Honest comparisons
Sometimes the other thing is the right choice
Comparison pages usually exist to trash the alternatives. Ours exist because each of these products is genuinely right for someone — and pretending otherwise would break our one brand rule: name the catch.
vs. the $8–19k "expandable container house" online
When it's right: a shed, workshop, or temporary structure on private land where nobody will ever need to legally live in it.
What the listing doesn't say: these units aren't built to any US building code, most jurisdictions won't legally let you occupy one as a residence, no bank finances them, no standard insurer covers them — and independent reviews put the failure rate of the cheap listings near 50%.
When a Megalodon is right: you need a legal, financeable, insurable home. That's the product we build, and it's exactly why ours costs more.
vs. a mobile / manufactured home
When it's right: lowest possible move-in cost on land or a lot where HUD-code placement is allowed, and you're comfortable with the classification (chattel financing, depreciation, 70–110 mph wind zones).
When a Megalodon is right: you want the price register of manufactured housing without its two structural compromises — code minimums and the personal-property trap. Our Foundation Series is certified to the site-built code (IRC), so it appraises and mortgages like a house.
vs. a tiny home on wheels
When it's right: mobility is the point — you genuinely plan to move it, and you accept RV-style financing and depreciation as the cost of freedom.
When a Megalodon is right: you liked tiny homes for the price and footprint, not the wheels. Most owners never move them — but everyone pays the classification penalty forever. Our Relocatable Series keeps the mobility honestly; our Foundation Series ends the penalty.
vs. a turnkey prefab ADU ($234–450k)
When it's right: you're in California with equity, you want a design-brand backyard unit with white-glove permitting, and the budget clears $250k+ comfortably.
When a Megalodon is right: the ADU math has to actually pencil as rental income or family housing — or you're outside the coastal-California price world entirely. Same legal category (IRC modular), a fraction of the price, and you or your GC keep the margin the turnkey brands charge for management.
| Internet flat-pack | Manufactured | Tiny home (wheels) | Turnkey ADU | Megalodon | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $8–19k | ~$115k avg | $40–120k | $234–450k | $60–140k target |
| Code path | None | HUD (70–110 mph) | RV cert, usually | IRC modular | IRC modular, above-code design |
| Mortgageable | No | Sometimes (chattel common) | No | Yes | Yes (Foundation Series) |
| Insurable | No | Yes, specialty | Specialty | Yes | Yes, with resilience-discount path |
| Relocatable | Technically | Once, usually | Yes | No | Yes (both series, differently) |
Prices are published market ranges as of 2026; Megalodon figures are design targets at concept stage.