Dropbox Vs Box: 7-Point Comparison
Dropbox Vs Box Comparison | CloudAlly
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Dropbox and Box are fundamentally different products with divergent user bases. Dropbox started off catering to “a big chunk of the world, not just Silicon Valley. Our users are trapeze artists, high school football coaches . . . physicists who collaborate across the world”.  Its user base has grown exponentially to 600 million users, such that it has become the de-facto verb for virtual file sharing. Haven’t we all “dropboxed” a file? With Dropbox’s foray into the organization’s app stack with Dropbox Business, it is often compared with the other cool company on the cloud storage block. The one that has always catered to the discerning organization – Box. While it may have fewer users at 8 million, Box commands 70% of Fortune 500 companies as customers. So which one – Dropbox or Box – is the better cloud storage option? We do a Dropbox vs Box comparison in terms of their file-sharing capabilities, ease of synchronization, collaboration mechanisms, ecosystem, integration, and pricing.

Read our other cloud storage comparisons: Google Drive Vs OneDrive and Google Drive Vs OneDrive Vs Dropbox Vs Box

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Dropbox Vs Box: Which is The Better Cloud Storage?

Let’s examine how Dropbox and Box compare in terms of seven parameters:

Dropbox Vs Box: 7-Point Comparison Table

We’ve laid out all the points of comparison so you can make an informed, data-based choice.

Parameter
Dropbox
Box

Pricing

All the pricing listed is per user per month.

Dropbox editions offered include:

  • $12.50 Standard Plan:  5 TB storage. Some sharing and collaboration tools included.
  • $20 Advanced Plan: Unlimited storage. Sophisticated control and security features
  • Customized Enterprise Plans

Box pricing options available are:

  • $5 Starter Plan: Only 100GB of data. <10 users.
  • $15 Business Plan: Unlimited storage and users. Team collaboration apps included
  • $15 Business Plus Plan: Unlimited storage and users. Content management apps included.
  • $15 Enterprise Plan: Unlimited storage and users. Content management and data protection apps included.

File Sharing

Ease of file sharing is of critical importance to collaborate across distributed teams.

  • Dropbox’s file-sharing capabilities are similar to OneDrive. You can restrict access to your file links with passwords and set expiration dates for shared links.
  • The sharing file size is limited to 100MB for free accounts, 2GB for the Dropbox Plus plan, and 100GB for the Dropbox Professional plan.
  • Box, created for the business user offers enterprise-grade file-sharing capabilities. In addition to Dropbox’s capabilities, Box allows users to have group ownership of files, and to share with groups.
  • The file size limit is 250 MB for the basic plan.

Collaboration

Collaboration is of essential importance for the distributed workforces of today.

  • Dropbox Paper provides a central space for team collaboration.
  • It can be used to create, edit and share project outlines, agendas, to-do lists, and documents with images and video.
  • Box Notes is analogous to Dropbox Paper.
  • It works intuitively allowing teams to make real-time online notes, add collaborators, assign tasks, and add multimedia.
  • Box Relay is a no-code app for teams to automate business workflows.

Third-Party Integration

Organizations need seamless integration with devices and apps

  • Dropbox works with files from both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
  • Dropbox’s integration is wider as it includes both consumer apps as well as business apps.
  • Box integrates with over 1,500 apps including Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
  • Box’s integrations are geared towards business apps like marketing hubs and CRMs.

Synchronization

Cloud storage needs to easily interface and accurately synchronize with local storage.

  • Dropbox pioneered the file sync model. Apart from clients for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android, Dropbox also has a Linux client.
  • It offers a selective sync option and a block-sync one. Block-sync enables faster syncing by splitting up each file into smaller pieces, and only syncing delta changes.
  • Dropbox provides an “online-only” option. With this, even though the files are visible on your computer’s Dropbox sync folder, they are just placeholders and won’t take up space on your drive.
  • Dropbox also offers an intelligent LAN sync option that hooks onto the LAN for faster syncs.
  • Box offers apps for syncing such as Box Sync that allows you to select files/folders to sync between the Box app and desktop. This gives you access to those files/folders on any desktop with Box Sync installed.
  • Another app called Box Capture allows you to directly save the photos, videos and scans you take via your mobile to Box.

Ecosystem

Additional apps for increased productivity

  • Dropbox has three main products: Dropbox Plus (Dropbox with 1 TB storage), Dropbox Business, and Dropbox Paper (the real-time collaboration platform).
* Apart from Box Sync, Box Capture, and Box Notes discussed earlier, Box offers Box Skills (adds AI to business processes), Box Drive (repository), Box Sign (digital signatures), and Box Shuttle for organizations to migrate large amounts of data (terabytes to petabytes). * For security and compliance, Box offers Box KeySafe, Box Shield, and Box Governance.

File Recovery

SaaS data loss affects one in three companies. What are your options to recover deleted data?

  • A 30-day history of files, with a 180-day limit in certain Dropbox Business plans
  • No built-in app for point-in-time data backup and recovery.
  • A 30-day history of files with Trash cleared every 14 days.*
  • No native application tailored for unlimited point-in-time data backup and recovery.

* Box stores files and folders you place in the trash for a certain period of time. That default period is 30 days, although Box administrators of business and enterprise accounts can shorten or lengthen it. 

We hope you found our Dropbox vs Box table helpful. Considering OneDrive or Google Drive? Read our comparison of OneDrive Vs. Google Drive. Or better still see how they all stack up with a comprehensive OneDrive Vs. Google Drive Vs. Dropbox Vs. Box.

You Choose the Cloud Storage That Fits – Dropbox or Box. We Secure It.

No matter which cloud storage you zone in on, your business-critical data is vulnerable to data loss due to mistaken deletions, malware, phishing scams, sync errors, ransomware, and/or malicious intent. Read our free ebook on Why Enterprises Need SaaS Backup.  SaaS data loss occurs frequently; affecting one in three organizations with damaging consequences.

Secure your cloud storage with a disaster recovery plan and a reliable third-party backup solution. CloudAlly is the only secure backup and recovery solution that provides end-to-end backup of all data from all SaaS platforms – Dropbox, BoxMicrosoft 365, Google Workspace, and Salesforce. Seamlessly and easily recover Dropbox or Box data with a few clicks from any point-in-time, any level of granularity, and to any user.

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