Pricing
Two tiers. Real numbers. Groceries at cost.
ServSafe-certified, in-home, no subscription gotchas. Justine cooks 8 fresh meals in your kitchen each week, forwards grocery receipts, and writes a family update.
Cancel any time. Skip weeks for travel. Book a free 60-minute kitchen assessment to get started.
Pick the tier that matches the diet
Both tiers include 8 fresh, portioned meals each week, cooked in your kitchen by a ServSafe-certified chef. The difference is how complex the diet is and how much family communication you want.
Foundation Meal Prep
Mobile seniors with simple dietary needs. No complex medical diet, no swallowing difficulty, just needs the kitchen handled once a week.
- 8 fresh, portioned meals each week
- Basic diet awareness (low-sodium, low-sugar, basic texture modifications)
- Email update to family after each visit
- ServSafe-certified chef in your kitchen
Coordinated Meal Plan
Most families start here. Anyone managing a chronic condition, recovering from surgery, or with an out-of-state adult child who needs visibility.
- Everything in Foundation
- Full medical-diet management (renal, diabetic, dysphagia, post-surgery, dementia-appropriate)
- Written weekly family report
- Caregiver text channel — family stays in the loop
- Priority scheduling (we hold a recurring slot)
+ Groceries: Roughly $50–$120 a week for 8 meals for one senior, depending on diet and organic preferences. We shop with your card or front the cost and forward every receipt — no markup, ever.
ServSafe Certified · Mountain View, CA · Free 60-min kitchen assessment · Cancel anytime · Start within the week
How our pricing compares
The honest comparison. Anything between Meals on Wheels (free, but stigmatized) and Visiting Angels ($3,500/wk) is white space — and what you’re really paying for is the relief of not facing the next-tier costs.
| Option | Price | What you actually get |
|---|---|---|
| Meals on Wheels | Free (Medicaid) | Stigmatized; many seniors won't eat it. |
| Costco rotisserie + frozen | ~$30–$50/wk | The current default. Nobody's checking on Mom. |
| HelloFresh / Sunbasket kit | $60–$130/wk | Someone still has to cook. Wrong demographic. |
| Lite n' Easy / frozen trays | ~$100/wk | Shipped, frozen, no human in the kitchen. |
| WellPreppedLife — Foundation | $150/wk + groceries | 8 meals, ServSafe chef, your kitchen, basic diet awareness. |
| WellPreppedLife — Coordinated | $180/wk + groceries | 8 meals + medical-diet management + family report. The default. |
| Cash 'college worker' | $15–$25/hr | Flaky. No medical knowledge. No food-safety credential. |
| Visiting Angels (full caregiver) | ~$3,500/wk | Caregiver, not a chef. Reheats meals. |
| Single ER visit (kitchen fall) | $5,000–$25,000 | The cost of NOT acting. |
| Assisted living facility | $15,000–$25,000/mo | What 'the next step' costs. |
Coordinated tier ($180/wk + ~$85 groceries) lands at roughly $1,060/month all-in — less than 8% of assisted living, less than one ER co-pay, and the parent stays in their own kitchen. That’s the math families are running on the back of an envelope, so we wrote it down.
One-time and specialty options
Kitchen Safety Assessment
$299 one-time
A 60-minute in-home walk-through. Stove safety, knife storage, fall risk near the fridge, lighting, reach-zones for arthritic hands. You get a written report with photos. Often the first conversation before recurring service. Read more.
Recovery Meal Plan
$720 flat / 4 weeks + groceries
Four weeks of Coordinated-tier meals built around the post-surgical or post-discharge recovery window. A single prescribable price discharge planners can write down. Read more.
Pricing questions, answered straight
What's included in the weekly price?
Both tiers include a ServSafe-certified chef cooking in your kitchen and 8 fresh, portioned meals labeled with reheating instructions. Foundation is $150/wk with basic diet awareness (low-sodium, low-sugar, basic textures). Coordinated is $180/wk and adds full medical-diet management (renal, diabetic, dysphagia, post-surgical, dementia-appropriate), a written weekly family report, and a caregiver text channel. Groceries are billed at cost on top of both tiers — receipts forwarded, no markup.
How much do groceries actually run?
Roughly $50–$120 a week for 8 meals for one senior, depending on the diet and whether you want organic. Renal and diabetic diets tend to land at the lower end (simpler ingredients). Post-surgical high-protein menus sit at the upper end. We shop with your card, or front the cost and forward every receipt. No markup, ever.
Is there a contract or subscription?
No. You pay week to week. Cancel any time, skip weeks for travel, change tiers as your parent's situation changes. Most families end up running for months because it works, but nothing locks you in.
How much does a personal chef for seniors cost in the Bay Area?
Weekly in-home meal prep for one senior in the Bay Area runs $150–$200 for labor plus groceries at cost. WellPreppedLife sits in that band: $150/wk (Foundation) or $180/wk (Coordinated medical-diet). Event-only chefs and luxury private chefs charge $400+ per dinner and aren't comparable. We're built specifically for weekly senior care, not catering.
Is hiring a personal chef worth it?
For a parent who's lost weight, fallen in the kitchen, or just been discharged from the hospital — almost always. One ER visit from a kitchen fall runs $5,000–$25,000. One month of assisted living runs $15,000–$25,000. Coordinated tier at $180/wk is roughly $720/month plus groceries — a fraction of facility care, and the parent stays home.
How is this different from HelloFresh or Sunbasket?
HelloFresh and Sunbasket ship raw ingredients and a recipe card. Somebody still has to stand at the stove for 30 minutes. For a senior who can't safely cook, those services deliver work, not meals. WellPreppedLife sends a chef who cooks the 8 meals in your parent's kitchen, portions them, labels them, and leaves the kitchen cleaner than they found it.
How is this different from Meals on Wheels or delivery trays?
Meals on Wheels is free for many seniors but the menu is generic and many seniors won't eat it — the stigma is real. Frozen tray services (Lite n' Easy, Magic Kitchen) start around $100/wk but you give up fresh food, in-home contact, and any human checking on Mom each week. WellPreppedLife is fresh, cooked in your kitchen, tailored to the diet, and Justine sees your parent every visit.
How is this different from a caregiver from Visiting Angels?
A home-care caregiver runs $35–$45/hr in the Bay Area — roughly $1,400–$3,500/wk for any real coverage. Caregivers aren't trained chefs; they reheat trays or make sandwiches. WellPreppedLife at $150–$180/wk replaces the meal part of that bill with a credentialed chef. Many families run both — caregiver for companionship, WPL for the food.
How quickly can you start?
Usually within the week. After a hospital discharge or care transition, call directly — we can often be in the kitchen within 48 hours. Book a free 60-minute kitchen assessment and the first cook session is typically scheduled within 7–10 days.
Does Medicare cover this?
Medicare does not cover in-home meal prep. Some Medicare Advantage plans (Humana, Aetna, Wellcare D-SNP) issue OTC/grocery cards that can be used for the grocery portion. The labor portion is paid privately. We can talk through this on your first call.
More on what we actually do at Personal Chef for Seniors, or after a hospital stay see Recovery Meal Plan.
Book a free 60-minute kitchen assessment
Tell us the situation — diet, kitchen, how many people, hospital discharge or just a regular Tuesday. Justine will confirm the tier and walk you through the first cook. Or call (415) 971-3464 and skip the form.
Book your free kitchen assessmentOr call us directly at (415) 971-3464