Built-In vs Freestanding Grills: What Changes
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The burners are the same. The grates are the same. Put a built-in grill head and its freestanding twin side by side and the cooking surface is often identical. What you are choosing between is not how the food comes out. It is everything around the grill: what it sits in, what it costs to get there, and what happens the day you move.
The freestanding grill
A freestanding grill is a grill head on a cart with wheels, side shelves, and a cabinet underneath for the propane tank. You unbox it, put it where you want it, connect gas, and cook.
Ours are KoKoMo carts, and the range runs by width and burner count:
| Grill | Burners | Price |
|---|---|---|
| KoKoMo 26" with 3-burner stainless cart | 3 | $2,587 |
| KoKoMo Classic 32" with cart | 4 | $2,959 |
| KoKoMo Classic 40" freestanding with cart | 5 | $3,330 |
| KoKoMo 40" with 5 burners and back burner | 5 + rear | $3,576 |
| KoKoMo 32" with laser-cut grates and back burner | 4 + rear | $3,649 |
| KoKoMo 32" Professional 4-burner cart | 4 | $3,995 |
| KoKoMo 40" Professional 5-burner freestanding | 5 | $4,439 |
There is also the Rogue PRO-S 525 at $1,679 to $1,729 depending on gas type, which is the least expensive gas grill we stock.
What you get: the lowest total cost, because the cart is the installation. Mobility — it can move for cleaning, for winter, for a new house. And no dependence on a mason or a contractor.
What you give up: counter space is whatever the side shelves give you. The cart is the visual, and a cart always looks like a cart.
The built-in grill head
A built-in is the grill head alone, designed to drop into a cut-out in an island. No cart, no wheels, no cabinet. The island provides the structure, the counter, the storage and the look.
The heads we stock:
| Built-in head | Price |
|---|---|
| Prestige PRO 500 with smart technology | $3,849 – $3,899 |
| Prestige PRO 665 Elite with smart technology | $5,699 – $5,749 |
| Classic Prestige PRO 825 RSBI with power side burner and infrared | $6,599 – $6,649 |
Compare like with like and the pattern is clear: a built-in head costs about the same as, or more than, a complete freestanding grill of similar width — and you still have to buy the island it goes in.
What you get: an outdoor kitchen rather than a grill. Real counter on both sides. Storage. A finished look that is part of the patio, not parked on it.
What you give up: it is not moving. Ever. If the gas line is on the wrong side, that is a plumber. If you sell the house, it stays.
The middle path: the island kit
There is a third option that people miss. The OASIS Outdoor Kitchen Kit, 700 Series 32, is a built-in grill head with its own island structure, at $6,149. It gives you the built-in look and the counter without designing a masonry island from scratch, and without the price of a fully custom KoKoMo island starting near $10,000.
It is the answer for "I want an outdoor kitchen, not a grill on wheels, but I do not want to hire a mason."
Gas is the same decision either way
Every grill in both tables above is listed in natural gas and propane versions, and they are different products.
Freestanding grills are usually bought in propane, because the tank lives in the cart and there is no line to run. Built-ins are usually natural gas, because if you are building an island anyway, running the line is part of the same job and you never swap a cylinder again.
Pick the gas before the grill. A propane built-in in an island with no tank enclosure, or a natural-gas cart with no line to the patio, is the most common way this purchase goes wrong.
Cost of ownership, honestly
Freestanding: the sticker price is close to the whole cost. Add a cover and propane.
Built-in: the head is the smallest line. Add the island, any gas line, any electrical for lights or a rotisserie, and the tradespeople to do it. A $3,849 head can sit in a $2,399 Chery Industrial island or a $9,995 KoKoMo one, and that choice moves the total by more than the grill does.
Both: freight. Every grill and island here ships LTL to the curb, not to the patio. Read our piece on freight before you order — the inspect-before-you-sign part matters more on a $6,000 head than on anything else we sell.
Which one, in one sentence each
- Freestanding if you rent, might move, want the lowest total cost, or want a grill this season rather than a project this year.
- Built-in if the patio is permanent, you are building an island anyway, and the counter space matters as much as the grill.
- Island kit if you want the built-in result without the custom-island cost.
Before you call
Know whether you have natural gas at the patio, know whether you are building an island or buying one, and measure the delivery route. A real person answers 919-205-8329, Monday to Friday, 9-5 Eastern, and will tell you if the $1,679 grill does what you need — because sometimes it does.
No cut corners. Ever.