Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cape Town vs. Ubud Cost of Living Summary

Cape Town is 54.5% more expensive than Ubud.

Restaurants
pay 2.7 times more in Cape Town
Groceries
pay 4.9% less in Cape Town
Transportation
pay 99.1% more in Cape Town
Housing
pay 75.3% more in Cape Town
Childcare
pay 11.7% less in Cape Town
Entertainment and Sports
pay 44.2% more in Cape Town
Clothing
pay 42.2% more in Cape Town

The cost of restaurants, transportation, housing, entertainment and sports, and clothing in Cape Town are more expensive than in Ubud. Expenses including childcare and groceries are lower in Cape Town. Notably, restaurants, transportation, and housing are significantly more expensive in Cape Town.

Cape Town vs. Ubud Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Town instead of Ubud, you would:

pay 2.7 times more for restaurants

 
Ubud
Cape Town
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $2.79
IDR50,439.02
$12.02
ZAR198.22
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$3.07
IDR55,482.92
$6.01
ZAR99.11
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $1.30
IDR23,538.21
$1.30
ZAR21.44

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pay 4.9% less for groceries

 
Ubud
Cape Town
Bread
1 loaf
$1.84
IDR33,289.75
$1.23
ZAR20.34
Local cheese (8 oz) $8.31
IDR150K
$4.39
ZAR72.41
Milk (1 gallon) $5.50
IDR99,284.90
$4.99
ZAR82.36

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pay 99.1% more for transportation

 
Ubud
Cape Town
Gasoline (1 gallon) $2.76
IDR49,852.48
$5.86
ZAR96.61
Monthly public transit pass ?? $60.09
ZAR991.09
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $24,199.28
IDR437M
$35,391.94
ZAR584K

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pay 75.3% more for housing

 
Ubud
Cape Town
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$18.63
IDR336K
$39.98
ZAR659.39
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $544.82
IDR10M
$1,017.49
ZAR16,782.53
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $407.10
IDR7M
$706.64
ZAR11,655.27

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pay 11.7% less for childcare

 
Ubud
Cape Town
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $440.88
IDR8M
$262.39
ZAR4,327.78
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $5,207.68
IDR94M
$6,820.14
ZAR112K

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pay 44.2% more for entertainment and sports

 
Ubud
Cape Town
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $2.24
IDR40,351.22
$3.00
ZAR49.55
Cappuccino in mid-range area $2.00
IDR36,147.97
$2.43
ZAR40.04
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$2.12
IDR38,333.66
$3.61
ZAR59.47

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pay 42.2% more for clothing

 
Ubud
Cape Town
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$43.44
IDR784K
$55.49
ZAR915.30
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$22.35
IDR404K
$32.30
ZAR532.71
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$76.00
IDR1M
$119.84
ZAR1,976.68

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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