There are pros and cons for both, it depends on personal choice and budget.

Most modern or minimalist kitchens have built-in cooking appliances as part of the design. They offer space-saving benefits and a sleek, seamless appearance, yet they do tend to be more expensive to both buy and repair. Plus they are permanently installed in the kitchen so can’t be relocated.

Free-standing appliances are better suited to a more traditional or industrial kitchen design. These appliances require more floor space, but are generally more affordable and easy to install. Access for repairs is simple and if you move, you can take your favourite kitchen appliances with you.

There is no easy answer as people are motivated by different things.

A brand promotion with cost-savings may prompt a purchaser to buy only that brand’s appliances. One brand may have a particular type of refrigerator, another offers certain multi-function oven or freestanding cooker with must have gas cooktop features, or there’s a type of dishwasher required to upgrade your dishwashing game, so the discerning buyer may choose to mix and match.

If opting for integrated or built-in appliances, different brand choices don't matter from a design perspective as many of the appliances will be hidden within kitchen cabinetry. With free-standing appliances, the look of different brands is more obvious particularly the stainless steel finishes or handle styles, so check these out before you buy.

The obvious benefit to a gas cooktop is that you’ll always be able to cook food, even in a power outage. Gas cooktops offer instant controllable heat (most professional chefs use gas) are very affordable and you can cook using any type of pot or pan on this cooktop surface. The downside is that if you are not connected to mains gas, you’ll have the hassle of bottled gas supply, and these cooktops are more difficult to clean than induction or ceramic cooktops.

Induction cooktops, while more expensive to buy, offer the fastest, most precise heat. They are safer to use, more energy efficient than gas and because the cooking zones never gets hot, they are really easy to clean. However you won’t be able to use these cooktops in a power outage and you will have to make sure your pots and pans are compatible with induction cooktops.

Ceramic and induction cooktops look similar as they both have a flat surface made from glass-ceramic, which looks and feels like glass, but is much harder to break, withstands extreme heat and you spend less time cleaning both of these cooktops. The fundamental difference is in the way these cooktops provide heat for cooking.

Induction cooktops have no flame burners or heating elements under the glass surface, instead, electricity runs through coiled copper wires heating the pan or pot placed on the cooking zone, not the cooktop itself. Induction cooktops are higher priced but offer additional ‘safety’ and energy-saving benefits & precise temperature control.

A ceramic cooktop contains heating elements under each cooking zone. The cooktop heats up first and then the pan. Induction cooktops use less energy, but certain pots and pans cannot be used on an induction cooktop. Ceramic cooktops are a more affordable, equally stylish option and have no fonction restrictions around the pots and pans to be used.