The 5 Best Cheap Moving Companies of 2024

If you’re willing to do all the driving and heavy lifting yourself, renting a moving truck from Penske Truck Rental is the cheapest way to move long-distance. If you’re moving locally, though, Budget Truck Rental is usually one of the most inexpensive moving services. If you want an easier move at a price that’s still manageable, get a moving quote from Zippy Shell.

When you’re shopping for a cheap move, your priority should still be to find a company that provides all the services you require. If you just go with the cheapest option available, you’ll miss out on services that would ease your move, protect your valuable belongings, and spare your knees from aching.

Before you decide what type of moving company to hire, decide how much work you’re able to do yourself, and be honest about what you might need or want professional help with (even if it costs extra).

For example:

• Hire a moving labor company or a full-service mover if you need professional packing services or loading help.
• Go with a moving container company if you’re okay with loading everything yourself, but you don’t want to do any driving. 
• Rent a moving truck, load it yourself, and drive it to your new home without any professional help if you’re good with doing literally all of the work.

Prices for moving services fluctuate constantly, and they also vary by location, so the only way to know you’re getting a competitive price is to gather as many quotes as possible. Before you decide which company to hire, reach out to several movers for free quotes. Otherwise, you might end up paying hundreds, or even thousands, more than you need to.

We extensively research prices for all moving services. Once you have a few quotes, compare them to the pricing data in our reviews to determine if they’re competitive.

You should also gather quotes from multiple types of companies. While moving truck companies are almost always your cheapest option, you might be surprised by how affordable moving and storage container companies and professional movers can be. You’ll never know what’s out there unless you gather multiple quotes.

Binding estimates are the gold standard of trustworthy pricing in the moving industry. If you get a written estimate that clearly says the word “binding” on it, your price won’t go up as long as you include everything on the moving inventory you submit to your movers.

If your estimate isn’t binding, your price can — and often will — go up at any time, even on moving day. So, even if a binding estimate is a bit higher than some of the instant quotes you’re seeing, you’ll probably get a cheaper move from the company that gave you the binding estimate than the ones that only offer instant quotes.

Even though the cheapest moving services that don’t offer binding estimates might not necessarily be moving scams, it’s best to avoid them if possible since their pricing isn’t reliable.

Speaking of moving scams…

Unfortunately, the moving industry is plagued by scammers, so customers have to be vigilant when hunting for a bargain. Moving scammers prey on unsuspecting, budget-oriented customers by offering unrealistically low quotes and then holding their belongings hostage for exorbitant prices.

This is why you should be wary of incredibly low moving quotes. If a company’s price sounds too good to be true, it very well might be. On the other hand, you might just be getting a great deal from a trustworthy mover. Use our guide to spot moving scams to tell the difference.

That said,  we thoroughly vet every company we recommend, so you can trust the low prices from any company on this page.

Penske is the best moving truck company in the business, and it provides the lowest rates for long-distance truck rentals. On top of its great rates, Penske offers a huge selection of seasonal and year-round discounts, so you’re all but guaranteed to get a low price when you rent a truck.

Penske offers second-to-none pricing for long-distance customers and a healthy assortment of discounts that can make an already cheap rental truck even more affordable. Most of Penske’s year-round discounts are only available to certain people, such as college students, military personnel and veterans, and AAA members.

However, Penske also offers a rolling selection of seasonal promotions that anyone can take advantage of. These seasonal discounts typically knock around 10% off your price, though we have seen them run higher. Also, Penske is almost always running a deal, so you can usually find a great deal on a Penske truck.

There’s no disputing that renting a moving truck for a DIY move is your cheapest option, but it’s also the least convenient since it requires you to do all the work yourself. That is why we like Penske partnering with Simple Moving Labor to offer assistance with the heavy lifting your DIY move will entail.¹

Of course, this moving service costs extra. However, renting a moving truck and paying for a few hours of professional help is still far cheaper than hiring a full-service mover.

Plus, you get the benefit of knowing your stuff is being safely handled by professionally trained movers instead of just your friends, who, despite their good intentions, are more likely to drop and damage it.

Ready to get the ball rolling on your affordable move?

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If you’re moving locally and you’re going full DIY to save money, you won’t find a cheaper moving option than Budget Truck Rental. Its low local prices, huge selection of discounts, and dirt-cheap mileage rates make it our number-one choice for affordable moving across town.

Between Penske, U-Haul, and Budget, Budget’s mileage rate—the price you pay for every mile you drive during a local move—is the cheapest by far.

Here’s how mileage rates from these moving truck companies compare:

If you’re just moving up the street, you might not really notice the difference in these mileage rates. However, if you’re moving one city over or you need to make multiple trips, you’ll be glad you went with the company that charges the least per mile.

Like Penske, Budget also has an impressive assortment of deals and discounts. In fact, Budget’s selection of discounts for customers in certain groups is even larger than Penske’s.

In addition to its student and military discounts, Budget also offers deals for police, firefighters, EMTs and members of organizations like the Motor Club of America and AARP.

Lastly, Budget—not to be upstaged by Penske in the discount department—also offers promotional discounts for all customers, and we’ve seen these deals run as high as 20% off.

Want to see how cheap your local move can be?

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If you want a little help loading, unloading, or packing for your DIY move, you can use TaskRabbit to find someone who will come over and help for an hourly rate. The company operates as a marketplace for labor of all kinds, like home repairs, furniture assembly, and—you guessed it—moving labor.

TaskRabbit is kind of like Airbnb. It’s a place where anyone can list what they’re good at (or what they think they’re good at), and you can hire them for odd jobs at an hourly rate. The bad thing is that many people for hire on TaskRabbit are amateurs, just like most hosts on Airbnb have never professionally run a hotel.

Luckily, TaskRabbit allows you to see how positively every individual is reviewed, so you can choose not to hire contractors who consistently disappoint their clients.

Still, if you’re looking for professionally trained moving labor, you should probably go with HireAHelper instead. While there aren’t professional credentials required for moving labor, HireAHelper does let its contractors list their professional licenses so you can find pros in HireAHelper’s network.²

That said, TaskRabbit’s average hourly rates are about $70 cheaper than HireAHelper’s. If budget is your sole concern and you don’t mind hiring an amateur, give TaskRabbit a try.

TaskRabbit is only available in about 70 cities across the US. Luckily, these are all major cities like Boston, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.

However, TaskRabbit only has contractors in about 35 states, so there’s a pretty good chance you’ll have to procure moving labor from one of its competitors. (Like, say, HireAHelper, which is available in over a thousand cities).

Need help with your move?

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DIY moving in a moving truck is a huge hassle, no matter how much money it saves you. And one of the worst parts is driving hundreds—if not thousands—of miles in an unruly moving truck that’s packed to the ceiling with everything you own. Luckily, if you rent a moving container from Zippy Shell, you can skip the whole driving gig.

You load using Zippy Shell’s moving and storage containers yourself when you move. Then, Zippy Shell delivers them for you. It can even store them for you before delivering them if necessary.

And here’s the best part: renting from Zippy Shell for a long-distance move only costs about double what renting a moving truck does on average, and it’s often much less than half the price of hiring full-service movers. This makes Zippy Shell the best option for budget-conscious customers who still want their moves to be convenient.

Like we said, Zippy Shell is the most affordable moving container company. Zippy Shell’s average price of $3,484 is about $400 cheaper than the overall average for the moving container industry.

In fact, Zippy Shell’s prices are so low that they sometimes compete with rates for moving trucks. In our pricing research for moving containers and moving trucks, Zippy Shell’s rates for some moves were lower than prices from moving truck companies for moves of similar distances. This was especially true for moves of several thousand miles.

All this means that, in some instances, you can get the convenience of a container move while getting a price comparable to that of a moving truck. You could even pay less!

Of course, this does come with a large caveat. Zippy Shell’s prices are only lower than moving truck rates in some cases. On average, Zippy Shell’s rates are roughly double that of truck rental companies.

So, what should you do with this information? If you want to get the best price for your move, don’t just default to renting a moving truck and doing the work yourself. You should at least get a quote from Zippy Shell to determine if the company can offer you a better price than your local U-Haul location.

The bad news is that Zippy Shell isn’t very widely available. The company only operates in a little over half of the country. Here’s a complete list of the states Zippy Shell services:

This means you may be unable to take advantage of Zippy Shell’s low prices. The good news is that there are other moving container companies with low rates and more locations.

If Zippy Shell doesn’t service your state, give PODS or 1-800-PACK-RAT a try:

Ready to book your moving containers?

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We’re going to come right out and say it: hiring a full-service mover like International Van Lines is never your cheapest option. Not even close. However, it is the best way to move if you want to skip all the intense labor and driving.

When you hire a full-service mover, the company takes care of literally everything. It will send a professional crew to load all of your stuff into a moving truck, drive it to your new home, and unload it for you. If you pay extra, the company will handle things like packing, assembling furniture, and installing electronics.

So, while it will cost you several thousands of dollars, you’ll get what you pay for in terms of convenience and safety for your belongings. Even if you aren’t sold on hiring a professional mover, getting a quote’s worth your time. Who knows? Maybe it won’t be as expensive as you fear.

If there’s a service you need for your move, IVL offers it. Here’s a list of everything IVL can do for you:

• Local, long-distance, and international delivery
• Professional loading
• Professional packing
• Furniture assembly and disassembly
• Storage services
• Car shipping
• Transport for specialty items like pianos and hot tubs
• Junk removal

Now, it’s probably abundantly clear at this point that you’ll pay extra for all of these services. The good news is that working with IVL means your move is fully customizable. You can tailor your service to fit your needs exactly, and you’ll only pay for the services you use.

So, while hiring IVL isn’t cheap, it’s the best value for your money.

If you’re going to shell out for a full-service mover, you might as well go with the best, and International Van Lines is our very favorite moving company. IVL’s comprehensive menu of services, transparent pricing, worldwide availability, and award-winning customer service make it the best full-service mover in the business.

Want to see how much moving with IVL would cost you?

Read Full Review

The cheapest moving companies:

1. Penske Truck Rental—Cheapest long-distance moves
2. Budget Truck Rental—Cheapest local moves
3. TaskRabbit—Cheapest moving labor
4. Zippy Shell—Cheapest moving containers
5. International Van Lines—Best full-service mover

Other cheap moving companies we recommend:

• PODS
• 1-800-PACK-RAT
• American Van Lines

It’s an unfortunate fact that every dollar you save while moving will require extra effort on your part. This makes renting a moving truck your most affordable option, while deluxe service from a professional moving company is the most expensive.

To keep moving costs low:

• Rent a moving truck. While it’s the most affordable option, it’s the least convenient, too—you do all the work yourself.
• Get DIY truck rental + hire labor. OR rent a container. You can lighten the load of a DIY move by hiring a moving labor company for a few hours or by renting a moving container (so you don’t have to drive the moving truck to your new home). Both of these options are relatively affordable and don’t leave all the work for
• Get a mix-and-match. Choose various moving methods to create a custom cocktail of affordability and convenience. For example, you could hire professional movers to deliver all of your biggest and most expensive furniture while you drive a truck filled with your boxes of books, dishes, and clothes.

There’s no rule that says you have to go all-in on one moving method, and getting creative can help you save money on your big move. We also recommend moving during the off-season (fall and winter months), donating or selling things you don't need, and finding your own packing supplies.

Move.org identifies the moving industry’s best and most affordable companies by using a four-fold research approach:

• Comparing prices. We constantly collect fresh pricing data to stay abreast of industry trends and average moving costs. Most of our pricing info is gathered through mystery shopping to ensure we’re getting the same quotes as actual customers.
• Checking government databases. To ensure we only recommend trustworthy companies, we routinely check every moving company’s credentials with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
• Customer satisfaction research. We check our recommendations and claims about every company against actual customer reviews on various review sites like Google Reviews and Yelp. We’ll let you know in our reviews if we notice concerningly high complaints about a company.
• Outreach. Part of our research involves contacting moving companies directly with surveys about their services and pricing.

Now that we’ve pointed you to the best cheap moving companies, we wanted to make sure you’re set for moving day. Read these guides to prepare for everything your move will require:

• The Only Moving Checklist You’ll Ever Need
• How to Move Yourself without Professional Movers
• How to Save Money on Your Container Move
• How to Save Money on Your Truck Rental Move
• How to Pay for Your Move

• What’s the Cheapest Way to Move Cross-Country?
• How Much Does It Cost to Move?
• Should I Move Myself or Hire a Mover?

1. Penske Truck Rental, “Moving Labor.” Accessed August 12, 2024.
2. HireAHelper, “Frequently Asked Questions.” Accessed August 12, 2024.