The $5 Shower Caddy That College Students Swear By (It’s “Durable” and “Cute!”)

See all the dorm must-haves — from mattress toppers to storage — that real college students swear by for making your space cozy and functional. Check out the full list of Dorm Therapy Awards 2025 winners!

If you’ll be using a communal dorm bathroom, a shower caddy is an absolute must. I can’t think of anything less glamorous than juggling your toiletries and cosmetics in your arms while trying to unlock the bathroom door. For the college students we surveyed, when it comes to the best shower caddy for college, simpler is better.

When I was in college, I used the traditional mesh basket type, but it turns out that there are many variations of a shower caddy that’ll work just as well. Our winning product might also be one of the more affordable buys on your dorm essentials shopping list — the fan favorite is $5 and the two runners-up are $10 each. Check out which one will work best for you.

Dorm Therapy is dedicated to helping students at every point of their college experience, and that includes shopping for their dorm! We’re a website powered by real college student contributors (who have recently experienced dorm living) and experienced editors, creating service-first content about navigating life at school and sharing vetted product recommendations for dorms and college apartments.

We went straight to the source to determine our winners for the Dorm Therapy Awards 2025, surveying more than 360 college students and recent grads to learn about their absolute favorite products that they used in their dorms. 

For the winning shower caddy, we first looked at how many students recommended specific models, and we chose the top three most popular picks. We then took into account the average ratings of the respective shower caddies; students ranked their recommendations on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being a product they loved and would “definitely recommend.” You’ll notice that the winner and the first runner up have the same average rating; we chose our winner because it was recommended by twice the number of students. 

I couldn’t believe how many glowing positive reviews we received for a $5 shower caddy. Students loved the plastic material, and said it was extremely durable, giving it an 8.6 average rating. This small but mighty caddy has four compartments with holes for drainage. 

• “10/10 ! Used it every year of college.” —Desirae R., Hesston College, Class of 2025
• “It never molded, it was super easy to carry and durable. It was also affordable at $5 at Target. I felt like it held a lot.” —Samantha G., Louisiana State University, Class of 2028
• “Very affordable. Cute and simple.” —Layla M., University of Louisiana Monroe, Class of 2028
• “Easy to carry, fit everything I needed!” —Madison T., University of Wisconsin–Madison, Class of 2028

If the $5 version is a bit too small to fit all of your skincare, have no fear. Target also makes a larger version for $10. Plus, this size has a removable compartment, so you can just take a small container when going to brush your teeth. This caddy also has four compartments with holes, but they are much wider. Students rated this shower caddy an average of 8.6. 

• “It was HUGE and it never broke on me.”—Camila Q., Louisiana State University, Class of 2027
• “Bulky, but had plenty of room and held up well.” —Brooklynn H., Simmons University, Class of 2028
• “It was kinda big but I loved the detachable part for [my] toothbrush.” —Tsehai M., University of Hartford, Class of 2028
• “Easy to carry/move. Convenient.” —Rachel B., Georgia Southern University, Class of 2025

I used to assume all shower caddies looked like this mesh one, but boy was I wrong. Another popular pick among our respondents, this $10 shower caddy averaged a 7.7 rating. This caddy has pockets rather than, and the mesh material is flexible if you need to squeeze lots of products in. It’s also foldable for easy storage when it’s empty. 

• “I love it because it had holes for drainage and was also able to hold a lot of products.” — Aubrey K., Minnesota State University, Class of 2025
• “Great price, durable, easy to carry, ample pockets for organization, and the mesh dries really well & quickly. It is slightly flimsy if you put too many heavy things that don’t balance well, but this was never a big issue for me.” —Hanna C., Pepperdine University, Class of 2026