📏 60cm vs 90cm Induction Cooktop: Which Size Do You Need?
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Size is one of the first decisions you'll make when shopping for an induction cooktop — and it affects everything from price to how many people you can realistically cook for at once, so it's worth working through deliberately rather than defaulting to "bigger is better."
The short answer
60cm suits most Australian households — four zones, the standard benchtop cutout, and the widest model choice at the lowest prices. Step up to 90cm only if you genuinely cook with more than four pans at once or use oversized cookware. A 90cm cooktop costs substantially more, needs more benchtop depth, usually needs a higher-rated circuit, and often requires benchtop modification. If what you actually want is a flexible full-width zone rather than a fifth burner, a 70cm or 80cm model frequently delivers that for less.
60cm induction cooktops
The standard size for most Australian kitchens. Typically offers four cooking zones and fits the same cutout as a standard gas or ceramic cooktop, which makes like-for-like replacement straightforward during a kitchen refresh. Great for singles, couples and small-to-medium families whose cooking rarely needs more than three pots on the go simultaneously. Popular options: 60cm induction cooktops on Amazon AU.
90cm induction cooktops
A wider cooktop with five zones, often including a bridge zone that lets two zones combine for oversized cookware like griddles, fish kettles or large roasting trays. Suited to larger households, keen home cooks who regularly run four-plus pots, and open-plan kitchens where the cooktop doubles as a visual centrepiece. See 90cm induction cooktops on Amazon AU.
What about 70cm and 80cm?
Some brands — Bosch, Neff, AEG among them — offer 70cm and 80cm models as a genuine middle ground, worth considering if you want a fifth zone or a bridge function without committing to a full 90cm width and the benchtop real estate it consumes.
Price difference in practice
Expect to pay roughly 40–70% more for a 90cm model over an equivalent 60cm model from the same brand and tier, largely due to the extra zone, larger glass panel and (on flex-zone models) more sophisticated control electronics underneath.
The cutout trap to avoid
If you're replacing an existing cooktop rather than doing a full benchtop renovation, measure your current cutout precisely before shortlisting a size. Moving from 60cm to 90cm generally requires cutting the benchtop wider — straightforward on laminate, a real cost on stone or engineered stone that may need a professional re-cut or a benchtop insert. Always cross-check a specific model's cutout dimensions against your own measurements rather than assuming "90cm" means an identical cutout across every brand.
How to decide
If you have the benchtop space and genuinely cook for four-plus people regularly, the 90cm's flexibility earns its price premium. Otherwise, a well-specified 60cm cooktop covers the substantial majority of home cooking needs without paying for capacity that sits unused. Compare exact models side-by-side on our comparison table, or take the quiz if you'd rather get a direct size recommendation based on your household.
Match the size to how you really cook
The honest test isn't how many people you cook for — it's how many pans are hot simultaneously on a normal weeknight. Think back over the last fortnight rather than forward to an imagined Christmas.
- One or two pans, most nights. A 60cm four-zone cooktop is more than enough, and the two zones you rarely use still give you room for a stockpot at Christmas.
- Three pans regularly, four occasionally. Still 60cm — but pay attention to zone sizes, because four zones you can't fit four real pans onto simultaneously is the actual constraint people hit.
- Four or more pans routinely, or oversized cookware. This is where 90cm earns its price.
That middle case deserves emphasis. On many 60cm cooktops the four zones are close enough together that four full-size pans physically collide, so the practical limit is three large pans plus a small one. If that's your pattern, the upgrade that helps isn't necessarily more zones — it's better-spaced or larger ones, which some 70–80cm models provide without the cost and cutout implications of a full 90cm.
The hidden costs of going wide
A 90cm cooktop's price premium is the visible cost. Several others aren't:
- Electrical capacity. Total connected load rises with size — a large 90cm model can reach around 11kW against roughly 7–7.4kW for a typical 60cm. That can mean a higher-rated circuit and, on a tight switchboard, an upgrade.
- Benchtop depth, not just width. Wide cooktops are often deeper too, and a standard-depth benchtop may not leave enough material behind the cutout for the bench to stay sound.
- Cabinetry below. A wider cutout can foul drawer runners or an underbench oven that a 60cm cutout cleared.
- Rangehood width. A 90cm cooktop under a 60cm hood captures steam poorly. Matching the hood is a second purchase people forget.
- Lost bench space. An extra 30cm of cooktop is 30cm of preparation area you no longer have — which in a small kitchen can be a downgrade in daily use.
| Width | Typical zones | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60cm | 4 | Most households; apartments; straight swaps | Four large pans may not physically fit at once |
| 70–80cm | 4–5 | More space between pans, flex zones, without full 90cm cost | Fewer models; still needs a cutout change |
| 90cm | 5 | Large households, frequent entertaining, oversized cookware | Higher load, deeper cutout, hood and bench-space implications |
Zone layout beats zone count
Two cooktops with identical zone counts can be very different to cook on. What to look at on the spec drawing:
Zone diameters. Check the largest zone against your biggest frypan and the smallest against your milk pot. Most cooktops won't detect a base under about 110–120mm at all, and a 28cm pan on a 16cm zone heats unevenly no matter how powerful the cooktop is.
Spacing. Measure the gap between zone centres and compare it against the diameters of two pans you'd genuinely use together. This is the single most useful check people skip.
Flex and bridge zones. Two zones that combine into one long area take a griddle plate, a fish kettle or a roasting dish — real capability a fifth round zone doesn't give you. If that's what you're after, a flex-equipped 70–80cm model may serve you better than a plain 90cm five-zone.
Our pan size and zone guide walks through matching an existing cookware collection to a layout before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
Can I fit a 90cm cooktop into a 60cm cutout?
No — the benchtop opening must be enlarged, which on stone benchtops is a job for a professional and should be quoted before you commit to the appliance.
Does a 90cm cooktop use more power overall?
Only if you're actually running more zones at once — an idle zone draws negligible power, so a 90cm cooktop used the same way as a 60cm one (two or three zones active) costs about the same to run.
Is there a downside to buying bigger "for resale value"?
A 90cm cooktop can suit some buyers at resale time and not others — it's not a universal upgrade. If your own cooking pattern doesn't need it, the extra spend is better directed toward zone flexibility or build quality at 60cm.
Is a 90cm induction cooktop harder to clean than a 60cm one?
Not harder, just larger — it is one continuous sheet of glass either way, and the cleaning method is identical. The practical difference is that a wide cooktop tends to collect splatter across areas you were not cooking on, so there is simply more surface to wipe.
Do I need a bigger rangehood for a 90cm cooktop?
Ideally yes. A hood narrower than the cooktop captures steam and grease from the outer zones poorly. Matching the hood width to the cooktop, or going wider, is the usual recommendation — and it is a cost worth including when comparing a 90cm upgrade against staying at 60cm.
Will a 90cm cooktop add value when I sell?
In a high-end kitchen where it suits the rest of the fit-out, possibly. In an average kitchen it mostly reads as a cooktop, and the money is usually better spent on a better-specified 60cm model than a basic wide one. Buy it because you will cook on it, not as an investment.
What size cutout does a 60cm induction cooktop need?
Commonly around 560 x 490mm, but it varies by a centimetre or two between manufacturers, so always check the specific model’s spec sheet against your existing opening. A model needing a larger cutout than you have means re-cutting the benchtop, which is a significant cost in engineered stone.
More on this topic: Buying an induction cooktop · Induction cooktop sizes · Built-in induction cooktops
Sources & further reading
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