Zippy Shell Review 2026: Save $1,000 on Your Move

Bottom line: Zippy Shell costs about $1,000 less than the average quote of the rest of best moving container companies. It’s available in only 38 states, plus Washington, DC. It's so affordable, it won Best Savings in our 2026 Moving Awards.

Find a Zippy Shell near you.

Zippy Shell serves 38 states, plus Washington, D.C. In comparison with other moving container companies, I found that Zippy Shell stands out for its competitive pricing, and secure warehouse storage options. It's limited outreach, however, is a drawback. 

On average, Zippy Shell will cost you $250 to $600+ for local moves. Long distance moves may run you anywhere from $1,800 to $3,500 or more.

During our team's research, we read real-life quotes from Zippy customers for long distance moves, ranging from $1,111 to $6,243, with a median quote of $2,743.

In comparison, UNITS offers starting quotes for local moves of 45 miles or less at around $465. The maximum UNITS quotes we uncovered during research was $8,700 for a cross country move. UNITS has multiple locations across 35 states, but limited availability. When I filled out a quote form for a short local move from Brooklyn, New York to Westchester, New York, I was told that the zip codes I entered were not in serviceable areas. 

U-Pack quotes range from $1,000 for local moves, up towards $7,000+. The highest quote we uncovered was  $7,876. U-Pack is available in parts of all 50 states, a big plus for consumers in many rural and harder-to-reach areas.

1-800-PACK-RAT is owned by the same parent company as Zippy Shell. It has a lower-than-average starting cost of $400, but long distance moves are comparably priced at up to $7,000, or more. Zippy's lowest quotes still has them beat. 

PODS has a low starting price of $300. We saw quotes for long-distance moves that reached $7,500+. 

Overall, Zippy Shell offers low prices, with good quality service, and a middle-of-the- road service range. 

The average cost to move with Zippy Shell will be determined by a number of factors, including mileage, storage length, and time of year. I found Zippy to be a relatively affordable option, especially for cross-country or long distance moves. Zippy will run you $3,000-$4,000 less than most of its competitors.

Zippy Shell costs include transportation, basic liability coverage, and 30 days of storage, unless you sign up for a longer stint. 

In addition, you can purchase additional insurance protection on a monthly basis.

If needed, Zippy Shell can also connect you with third-party moving services that do packing, loading, and unloading.

It's important to note that pricing varies depending on many different factors, including your location, mileage, home size, and moving dates.

Zippy Shell started doing business in Australia in 2007, and launched in the U.S. in 2010. It is a trusted and well-known name in the moving and portable storage industry.

Zippy Shell operates in 38 states, as well as Washington, DC. It has built a solid reputation for offering flexible, convenient moving and storage solutions, especially for people who need portable storage containers.

The company is fully licensed and registered with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), which is a key sign of legitimacy for any moving service. It also generally receives positive reviews for its combination of competitive pricing, convenience, and customer service, though (like most moving companies) experiences can vary by location.

No company has lower moving container prices than Zippy Shell. Its average price tag is around 25% below industry averages. 

If you compare its prices to some of the more expensive competitors on our list of the best container companies, things get even rosier. For example, Zippy Shell is consistently cheaper than U-Pack. That savings can translate into cash for moving supplies, to hire moving help, or purchase their content protection plan (insurance) for some extra peace of mind.

Zippy Shell can save you an average of $1,000

Zippy Shell's galvanized steel  moving containers can also be used as portable storage units. That means you can store your moving containers at your home—or reserve a storage space at a Zippy Shell warehouse. It’s an ideal solution if you don’t have time to unload everything all at once. Similarly, if space is tighter than planned after moving in, you can leave your extra stuff in the Zippy Shell container rather than renting a storage unit. No extra hassle.

Zippy Shell’s moving container prices are to die for—but there’s a catch: limited availability. It’s good that Zippy Shell plans to extend its service area. Right now, it’s available in about 75% the country (38 states). 

Zippy Shell offers a variety of services pertaining to moving and storage including:

• Local moves
• Long-distance moves
• Mobile storage
• Facility storage (includes temperature control)
• Loading, unloading, and packing referrals

Learn more about how to work with Zippy Shell to coordinate your move.

Over the past two years, Zippy Shell has seen its average customer rating (from Facebook, Google, Trustpilot, and Yelp) improve by nearly 60%. When the company noticed a dip in customer satisfaction, it jumped into action—and its hard work is paying off. We love that Zippy Shell listened to its customers and responded with a concerted effort to make things better.

Despite its Australian origins, Zippy Shell does not offer international moving services. We recommend contacting one of our best international moving companies if you need to transport your household belongings to another country.

Zippy Shell has improved more than any other moving container in the past several years.  It jumped from fifth to third in our rankings for several reasons, including:

• Price. Money talks. Zippy Shell’s costs did a 180 from 2020 to 2026. The company went from having prices 10% above average to 25% below. While its competitors raised prices by about 35%, Zippy Shell kept its price hikes to around 7%. It’s hard to overstate how important it is when a company like Zippy Shell can save you hundreds of dollars.
• Storage options. Part of the reason Zippy Shell improved is that we changed our rankings. Each year, we carefully research what matters most to customers. We'll update our approach if we see a noticeable shift in what defines quality. That’s what we learned here: flexible storage options are a big deal right now. Zippy Shell’s score got better as a result.

Zippy Shell has the lowest moving container rates in the nation. The moving container company can save you hundreds on the average move. We’d recommend Zippy Shell without reservation if that were the end of the story.

Consider Zippy Shell if you can answer yes to these three questions and feel good about it:

1. Is saving money a priority for you?
2. Can you find a Zippy Shell in your area?
3. Have you read the company’s reviews?

Move.org follows a five-step process to identify the nation’s best moving container companies:

1. Compare quotes. We collected over 100 quotes from seven of the nation’s largest moving container companies to identify pricing trends.
2. Mystery shopping. We do a top-to-bottom analysis of each company’s website and even call posing as customers. It helps us get a feel for what real-life customers experience.
3. Analyze reviews. We read dozens of reviews for each company to see what most impresses (and turns off) customers. We also ran the numbers for more than 16,000 total reviews to calculate an industry customer review average.
4. Site visits. We invite industry experts and company executives to visit our headquarters in Salt Lake City, UT. We grill them on everything from pricing and customer reviews to insurance coverage and the latest industry trends.
5. Annual review. Every year, we repeat the process to ensure that our list of the best moving container companies stays current. That means things like our top recommendations and industry prices may change from year to year.