recurring: weekly or biweekly | One-off or as needed |
| The food | Meals cooked and portioned for the week | Courses cooked and plated to order |
| Typical cost | $200 to $350 / week | $65 to $150 / guest |
| At Chefpost | Same background-checked chefs | Same background-checked chefs |
In short: a private chef is usually booked for a specific meal or event, and a personal chef is booked for ongoing, everyday cooking. Many of our chefs happily do both.
An honest take from the Chefpost team on how the everyday-chef math changed.
“People picture a personal chef as a full-time staff member in a mansion. The reality now is a few hours of a great local chef, once a week, and a fridge full of food you actually want to eat. When you add up the takeout, the delivery fees, the groceries that spoil, and the hours of your own time, a weekly personal chef stops looking like a luxury and starts looking like the smarter way to eat.”
We match households with vetted personal chefs across these markets. Pick your city to see local chefs, menus, and pricing.
Related services and guides.
Tell us how your household eats, and we will match you with a vetted personal chef in minutes.
The questions households ask us most before they book.
