Mighty
Prepared for Just Cabins Limited

Just Cabins

Competitor and growth opportunity report

New Zealand portable cabin hire, with RoomMate Cabins in focus. Just Cabins is the most visible operator in the category and holds the widest branch network in the country. That lead comes from branch coverage, review volume and search position.

Prepared by Mighty, September 2026. Just Cabins' own measurement comes from Google GA4 and Google Search Console, covering 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026. Competitor figures are third party estimates, dated September 2026. The two are kept in separate sections and are never placed side by side or added together.

Where Just Cabins stands in the category

Just Cabins leads New Zealand portable cabin hire on every public measure that can be compared across operators: search visibility, branch coverage, review volume, links pointing at the site, and site speed. RoomMate Cabins is the closest national rival and the only other operator with comparable scale.

Branch coverage, at 14 September 202661 branch pricing pages across New Zealand, against 27 supplier regions for RoomMate Cabins
Share of category search visibility, September 202628.3% of the estimated visibility across the 21 cabin hire operators reviewed, the largest share. RoomMate Cabins holds 18.0%
Search terms the site ranks for, September 2026132 in New Zealand, against 107 for RoomMate Cabins
Google reviews, at 14 September 2026804 reviews at 4.97 stars across 44 branch profiles, the largest review base in the category
Sites linking to the domain, at 14 September 2026311 referring domains, more than double the next operator
Website speed, 14 September 2026Google Lighthouse performance score of 98 out of 100, with the main image painting in 1.0 seconds
Website visits, 12 months to 31 August 2026288,754 sessions and 18,053 conversion events recorded in GA4

Two things have changed in the market that the lead does not automatically cover. RoomMate Cabins is bidding on Google Ads in Auckland and holding the top sponsored position there, and it is running the most aggressive weekly rate in the category. Search demand for cabin hire also peaks in January rather than mid winter, which sets the deadline for anything meant to land in the busiest month.

Since June the whole category has moved in the same direction, and Just Cabins has come through it in better shape than the operators around it. The next two sections set out that movement and answer the questions Just Cabins raised on 27 August 2026.

Estimated monthly visits from tracked search terms, September 2026

Just Cabins
2,535 visits
RoomMate Cabins
1,614 visits
Portacom
1,258 visits
Cabins To Rent
698 visits
NZ Cabin Rentals
509 visits
Freedom Cabins
477 visits
MIZIN Cabins
318 visits
Rentable Spaces
290 visits
RentZone
247 visits
Hire a Hut
194 visits
Waikato Cabins
170 visits
Highlander
156 visits

Estimate for New Zealand, September 2026, across the cabin hire search terms in the index. Twelve operators shown of the 21 reviewed. Holiday accommodation marketplaces such as Airbnb, Bookabach and Trade Me also appear in these search results and are excluded, because they are not cabin hire operators.

The full operator set, September 2026

OperatorEst. visits from searchTracked termsEst. visits from mapsMap placements
Just Cabins
justcabins.co.nz
2,5351321,51821
RoomMate Cabins
roommatecabins.co.nz
1,6141075647
Portacom
portacom.co.nz
1,258886586
Cabins To Rent
cabinstorent.co.nz
69843None recorded0
NZ Cabin Rentals
nzcabinrentals.co.nz
50932None recorded0
Freedom Cabins
freedomcabinsnz.com
4771771115
MIZIN Cabins
mizin.nz
31865521
Rentable Spaces
rentablespaces.co.nz
290761314
RentZone
rentzone.co.nz
24760None recorded0
Hire a Hut
hireahut.co.nz
19463None recorded0
Waikato Cabins
waikatocabins.co.nz
17031None recorded0
Highlander
highlander.co.nz
15658331
Aotea Cabins
aoteacabins.co.nz
12333None recorded0
Cosy Cabin Rentals
cosycabinrentals.co.nz
11129492
Mopod
mopod.co.nz
6361231
Porta Rent
portarent.co.nz
6134None recorded0
Room2Rent
room2rent.net.nz
5056641
Portacabin
portacabin.co.nz
3335None recorded0
Cabin Hire Co
cabinhireco.co.nz
2718None recorded0
EzyCabinz
ezycabinz.nz
1416None recorded0
A1 Portable Cabins
a1portablecabins.co.nz
109None recorded0

Referring domains, at 14 September 2026

Just Cabins
311 domains
Cabins To Rent
122 domains
Portacom
116 domains
RoomMate Cabins
93 domains
RentZone
78 domains
Freedom Cabins
52 domains
MIZIN Cabins
38 domains
Hire a Hut
22 domains
NZ Cabin Rentals
21 domains
Rentable Spaces
13 domains

Count of distinct domains linking to each site, 14 September 2026.

How the cabin hire category moved, April to September 2026

Every one of the four largest operators lost estimated search visibility between June and August 2026, and the category as a whole fell 47.0% over those two months. Just Cabins gave up less ground than either HouseMe or RoomMate Cabins, and finished the period holding a larger share of the category than it held in June.

0k3k6k9k12kApr 26MayJunJulAugSepHouseMeJust CabinsRoomMate CabinsPortacom

Estimate for New Zealand, April to September 2026, across the cabin hire search terms in the index. One line per operator, all four on the same measure and the same basis. A single estimating index is used throughout this section and the one that follows, so the counts here will not match the July report figure for figure. The direction and the size of the movement are what carry across.

Estimated monthly visits from tracked search terms, by month

OperatorApr 26MayJunJulAugSep
Just Cabins4,1494,2244,0503,2563,0942,535
HouseMe9,3589,2828,9995,4594,4964,388
RoomMate Cabins4,6585,0075,2572,4911,5741,614
Portacom1,9121,8211,8041,6121,4891,258
All four operators20,07720,33420,11012,81810,6539,795

Estimate for New Zealand, April to September 2026.

Placements in the top three Google results, by month

OperatorApr 26MayJunJulAugSep
Just Cabins293028263029
HouseMe737470635660
RoomMate Cabins182021181414
Portacom212219171514

Count of tracked search terms where each operator held one of the top three results. Estimate for New Zealand, April to September 2026.

Just Cabins is the only one of the four operators holding more top three placements in September than it held in June, at 29 against 28. Over the same period RoomMate Cabins went from 21 to 14, HouseMe from 70 to 60, and Portacom from 19 to 14.

Share of the four operator total moved with it. Just Cabins held 20.1% of estimated visits in June and 29.0% in August, standing at 25.9% in September. RoomMate Cabins went from 26.1% to 14.8% across the same two months.

The questions from Just Cabins, 27 August 2026

Four questions came through from Just Cabins on 27 August 2026, off the back of the July report showing RoomMate Cabins down 13 percent. Each one is answered below against the same estimated data set, covering the July review point through to the end of August 2026.

"Have they shifted their keyword searches, and hence the percentage decrease?"

No. RoomMate Cabins is ranking for close to the same number of search terms as it was in June. What changed is where those terms sit. Its placements on page one of Google fell from 59 in June to 33 in September, a drop of 44.1%, while the total number of terms it ranks for fell only 13.0%. It is ranking for much the same set of searches and sitting lower down the results for them.

MonthRoomMate placements on page oneTotal terms RoomMate ranks forShare on page one
Apr 265514139%
May5813045%
Jun5912348%
Jul5110947%
Aug4210440%
Sep3310731%

Estimate for New Zealand, April to September 2026.

"Or have they potentially been outbid due to the auction price rising?"

The 13 percent figure is a measure of the free Google results, so the advertising auction does not move it either way. The auction is a separate question, and the answer there is that it has become dearer for everyone. Across the three core terms with a full run of data the estimated cost per click rose from $1.77 in June to $2.04 in August 2026, up 15%. RoomMate Cabins is still bidding through this and still holding the top sponsored position in Auckland, which is set out in the Google Ads section below.

Search termMay 26JunJulAugJune to August
cabin hire$1.73$1.64$2.14+30% (to July)
cabins for rent$1.65$1.74$1.98$2.00+15%
cabins to rent$1.89$1.97$2.27$2.10+7%
rent a cabin$1.45$1.60$1.93$2.03+27%

Estimated cost per click for New Zealand, May to August 2026. August was not yet recorded for "cabin hire" at the time of writing, so that row is measured to July.

"A reassurance sense check, to make sure we are not missing any competitor shifts"

One shift is worth knowing about, and it is the category rather than any single operator. RoomMate Cabins going backwards is the visible part of a move that took every operator with it, set out in the section above. Nothing in the checks listed below points to a change specific to RoomMate Cabins, or to any operator doing something new. Just Cabins finished the period holding more of the category than it held in June.

Operator setAll 21 cabin hire operators appearing in the New Zealand results for the category search terms were checked, September 2026
Search term overlapThe 50 terms Just Cabins and RoomMate Cabins both rank for, with Just Cabins ahead on 45 of them, September 2026
Page one positionsMonth by month for all four largest operators, April to September 2026
Map resultsJust Cabins holds 21 placements in the Google map results against 7 for RoomMate Cabins and 8 for HouseMe, September 2026
Review base804 Google reviews at 4.97 stars against 655 at 4.89 for RoomMate Cabins, 14 September 2026
Advertising presenceRoomMate Cabins checked by live search and by tracking tags on its own site, 14 September 2026

"Are there any new competitors in market, outside of HouseMe, competing in this space?"

No new operator of any scale has entered. Sweeping the New Zealand results for the cabin hire terms returns the same names as before, and the two additions to the operator table this month are both small and regional: Porta Rent, working out of Christchurch across the South Island, at 61 estimated monthly visits from 34 tracked terms, and Portacabin, a family business in Masterton covering the lower North Island, at 33 from 35 terms. Both sit in the bottom third of the operator table.

HouseMe is worth separating out, because the July report showed it leading on total search terms. It builds and sells transportable and tiny homes and rents cabins alongside that, so the terms it ranks for cover buying a house as well as hiring a cabin. That breadth is why it tracks 379 terms against 132 for Just Cabins, and it is a wider catalogue rather than a larger cabin hire business. On estimated visits HouseMe fell 50.0% between June and August 2026, the second largest fall of the four operators.

RoomMate Cabins: coverage, cabins and pricing

RoomMate Cabins started in 2002 and describes itself as the first New Zealand business to build and lease cabins for the residential market. It runs a supplier network rather than a franchise network, covers 27 regions, and is the second most visible operator in the category.

How the business is put together, at 14 September 2026

Coverage27 supplier regions listed on the website, against 61 branch pricing pages for Just Cabins
StructureIndependent suppliers under a shared brand, with one 0800 number and a shared enquiry form. Several regions are grouped, so Manawatu, Rangitikei, Horowhenua and Kapiti share a single listing
Cabin rangeThree sizes. Standard 3.6m by 2.4m and Large 4.2m by 2.4m match Just Cabins exactly. The Extra Large is 4.8m by 2.7m and is offered in selected locations only
Product claimThe extra large cabin is marketed as the widest on the market. The Just Cabins extra large cabin is 4.8m by 2.4m
Minimum termSix months, with longer terms available
DeliveryA custom built tipping trailer, promoted as reaching sites other operators cannot. A Hiab is quoted separately where the trailer cannot get in
Customer programmeGood Mates, described as a community crew that every customer joins automatically. There is also a Good Mates cabin available to book for events
AccreditationCabins are eligible for the WINZ accommodation supplement

Published weekly rates across the category, 14 September 2026

RoomMate Cabins is running the most aggressive promotion in the category on its Auckland page, and the offer structure is worth knowing before a Just Cabins territory meets it in a quote conversation.

OperatorPublished weekly rate
RoomMate Cabins, Auckland Central and West$60 a week for a standard cabin, marked as usually $80, with $300 off and no upfront delivery fee
Kiwi Sleepoutsfrom $69 a week
RentZone$75 a week, promoted at $60
Room2Rentfrom $80 a week
NZ Cabin Rentalsfrom $85 a week
Cabin Hire Cofrom $90 a week
Aotea Cabinsfrom $100 a week
Mobile Cabins$100 a week including GST
Hire a Hut$160 a week, and $295 for the larger cabin
Cabins To Rent$235 to $285 a week for self contained cabins with kitchen and ensuite

Rates as displayed in Google search results and on operator location pages on 14 September 2026. Cabin specifications differ between operators, so these are not like for like. Just Cabins publishes pricing by branch behind an address lookup rather than in search results.

RoomMate Cabins: Google Ads and tracking, 14 September 2026

RoomMate Cabins is bidding on Google Ads. On a cabin search run from Grafton, Auckland on 14 September 2026, the RoomMate ad held the top sponsored position, carrying three sitelinks for Cabin Pricing, Contact Us and Types of Cabins, and the line "Hire Portable Cabins. Standard, Large and XL Portable Cabins. Auckland's Top Rental Supplier. Get A Quote!".

Just Cabins appeared third in that same sponsored block, behind RoomMate Cabins and Kiwi Sleepouts, which was advertising cabins from $69 a week. Where three operators are bidding on the same Auckland search, third position in the ad block puts Just Cabins below RoomMate Cabins in front of a buyer who is ready to act.

Tracking tags on the RoomMate homepage

The homepage carries tags for Google Ads, Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and Microsoft Ads, together with Microsoft Clarity for session recording. That is a wider spread of advertising platforms than the rest of the category runs, and points to testing on the short form video platforms.

How this was checked

Automated search result captures do not reliably return the sponsored block, so an operator missing from one automated capture has not been shown to be absent from the auction. The finding above comes from a live search run and screenshotted directly on 14 September 2026, which is the method to use for any future claim about who is bidding.

Just Cabins against RoomMate Cabins on shared search terms

Across the shared search terms where both sites rank, Just Cabins holds the better position on 45 of 50. The five where RoomMate Cabins ranks higher are listed in full, because each one is specific and fixable.

Search terms where Just Cabins ranks higher, September 2026

Search termMonthly searchesJust Cabins positionRoomMate position
cabin4,40038
cabins4,40036
cabins for rent1,60029
cabins to rent1,30038
rent a cabin1,300311
cabins nz1,000414
buy cabins nz8801253
portable cabins72039
cabin for rent nz32015
portable cabin rental32012
cabin rentals nz32039
cabin rental auckland26025
cabins rotorua26027
cabin whangarei210216

Search terms where RoomMate Cabins ranks higher, September 2026

Search termMonthly searchesJust Cabins positionRoomMate position
roommate cabins1,300271
cabin rentals1,300129
cabins near me260187
winz approved cabins rent to buy2602714
cabin auckland210157

Four of the five are winnable with a page that already exists. "Cabin rentals" at 1,300 searches a month is the largest of them, and Just Cabins sits at position 12 against RoomMate at 9, which is one page and a handful of internal links apart. "Cabins near me" and "cabin auckland" are both local intent searches that the branch pages are built to answer. The fifth is the RoomMate brand name itself, which the Search Console section covers.

Ranked keyword data for New Zealand, September 2026. Comparison drawn from the 100 highest volume terms each domain ranks for, of which 50 are shared by both.

When cabin hire search demand peaks, September 2025 to July 2026

Demand for cabin hire peaks in January. Across these twelve terms, January 2026 drew 19,460 searches against 13,480 in the quietest month, December 2025, a difference of 44 percent. Eleven of the twelve terms hit their own high in January, March or September.

0k6k12k18k24kSep 25NovJan 26MarMayJulCombined monthly searches, twelve cabin hire terms

Monthly searches by term, with each term's highest months marked

Search termSep 25OctNovDecJan 26FebMarAprMayJunJul
cabin4,4004,4004,4003,6005,4004,4004,4004,4004,4003,6004,400
cabins4,4004,4004,4003,6005,4004,4004,4004,4004,4003,6004,400
cabins to rent1,3001,3001,3001,0001,6001,3001,6001,3001,6001,3001,000
rent a cabin1,3001,3001,3001,0001,6001,3001,6001,3001,3001,0001,000
cabins for rent1,3001,6001,6001,3001,6001,3001,3001,3001,3001,3001,000
cabins nz1,0001,0008808801,0001,0001,3001,000880880880
portable cabins nz1,000720590480720590590480480480590
cabin hire590590590590720590590480590480480
self contained cabins for rent720480480390480480480480480480480
sleepouts for rent590390390320480390390320320390390
cabins to rent auckland260210210210320260260210210170170
portable cabins christchurch170140170110140140170140110140170

Google Ads search volume for New Zealand, retrieved 14 September 2026. Eleven months is the window all twelve terms share. Volumes are rounded by Google into bands, so small month to month moves are not meaningful.

Just Cabins GA4 data, 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026

The website took 288,754 sessions from 260,524 people and recorded 18,053 conversion events over the twelve months. 94 percent of those sessions came from within New Zealand.

Sessions and conversion events by channel

Paid Social
105,889 sessions
Paid Search
88,008 sessions
Organic Search
56,266 sessions
Direct
26,637 sessions
Organic Social
7,085 sessions
Paid Other
1,484 sessions
Display
902 sessions
Cross-network
885 sessions
ChannelSessionsConversion eventsConversions per 100 sessionsEngaged sessions
Paid Social105,8891,5531.521%
Paid Search88,0089,14710.474%
Organic Search56,2664,5508.170%
Direct26,6372,1188.045%
Organic Social7,0853735.351%
Paid Other1,48450.333%
Display902293.232%
Cross-network88514816.791%
Unassigned735648.735%
Referral709507.164%
AI Assistant1401510.766%

Paid search is the strongest performer in the account. It brings 88,008 sessions, holds 74 percent of them as engaged sessions, and produces 10.4 conversion events per 100 sessions. Organic search performs almost as well at 8.1 per 100, and costs nothing per click.

Paid social is the largest single source of visits at 105,889 sessions, and it is the channel with the most room to improve. It holds 21 percent of its visits as engaged sessions where paid search holds 74 percent. Lifting paid social engagement even part of the way toward the paid search level is the largest volume opportunity in the account, because the audience is already arriving.

The AI Assistant channel is small at 140 sessions, and it converts at 10.7 per 100, slightly ahead of paid search. People arriving from an AI assistant have already had the category explained to them, which is worth watching as the channel grows.

Sessions and conversion events by month

0k9k18k27k36kSep 25NovJan 26MarMayJulAugSessions a month
06001,2001,8002,400Sep 25NovJan 26MarMayJulAugConversion events a month

May 2026 was the busiest month for visits at 29,311 sessions and June 2026 the busiest for conversion events at 1,883. September 2025 was the quietest for visits at 17,770.

The site converts best in late winter. August 2026 turned 7.5 sessions in every hundred into a conversion event and July 7.4, against 5.3 in December 2025.

GA4 property 324712649, 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026. Conversion events count every configured conversion action in the property.

Just Cabins Google Search Console data, 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026

Clicks from Google search25,049 over the twelve months
Times a Just Cabins page was shown886,682
Average position9.3
Distinct search terms the site appeared for13,862
Searches using the Just Cabins name4,032 clicks from 39,539 impressions
Searches not using the name21,017 clicks from 847,143 impressions, which is 84 percent of all clicks

Four in five clicks come from people who did not search the Just Cabins name. The business wins most of its search traffic on generic cabin hire terms rather than on its own name, which is why the non-brand positions in the next table are the ones worth defending hardest.

Search terms bringing the most clicks

Search termClicksTimes shownAverage position
just cabins2,16215,8441.4
cabins99820,2094.4
cabins to rent96215,1585.0
rent a cabin85411,1024.9
cabin84524,1804.0
cabins for rent78810,5534.7
just cabins nz5474,1761.4
cabin for rent4776,0264.7
cabins nz4217,6735.3
cabin hire3335,5157.5
portable cabins nz3078,4196.2
portacom25912,7853.4

Search terms already earning impressions with room to move up

Non-brand searches where Just Cabins pages are shown often but sit below the top few results. Each is an existing page that needs strengthening rather than a new page to write.

Search termClicksTimes shownAverage position
portable cabin1905,66814.7
self contained cabins923,14213.4
portable cabins christchurch836,23712.5
portable cabins2556,04211.8
cabins to rent auckland1284,48810.4
cabin to rent1353,01710.3
cabins wellington474,6647.1
cabin rentals1675,5567.3
cabin hire3335,5157.5
portable cabins for rent753,0318.3

Rival brand names Just Cabins already appears for

Search termClicksTimes shownAverage position
portacom25912,7853.4
portacom nz282,1726.0
cabin king79378.0
hire a hut76536.4
roommate cabins26229.8
room mate cabins021014.2
roommate cabins nz015622.7

Just Cabins earns 259 clicks a year from people searching Portacom, at an average position of 3.4, without paying for it. The same pattern is available on RoomMate Cabins: those brand searches show a Just Cabins page 988 times a year across three spellings and convert almost none of it into clicks, because the average position sits between 9.8 and 22.7.

Search Console property sc-domain:justcabins.co.nz, 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026. Brand and non-brand split calculated by matching the query against the Just Cabins name.

Google Business Profile reviews, Just Cabins and RoomMate Cabins

Network, at 14 September 2026Profiles carrying reviewsTotal reviewsAverage rating
Just Cabins448044.97
RoomMate Cabins136554.89

Just Cabins, strongest branch profiles

BranchReviewsRating
Porirua835.0
Rodney and Hibiscus Coast695.0
Palmerston North635.0
Kapiti615.0
Christchurch North545.0
Nelson and Tasman405.0
Wellington374.9
South Auckland325.0
Mt Maunganui and Te Puke305.0
Gisborne North295.0

RoomMate Cabins, all profiles carrying reviews

RegionReviewsRating
Waikato1634.9
Bay of Plenty1374.9
Christchurch, Canterbury794.9
Wellington724.9
Manawatu and Kapiti555.0
Auckland Central and West334.9
Auckland East and South334.8
Rotorua, Taupo and Whakatane234.7
Taranaki and Whanganui225.0
Hawke's Bay215.0

Ten of 44 Just Cabins profiles shown, and ten of 13 RoomMate profiles. RoomMate's four remaining profiles carry 14, 2, 1 and no reviews. 18 Just Cabins profiles carry fewer than ten reviews. Both brands read from the Google Business Profile index on 14 September 2026.

Google Lighthouse website scores, Just Cabins and RoomMate Cabins

Measure, 14 September 2026Just CabinsRoomMate Cabins
Performance score98 of 10059 of 100
Main image painted in1.0 seconds5.4 seconds
Page weight1.6 MB27.2 MB
Server response time1.4 seconds0.8 seconds
Search engine optimisation score92 of 100100 of 100
Accessibility score88 of 10087 of 100
Best practices score58 of 10077 of 100

Google Lighthouse, desktop, both homepages, 14 September 2026.