Austin is the capital of Texas, and the western part of the city has rolling hills while the east stays flat. Hyde Park, just north of the University of Texas, dates to 1891 and is considered the city's first suburb. When Zelbi opens in Austin, you take one photo of what you're finished with, and Zelbi writes the listing.
Skip the donation drop-off in Austin
In the Austin metro, “donation container near me” and “donate clothes near me” each draw between a thousand and ten thousand searches a month.
When Zelbi opens in Austin, you skip the drop-off run. You take one photo, Zelbi writes the description, and the giver picks a day and time before meeting the claimer or leaving the item outside.
Free furniture pickup in Austin
Austin’s own bulk pickup is booked by appointment. Single-family homes and up to fourplexes can schedule up to three collections for each service in a calendar year, and the item has to be at the curb by 5:30 a.m. on the appointment date. Furniture is on its accepted list, but bagged items are treated as extra trash.
Austin’s summers run hot. The 1991 to 2020 mean daily maximum at Camp Mabry reaches 97.8 °F in August. With Zelbi, the giver sets the time a curbside item goes outside and the claimer confirms it in the app.
Free stuff near you in Austin
“Craigslist free stuff” and “how to get rid of a mattress” are two phrases people search in the Austin metro, each drawing a hundred to a thousand searches a month. On Zelbi, a listing from Hyde Park appears as a neighborhood area rather than a street address.
The 1928 city plan set East Avenue as the dividing line between white and Black Austin, and Central East Austin is one of the city’s historically Black neighborhoods. East César Chávez was once called Masontown, and Mueller is the former airport site, which operated until 1999.
Items on Zelbi are free. The only charge is a $2 platform fee, paid by the person who claims an item; giving something away costs nothing.
A simpler alternative to Craigslist free, Freecycle, Buy Nothing and Trash Nothing
Austin already has free-stuff groups on Facebook, and one of them counts more than a hundred thousand members. Zelbi works differently: the pickup is scheduled in the app, and the giver pays nothing and receives nothing.
One photo to list
Zelbi writes the description from the picture you take.
A claimer with an account
Every claim sits on a Zelbi account with an authorized payment, and your exact address goes only to the person who claimed.
A pickup you schedule
The pickup is set in the app, and a claimer who cancels inside two hours still pays the $2 fee.
Zelbi is an independent app. It is not affiliated with Craigslist, The Freecycle Network, the Buy Nothing Project or Trash Nothing. Their names belong to their owners.
Moving or decluttering in Austin?
The city’s MoveOutATX page says it makes move-out easier for students when apartment leases end on July 31. The program began as a fall 2017 pilot and has rehomed nearly 2,800 pieces of furniture through its Free Furniture Market.
The University of Texas at Austin's spring checkout page set residence hall closing at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, a date that has already passed. If you're moving out of campus housing, list the furniture and let a neighbor claim it.
Bring Zelbi to Austin
From Hyde Park to South Congress, the things you no longer need can stay in Austin, with one photo and a neighbor nearby.
Join the waitlist