Where chefs and home cooks earn online
Chefs and home cooks sell meals from their kitchens through home-food platforms where local rules allow it, cook in clients' homes, and teach cooking classes.
Also for: cook, baker, caterer
How chefs and home cooks earn online
- Selling home-cooked meals where cottage-food rules allow it
- Private chef and meal-prep bookings
- Cooking classes and food experiences
Tip: Selling food from home needs a permit in most places; platforms usually explain your local rules.
What chefs and home cooks earn in the US
- Median pay a year
- $62,470
- Median pay an hour
- $30.03
- Range (10th to 90th percentile)
- $38K–$99K
- Employed in the US
- 200,000
US employees in the closest official occupation (SOC 35-1011), from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Freelance rates online vary widely by country, experience and platform, so treat this as a benchmark for what the work is worth, not what a platform will pay.
The top 3 platforms for chefs and home cooks, compared
| Platform | Type | Fees | Pays via | Who can join |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Shef |
Home food marketplace | Platform takes ~15% per sale | Bank transfer | United States (selected cities) |
 CookUnity |
Chef meal platform | Revenue share per meal sold | Bank transfer | United States |
 Hotplate |
Food pop-up platform | Free for chefs, ~$2 avg per-order fee | Bank transfer | United States |
A dash means we haven't verified that detail yet.
Home food platforms
3 for chefs and home cooks
ShefSell home-cooked meals to neighbors - cooks pass food-safety certification and earn per dish in covered US cities.
Fees Platform takes ~15% per saleshef.comCookUnityA chef-to-consumer meal platform - vetted professional chefs earn from subscription meal sales prepared in CookUnity kitchens.
Fees Revenue share per meal soldcookunity.comHotplateDrop-style sales for indie chefs and pop-ups - announce a menu, sell out timed slots, and keep the customer relationship.
Fees Free for chefs, ~$2 avg per-order feehotplate.com