The 5 Best Shower Caddies

Primary Material: Stainless Steel | Method of Installation: Adhesive Hooks

The Kincmax Basket Shelf is a versatile, top-performing shower caddy. We love that the four included hooks can be attached almost anywhere on the product, making them great for loofahs, washcloths, or your favorite razor. This model also works well as a spice rack in the kitchen or cleaning supply organizer in a utility or laundry room. The adhesive pad adheres very strongly to tile and stone surfaces, making the whole product incredibly stable. It also isn't beholden to any particular place in a shower (i.e., in a corner), so it can be installed anywhere along the wall at any height.

We don't have much to complain about with the Kincmax Basket Shelf. That said, we noticed this shower caddy only includes a single adhesive pad for installation. To be clear, that's all you need. However, it also means there isn't any margin for error if you don't get the installation right the first time. Aside from this minor knock, there is plenty to like about the simplicity and versatility of the Kincmax Basket Shelf.

Primary Material: Steel | Method of Installation: Over-the-Shower

The Zenna Home Expandable Over-The-Shower is a unique caddy that brings convenience and versatility to the bathroom. It is designed with removable showerheads in mind. The four baskets each slide independently from one another, meaning there are several different configurations, depending on what you need to store. The two tiers are also spaced far enough apart that they can accommodate tall shampoo or large pump bottles. The suction cup placement is also somewhat adjustable, so you can find an appropriate position for them depending on the dimensions of your shower tiles.

Like everything else, Zenna is not flawless. For the most part, this shower caddy feels secure, but the wire frame can easily get pulled away from the suction cups, making it less secure. Due to the slidability of each basket, they are also susceptible to bending with too much weight in them. All things considered, if you like easy-peasy over-the-showerhead installation, the Zenna is a great option.

Primary Material: Stainless Steel | Method of Installation: Adhesive Hooks

The ODesign Shower Shelf is a super versatile shower caddy. The two-tier design holds shower and bath products for two or more people. The units use adhesive pads with hooks that stick to shower tile very securely. The wires that make up the bottom of the basket are close together, so items don't fall over or fall through. We also think that this shower shelf could easily be a kitchen shelf when installed against a tile backsplash.

One of the few dings against this shower shelf is that it doesn't include any hooks. It's not a dealbreaker, but if you were hoping to hang a razor, this model isn't for you. Though we found that it has ample storage capacity, it just isn't as deep as models installed in the corner of the shower. That said, the ODesign is a basic, decent-looking caddy that's great for a couple or small family.

Primary Material: Stainless Steel | Method of Installation: Adhesive Hooks

The SMARTAKE 2-Pack Corner is a remarkably strong and versatile shower caddy. The 2-tier model that we tested has two baskets, one slightly smaller than the other. They both rely on adhesive pads with hooks to stay put on a wall. We love the deeper baskets, and the pattern of the bottom wiring ensures bath products don't fall through the cracks. Both shelves can bear a significant amount of weight (far more than you would ever reasonably put into either of them), and they are separate from one another, meaning that you can install them at any height with any amount of space between them.

Our biggest gripe with this model is in regard to the installation process. There is a somewhat frustrating degree of precision required to get the orientation of the hooks on the adhesive pad and the wiring of the baskets to properly line up so that they don't interfere with each other when snapping the baskets into place. We got it eventually; it just took more time than it should have. Also, this model lacks hooks, so loofahs and razors must seek refuge elsewhere. All in all, the SMARTAKE Corner caddy brings excellent stability and adaptability to shower time.

Primary Material: Plastic + Stainless Steel | Method of Installation: Tension Pole

The ALLZONE Constant Tension Corner owns the customizability crown. It has four tiers of shelves, one of which has shampoo cap holes cut into the bottom for when you are at the end of a bottle. Because of its size, it has a huge amount of storage capacity — at least enough for four people's products — maybe more. Each shelf also comes with a bar that can be inserted either pointing upward (to act as a guard against bottles toppling over) or downward (to do its duty as a towel bar). One of these adaptable bars also comes with hooks for a razor or loofah storage, and the shelves and actual towel bar are all adjustable heights.

Our main complaint with the Allzone is that the assembly takes a while, and the instructions are not always intuitive. The plastic shelves might also dissuade some shoppers. They have drainage holes, but body wash and shampoo residue will eventually build up on the bottom. Ultimately, we think the Allzone is excellent for families who need a lot of storage space for their bath products.

Primary Material: Stainless Steel | Method of Installation: Adhesive Hooks

The SMARTAKE Rectangular 2-Pack has some unique characteristics and a lot to offer for shower storage. Unlike other corner caddies, this one eschews a round design in favor of an L-shape. It's subtle, but if it is installed above a tub, it means that the baskets follow the shape of the bath instead of sticking out over it. This unit also comes with several hooks and a cross-hatched bottom so that items stay upright and don't fall through the slats. The adhesive pad installation also ensures that these shelves are super secure.

Our biggest issue with this model is that it just looks and feels cheap. The hooks bend out of place easily, and the metal stains fairly quickly. We don't think that it will stand up well in the long run. In addition, installation can be tricky and requires more patience and precision than you may care to spend. It's not without its flaws, but this is a good choice if you need a product with many hooks.

Primary Material: Metal | Method of Installation: Over-the-Shower

The iDesign York Metal Wire is an over-the-shower caddy that is super easy to install. It hangs on the pipe just behind the showerhead and secures at the bottom with a couple of suction cups. It has two sets of both razor hooks, and washcloth/loofah hooks, and the basket bottoms are cross-hatched wire, which ensures that small items don't fall through or tip over as easily.

This product generally lacks versatility. The shelves are fixed, and there isn't much room between the two tiers, so the bottom shelf is only suitable for bar soap or travel-size items. It also hangs pretty high up, so shorter folks may find it's not the most convenient to access. The suction cups are fixed in place, so if you have tiles in your shower, you might have the bad luck of one of the cups lining up with the grout line, which will affect suctioning ability. However, if an over-the-showerhead model is your preference, this one is certainly sturdy.

Primary Material: Metal | Method of Installation: Tension Pole

The Zenna Home Pole Caddy is a high-capacity, somewhat adaptable caddy. It comes with four shelves, each of which can hold regular size bottles of body wash, shampoo, and conditioner at the same time. The baskets are adjustable heights, and the unit itself can be installed in many different types of showers and bathtubs. We also appreciate its versatility — we found that it makes for a decent storage unit next to a sink counter, giving you a place to keep deodorant, razors, toothpaste, etc.

As with other caddies that rely on a spring-loaded pole for installation, we found that this one takes some time to assemble — about 30 minutes and a little bit of frustration. It also takes a little patience to secure the shelves properly around the included rubber gaskets. One of the biggest issues we had using this caddy is that items often toppled over due to the wide, awkward spacing of the wire on the bottom of the baskets and the low-profile guardrails that did little to keep tall shampoo in place. However, if you want a metal tension-pole model, the Zenna Home Pole Caddy will certainly hold a lot of bath products.

Primary Material: Bamboo | Method of Installation: Over-the-Shower

The iDesign Formbu Bamboo is a unique bamboo model. It looks elegant and could be the right piece to tie together a certain type of shower. It is incredibly simple to install. We also appreciate the flat bottoms of the shelves because they allow items to stay upright rather than tipping over. There are two pegs that you can use to either balance a razor on or hang a washcloth or loofah.

The biggest pitfall of this caddy is that it is very unstable. It comes with a rubber-coated metal ring to secure it to the pipe behind the showerhead, but even with that in place, the unit can easily be removed. On top of that, there are no suction cups to keep it fastened at the bottom, so it just sort of floats freely and swings around if the weight on the shelves is unbalanced. It also happens to be one of the more expensive products. It's far from perfect, but for the right bathroom, it could look really nice.

Why You Should Trust Us

We buy all of the products that we review at retail prices and put them through a process of side-by-side comparison testing. For this review, we assess each product in four metrics: stability, versatility, design, and ease of installation. We weigh them down to see how much they can hold, measure installation times, and solicit feedback to assess design aesthetics.

Lead reviewer Ben Applebaum-Bauch has been reviewing products for over three years. In that time, he has researched and tested hundreds of products, including dozens of home goods and bathroom products. He takes a methodical, real-world, user-oriented approach to product assessment.

Analysis and Test Results

Here we review the performance of products in each metric to assess which ones are the strongest contenders.

Stability

Stability has to do with how secure the shower caddy is after installation. The last thing anyone needs in an already slippery situation is a large piece of hardware falling down mid-shower. We also consider how well each model holds various bath products as well. That is, the caddy itself might stay put, but we also want to ensure that the bottles and razors we store in it won't come tumbling down either.

During testing, we learned that certain styles of caddy tend to offer greater stability than others. As a general rule, we found that the semi-permanent adhesive hook styles like the Smartake Corner, Smartake Rectangular, Kincmax Basket Shelf, and ODesign Shower Shelf all have adhesive pads that affix very securely to the wall if installed properly. They can hold more weight without flexing than other styles.

Tension pole models like the Zenna Home Pole Caddy and the Allzone Constant Tension Corner never fell or got loose in our testing; however, grabbing onto the center pole and giving them a stiff shake is a little disconcerting (though the Allzone proved to be notably more rigid than the Zenna). The shelves on these two units tend to flex a little bit under the weight of a large, full bottle of shampoo (again, much more noticeably with the Zenna).

The final type of over-the-showerhead caddies is a mixed bag. The iDesign York Metal Wire has a very tight-fitting collar that secures behind the showerhead. However, the suction cups are not adjustable, so they may not line up properly with certain tile patterns. The Zenna Home Expandable Over-the-Shower has a less secure collar but more adaptable suction cups, while the iDesign Formbu Bamboo is the least stable of the bunch.

Versatility

There are a lot of different bath products out there, and everyone has their own routine. Versatility is the idea that a shower caddy can meet the needs of, say, an entire family. From deep shelves for large pump bottles of body wash to places to hold razors, we look at all of the different ways each model accommodates different products. Though each caddy in this review is meant for showers, we also consider how well it could serve in different parts of a house (e.g., as a kitchen spice rack).

Several of these models, especially all of the ones that have adhesive pads like the Smartake Corner, Smartake Rectangular, Kincmax Basket Shelf, and ODesign Shower Shelf could easily be used as spice/cooking tool racks in a kitchen (assuming they can be installed against smooth backsplash tile).

Tension pole models like the Zenna Home Pole Caddy and the Allzone Constant Tension Corner aren't necessarily kitchen capable, but they could find a home in the corner of a bathroom vanity or in a utility/laundry room. The adjustability of the shelf heights is also huge since you can customize the caddy to the bath products that you actually use.

The over-the-showerhead models are generally the least versatile. Though they could be hung on a hook in a utility or laundry room, the fixed shelves may not work for whatever you are hoping to store. In terms of shower use, they are also somewhat limited in their versatility — again, because you're limited by the spacing of the shelves.

Design

Utility is critical, but so are aesthetics. A shower caddy is one of those items that can either up the overall impression of a bathroom or just look out of place. Design is the metric where we consider both the functionality of each caddy and the visual contribution that a model makes to the space that it occupies.

The Allzone Constant Tension Corner has a couple of interesting features. It comes with four bars, one for each shelf. They can either be inserted facing up (preventing bath products from falling off of the shelf) or underneath, creating an additional towel bar. However you install it, the customizability is a nice touch. The Zenna Home Expandable can accommodate a removable showerhead with slidable baskets. The iDesign Formbu Bamboo is unique in terms of its materials. Though it might not be for everyone, the wooden aesthetic could really tie the right bathroom together.

Some useful design features are common to a few models. We appreciate the cross-hatched baskets of the Smartake Rectangular, iDesign York Metal Wire, and Smartake Corner. They offer good support, so bath products stay upright and don't fall through the cracks. Razor hooks that can double as loofah/washcloth hangers are also a big plus.

Ease of Installation

This straightforward metric doesn't hold quite as much weight as the others, but easy installation is always a nice plus. We assess the complexity and the amount of time it takes to get up and wash with each product.

Installation degree of difficulty breaks down into three familiar categories: models with adhesive pads, ones that hang over the showerhead, and those that use a spring-loaded pole to create tension between the floor and ceiling. The over-the-showerhead models are by far the fastest and easiest to install. Suction cup alignment issues notwithstanding, the Zenna Home Expandable, iDesign York Metal Wire, and iDesign Formbu Bamboo all go on in less than a minute.

In the next tier, the models with adhesive pads, including the Smartake Rectangular and Kincmax Basket Shelf, need a little extra time and patience. They require marking the wall, then sticking the adhesive pad in place. These types typically take about 5-10 minutes of active installation time, and it is usually recommended to let the pad cure in place for 24 hours before adding weight to it.

Lastly, the tension pole models take about 20-30 minutes to install. There are different configurations depending on how high the ceiling is, so instructions with models like the Zenna Home Pole Caddy and Allzone Constant Tension Corner require patience and some deciphering.

Conclusion

Let the soap slip no more. There are a lot of options out there to consider. Whether you have a stall shower, claw-foot bathtub, or anything in between, we hope that this expert review has given you the information you need to find the perfect storage solution for your body wash and shampoo.