The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami was one of the most massive disasters in recent history and shelter was the most impacted sector. With a generous outpouring of international aid, a plethora of humanitarian agencies undertook extensive shelter recovery programs in the affected countries. The approaches followed defined the trajectory of this sector because this was the first such large-scale undertaking. Strategies for coordination and a staged approach to shelter recovery were some of the elements that influenced the sector, evident after some of the major disasters since then, such as in Bangladesh, Haiti, Philippines and Nepal. However, problems were also evident in these contexts in applying the tsunami lessons, particularly in addressing the shelter needs of poor and vulnerable people. During a couple of decades after the 2004 tsunami, two key trends emerged: increasingly a central government-led shelter recovery process and the self-recovery paradigm espoused by humanitarian agencies. With a changing global context beset with conflicts and financial crises, there is no longer a deep purse of funding for the shelter sector. Two decades after the tsunami, the sector is at a crossroads presenting a quandary for its future trajectory.