What Austin's bulk pickup actually is
Since retiring the old twice-a-year neighborhood sweeps, Austin Resource Recovery runs bulk collection as an on-demand request system: you file at austintexas.gov/service/ondemand, and a truck comes on a scheduled date. Three design choices define it:
- It's rationed. Qualifying households get a limited number of free pickups per year, and each pickup carries a volume cap. (Check the current allowance on the city's page when you file — the numbers have shifted over the years, and we'd rather point you at the source than print a stale figure.)
- It's curbside-only. The crew collects from the curb; getting the item there — down the stairs, out of the garage, through the house — is entirely on you.
- It's for city-curbside customers only. If your trash service comes from the City of Austin, you're in. If your building contracts a private hauler — as nearly every apartment complex, condo and tower does — the program was never available to you.
The comparison, honestly
| Austin's on-demand bulk | JunkRabbit | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free (within your annual allowance) | Flat published prices from $100 |
| Who qualifies | City-curbside households only | Anyone, anywhere in the metro |
| Who carries it | You, to the curb | Our crew, from inside — stairs, elevators, garages |
| Timing | Scheduled date after your request; item waits at the curb | Same-day slots most days; scheduled windows |
| Volume | Capped per pickup, limited pickups/year | Any volume — truck-fill ladder $241–$732 per truck |
| Fridges / freezers / ACs | Refused without certified freon recovery (your errand) | Accepted — EPA-code recovery inside the price ($164 fridge) |
| Construction debris / tires | Refused | Accepted — debris $120/cy, tire sets $87 |
| Hot tubs / oversized | Refused | Accepted — hot tub $390 sectioned and hauled |
| Where it ends up | Collection stream | Donation-first with receipts; recycling; disposal last |
When the free program is the right answer
Genuinely, use it when all of these line up: you're a city-curbside household (a house, not a complex), the item fits the cap and isn't excluded, you can carry it to the curb yourself, and there's no deadline — you don't mind it sitting out until the scheduled date. A broken dresser at a Crestview ranch house, a disassembled bed frame in Allandale, the old bookshelf in a 78745 driveway: file the request, save the money. Your utility bill already paid for it.
The six cases where it structurally can't work
- You rent in a complex. Private hauling means no program access — and the corral dumpster bans furniture with deposit bill-backs to enforce it. Most of Austin's renters live here.
- You live in a tower. No curb exists; everything exits via COI-gated freight elevators and dock windows — logistics the city program has no version of.
- You're in the suburbs. Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Pflugerville, Leander, Hutto, Buda, Kyle and Lakeway each run their own scheduled-date systems — and their HOA covenants fine the curbside wait the schedule requires.
- The item is excluded. Refrigerant appliances (without a certified freon recovery you'd have to arrange separately), construction and remodel debris, tires, and oversized pieces like hot tubs — the program refuses all of them.
- The volume exceeds the ration. A garage, an estate, a whole-apartment move-out — many multiples of any cap, staged at the curb in batches over weeks.
- There's a clock. A lease walkthrough, a listing photographer, a July 31 key handover — none of them wait for a scheduled date.
What the paid option costs, exactly
Our Austin rate card is published — the same numbers on every page of this site, checked against one source of truth:
| Job | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Minimum order | $100 |
| Sofa | $126 |
| Queen mattress | $103 |
| Refrigerator (freon recovery included) | $164 |
| Hot tub (sectioned & hauled) | $390 |
| Hot tub — 6-8 person (sectioned & hauled) | $501 |
| Construction / remodel debris | $120 per cubic yard |
| Quarter-truck clear (studio / garage) | $241 |
| Half truck | $431 |
| Full truck | $732 |
Every price includes the carry-out from inside — stairs, doorways, elevators — plus disposal or donation routing with receipts. Photo-quoted in seconds; the quote is the checkout price.
For the self-haul comparison: TDS Creedmoor's gate bills roughly $60/ton with a two-ton minimum per trip (2025 published rate), before the truck rental and your Saturday.
The decision in one paragraph
If you're a house on city trash service with one carryable, non-excluded item and no deadline — file the free request; it's a good program for exactly that. The moment any variable flips — a complex lease, a suburb covenant, a fridge, a hot tub, a garage's worth, a walkthrough date, stairs you shouldn't be carrying a sofa down — the free path closes, and the honest comparison becomes paid crew vs. self-haul vs. risk. At flat published prices with the carry included, we've made the crew the easy answer. Both options in one household are common, by the way: city pickup for the dresser, us for the fridge. Use each for what it's for.
What Austin customers say
"Communication was excellent, the haulers were so fast and efficient and work so hard. Very grateful for the help today!!"
"Prompt and professional. I will definitely use again."
"Fast, considerate, and thorough"
Quick answers
Is Austin bulk pickup free?
For qualifying city-curbside households, within an annual allowance and per-pickup cap — check the current allowance at austintexas.gov/service/ondemand when you file.
Why won't it take my fridge?
Federal law requires certified freon recovery first. Our $164 includes it.
I'm in Round Rock / Cedar Park / Kyle — does this program apply?
No — every suburb runs its own scheduled system. See your city's page, or your suburb's page on this site for the local reality.
What does paid removal cost?
From $100; sofa $126, fridge $164, hot tub $390, truck-fill clears $241–$732 — carry-out and disposal included.
Can I use both?
Households do it all the time — the free program for the simple item, us for everything it can't take.
Frequently asked questions
Is Austin's bulk pickup free?
For qualifying households, yes — Austin Resource Recovery runs an on-demand bulk collection request system (austintexas.gov/service/ondemand) for City of Austin residential curbside-trash customers, granting a limited number of free pickups per year, each with a volume cap, collected curbside only on a scheduled date. It is a request system, not a set calendar — and its qualifying rules are where most Austinites fall out.
Who can't use Austin's bulk pickup?
Renters in apartments and condos on private hauling (most of the city's renters), tower residents with no curb, anyone in the suburbs — Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Pflugerville, Leander, Hutto, Buda, Kyle and Lakeway all run their own scheduled systems — and anyone whose item is excluded: refrigerant appliances without certified freon recovery, construction debris, tires, and oversized items like hot tubs.
What does paid junk removal cost in Austin?
Our published Austin rates: $100 minimum; sofa $126, queen mattress $103, refrigerator $164 with freon recovery included, hot tub $390; whole-room and garage clears as truck-fill from $241 (quarter truck) to $732 (full truck); construction debris $120 per cubic yard. Every price is flat, photo-quoted, and includes the carry-out from inside plus disposal.
When is the free program genuinely the right choice?
When you're a city-curbside household with one or two capped-size items you can carry to the curb yourself, no deadline, and nothing refrigerant, construction or oversized in the pile. That's a real and common case — use the free program for it; that's what your utility bill pays for.
When is paid removal the right choice?
When any of these is true: you rent in a complex or tower; you're in a suburb with HOA covenants and a scheduled-only system; the item is excluded (fridge, hot tub, debris, tires); the volume exceeds the caps (garage, estate, move-out); you can't or shouldn't carry it yourself; or there's a deadline — a walkthrough, a listing, a lease cliff.