I have compared Box and Dropbox based on our users reviews in several parameters. After reading the collected data, you can find my conclusions below:
To summarize, based on user opinions, for larger organizations, Box is the preferred choice when compared to Dropbox. Users appreciate the simplified file management, as well as the ability to access Box on different devices. However, some users mention areas that could be improved, such as the limited integrations and inadequate search features. On the other hand, Dropbox seems to be easier to start with, and has a free pricing tier making it more relevant for smaller organizations.
"The solution is used for data storage and any kind of visualization."
"File sharing, authorization on the back, its ease of use and reliable uptime performance are valuable features of this solution."
"We've never had a penetration. We've never had a security issue that their support didn't solve. We love their audit trail. We can know exactly when a collaborator opens. We love how you can define a collaborator."
"Box is very user-friendly; more so than SharePoint."
"Box is extremely stable, they have not been hacked or lost any data in the past seventeen years. I am very impressed with it."
"The collaboration of the solution is good."
"It is really easy to load files to and from this solution."
"The solution is scalable."
"The solution provides great performance."
"Dropbox's most valuable features are ease of use and performance."
"The solution is easy to use, everyone can use it."
"Dropbox is an easy-to-use solution that has good stability."
"Dropbox is easy to set up as it doesn't require any installation, just a download."
"The performance has been good."
"The main feature that I found the most valuable is the ability to link the documents such that they are automatically taken to a page where you can review them."
"I think Dropbox is a good option for Windows users because it's easy to use in Windows and a user can access all other products and software."
"It could be cheaper."
"One thing that Box would benefit from is a records management component."
"The room for improvement is in the area of integrations. They need to establish more integrations, especially with Office 365 and Outlook."
"The upload speed needs improvement."
"Data privacy, regarding where to store your data: Offering several transparent(!) options (where to store my data and whether to sync back or not and where to sync) regarding the local law situations (USA, EU, Switzerland!) would increase the credibility of a US based company (after NSA ‘snooping’)."
"With OneDrive, you can continuously save your files over a Box folder. That is something I wish we could have."
"If you want to delete something in Box, you have to do it manually, one by one. That was my recent experience. They might have a bulk delete, but I could not find that option. If you want to delete something, you have to go to each and every file and delete it."
"They could integrate better with other platforms."
"2 Gb of free space and then a not so cheap subscription (also if the competitors have similar proposals for customers)."
"The solution could be a bit less expensive."
"They can provide more storage. Data is something that everybody is after. Any organization that has the requirement of data for any type of analysis will definitely need increased storage."
"The Security and privacy of this solution need improvement."
"Dropbox could make the installation and the log of what has changed in a file easier. Showing logs could be more accessible."
"DropBox is a little more complicated to scale up than OneDrive. It isn't as seamless to scale up storage or change the number of users. We have two or three users in Mumbai, and we don't plan to add more."
"The pricing could be better and/or more clear. Right now, they have a strange way of splitting pricing. It's a bit complicated and not clear for users."
"If someone manages a large amount of data, they will need more storage, which they must purchase."
Box is ranked 8th in Cloud Storage with 10 reviews while Dropbox is ranked 4th in Cloud Storage with 23 reviews. Box is rated 8.4, while Dropbox is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Box writes "User-friendly, easy to navigate, and has helpful support". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Dropbox writes "A cloud storage solution for safe backup, seamless synchronization, and security protection". Box is most compared with SharePoint, Microsoft OneDrive, Citrix ShareFile, Office 365 and Atlassian Confluence, whereas Dropbox is most compared with Microsoft OneDrive, SharePoint, Citrix ShareFile, Google Workspace and Amazon WorkDocs. See our Box vs. Dropbox report.
See our list of best Cloud Storage vendors and best Content Collaboration Platforms vendors.
We monitor all Cloud Storage reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
Having used both I am too in the camp of Box followers simply because it is more secure and there is a great storage space in the free option. Dropbox has gained a lot of fans from the younger market as it is quick and easy to use but it is also fairly limited in its toolsets and also in its storage space. Box has a feel of permenancy and strength about it and has been a real boon for me when preparing presentations for various gigs in a multitude of locations as it enabled all the artists to access runsheets, chord charts, music videos and technical data sheets, so that when we came together at the gig we were all playing, acting and presenting off the same songsheet! Literally!
I have used Dropbox for family business meetings and sharing of documents and ideas. It is also simple to set up and access which is a real boon when dealing with thechnophobes or computer luditites.
In the end it is horses for courses and if you are a thorough bred on a long race with plenty of jumps then I'd go for the horse called Box. if your on the beach for a donkey darby then dropbox will do what you need.
Appologies for the weird sense of humour.
The biggest difference we saw when we looked at Box a few years ago was that Box encrypted stored files both in transit and at rest in storage. This is a deal breaker for most enterprises because most enterprise policies won't allow public storage (outside company data center) of employee or customer data without it being encrypted in order to protect that information. In addition to better security, box had much better administrator tools than dropbox at the time. More granular control, better tools for the security team to enforce policies, etc. As far as I know, this hasn't changed in the last few years. Box is the only player really putting forth the effort to offer a secure cloud storage platform that has the ease of use of consumer solutions, but secured for the enterprise. Microsoft doesn't have it. Dropbox doesn't have it. I'm not aware of anyone else focusing on this niche of the marketplace.
If you’ve ever been frustrated by the desire to share your text files with a friend or business colleague, these two products will be a great boon. Both are free too. Both allow you to invite people to either view your files, or to share the editing. A great idea if you want to co-write a report for example. Both allow you to download the file, edit it, and then load it back up again. Or to edit offline on your PC using the synch option.
Box (formerly box.net) key features:
· Free storage – 10gb
· File size limit – 250mb (free version)
· Main users – business
· Good online help
· Works by you uploading files and folders, which you can then share. These can be synched with boxsynch – similar to Dropbox. Also free.
· Secure storage
· Not as intuitive to use (more like Google docs), due to endless security options
· Great for more robust business usage
· Looks very flash
· Has a business version
· Not so widely used (30m users)
· Access from most phones, ipads, PCs and Macs.
Dropbox key features
· Free storage – 2GB (introduce your friends and this goes up)
· File size limit – no limit
· Main users – everyone
· Little online help
· Works by synchronising to a folder on your PC
· Intuitive to use
· A doddle to set up
· Looks less flashy than Box, but improving
· Secure storage (it is now!)
· Great for simple file sharing
· Has a business version
· Very widely used (300m users)
· Access from most phones, ipads, Kindle, Linux, PCs and Macs.
If I were choosing now, I would almost certainly pick Box to work with, unless I wanted to share really large files (I don’t) or to run on Linux or a Kindle (don’t want to do this either).
If all you want is a simple tool to share a few files, then I’d choose Dropbox.
I’ve been using cloud based storage for many years now, but the earlier versions of Box, when it was Box.net, put me off, as they were flaky and cumbersome to use. Dropbox stole their thunder, made it really simple and hundreds of millions of users now use it. Both companies are working fast to capture users, especially business users. So watch this space, and watch Google docs too.
Thank you,
Jacqui