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Box vs Dropbox comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 27, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Box
Ranking in Cloud Storage
13th
Ranking in Content Collaboration Platforms
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Content Management (8th), Digital Asset Management (3rd), Document Management Software (4th)
Dropbox
Ranking in Cloud Storage
5th
Ranking in Content Collaboration Platforms
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Cloud Storage category, the mindshare of Box is 3.9%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dropbox is 4.9%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Storage
 

Q&A Highlights

AS
Jul 09, 2014
 

Featured Reviews

Shrikant Pillay - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows you to upload and download files quickly but lacks integration with Office 365
For enterprise users, the data is in a local repository. We use it for files for the end user process. This is a cloud solution. In my current organization, we have over 10,000 people using this solution. I use it very extensively. Users these days are working remotely You can upload your bin,…
Edgar  Paez - PeerSpot reviewer
Work from anywhere and backup easily while being practical
I recommend Dropbox, yet not for all of the features it has. I am a basic user. In a personal mode, we have about 100 employees, and maybe 20 of them use Dropbox as a personal backup system. ShareFile is more secure than Dropbox. Five years ago, ShareFile was qualified as having better security control, access privilege management, and version control recovery, among many features that we were using for private documentation. Overall, I would rate Dropbox an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Box had a very easy-to-use search feature and a good user interface on its website, which was faster and better than SharePoint."
"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."
"You can upload your bin, upload your files quickly, and download your files quickly. It provides a lot of other alternatives."
"It is really easy to load files to and from this solution."
"I like that Box makes it easy to deploy virtual machines."
"It is a very user-friendly product."
"Governance and ease of use are why I think a lot of people like Box, including ourselves. Basically, we're concerned about what information is being sent to Box, so we use a lot of the Box governance features to make sure that what is being sent to Box is appropriate. If it is not appropriate, it is not allowed to be sent. It is also pretty easy to use. It is the easiest to use for customers and for technologists."
"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 way the tool is designed and using the tool itself is quite transparent."
"Dropbox offers 24-hour support, both through chat and limited hour calls."
"The most valuable features of Dropbox are it can be used as a repository of all the photographs and videos that you have on the cloud. You do not need to worry about the hard disk crashing."
"It offers security, accessibility, and user-friendly features."
"File syncing is the most valuable feature. I use it every day to sync files across to the cloud."
"The most valuable features I have found to be accessibility and ease of use."
"The initial setup was very easy."
"The features that I find most valuable are the ability to sync across devices, easily access/share files and organize them among myself and my team."
 

Cons

"With OneDrive, you can continuously save your files over a Box folder. That is something I wish we could have."
"Improvements in speed - Box's high level of security impacts performance, especially when compared with other similar services."
"I haven't really come across a case where we're not able to use it for what it is, so I don't really have anything holding us up or any customers holding us up at this point that I know of. There are always some limitations, but as a technologist, I just live with them, and there is always room for improvement, but I don't have anything quantifiable."
"Like all cloud platforms, there are always areas of improvement around sync to local devices."
"It could be cheaper."
"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’)."
"If there was a plugin that added some sort of toolbar in Office, that would be great."
"One thing that Box would benefit from is a records management component."
"The complex initial setup phase of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"Dropbox needs to increase its storage."
"While I feel the price being charged to be reasonable, it should either be more cost-effective or account for an increased amount of storage space."
"File version control can be improved. It generates a lot of conflicts when people are working on the same file. Its integration with other solutions can be improved in terms of user experience. Integration is there, and it has connectors for Excel, Word, and other solutions, but it is not very friendly. There should be a better user experience."
"I would like to see integration with Office products, it would be very helpful."
"Dropbox could make the installation and the log of what has changed in a file easier. Showing logs could be more accessible."
"The arrangement of documents can be simplified. Personally, I am used to it, but for a new user, it might be a little confusing. It can maybe have a feature to allow people to collaborate or work on the same document at the same time. I'm just using it to load and access information, and I haven't faced many challenges. However, I have seen that the whole system or laptop slows down a bit when I am synchronizing files to Dropbox. I don't know if it is because of my system. It might be good if they can enhance the synchronization process so that we can specify that synchronization should be done after 30 minutes. In addition, synchronization should only be done for the documents that have been uploaded."
"Dropbox could improve by increasing its storage."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Better sign a full year's contract to get a discount."
"It is expensive per head, as you need the enterprise license to get full security and tools. So negotiate a discount!"
"I have to pay for Box. It could be a little cheaper. On a scale from one to ten, I would give the pricing a five."
"We are using the free version of the solution. There is a free version and monthly and yearly subscriptions available."
"The more you dig, the deeper the level of tools, and the more expensive it becomes."
"A business account has a minimum of three users. If you are more than three people in-house, go for the Enterprise version. All the external users are free of charge."
"The pricing may seem steep at first, but delve into the features and you'll soon realize it is incredible value for what you get."
"Box's pricing is excellent."
"While the pricing is comparable, especially for users of Microsoft Office 365, the value proposition might not be as competitive for those seeking primarily storage options."
"Dropbox could be less expensive, and I pay monthly."
"The product is free up to a certain limit."
"Users need to pay to increase the solution's capacity."
"I find their pricing to be fairly standard and competitive when compared to the rest of the market."
"We pay a monthly subscription fee."
"Given the price and limitations, there are more competitive options available."
"I need to pay towards the licensing costs attached to the solution. The solution is expensive."
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Answers from the Community

AS
Jul 9, 2014
Jul 9, 2014
Just an FYI...I found out this week that Microsoft with their OneDrive solution will be also encrypting files in storage and in transit, and if you have your email already in the cloud with Microsoft O365 you can get enormous amounts of data per user in each person's OneDrive...I probably can't say how much, but let's just say it's WAY more storage per user than you get with Box or Dropbox. I'...
2 out of 4 answers
it_user120363 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 17, 2014
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
ED
Jun 17, 2014
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.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
46%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Educational Organization
66%
Computer Software Company
4%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Construction Company
3%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Box?
The solution is used for data storage and any kind of visualization.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Box?
I was not involved in discussions about paying for Box, so I cannot provide specifics about pricing.
What needs improvement with Box?
Collaborative editing was challenging if multiple people were in a document at once. The installation procedure was tricky but manageable with provided guidance and steps.
What do you like most about Dropbox?
For me, the biggest thing is version history. I can easily go back and view older versions.
What needs improvement with Dropbox?
One area of improvement would be to allow multiple users to edit a file simultaneously and see edits in real time, similar to OneDrive. In Dropbox, once a file is opened on one system, it locks the...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

GE, Toyota, P&G, Caterpillar, Flex, Schneider Electric, Sally Beauty, Eurostar, AstraZeneca, AirBnB, Whirlpool, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Nationwide, Aeropostale etc
Vita Coco, BCBGMAXAZRIA Group, Centric Project, Kayak, FourSquare, Asana, Huge Adversting , USA Gymnastics, Appen, Valliant, Radio Lab
Find out what your peers are saying about Box vs. Dropbox and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.
853,118 professionals have used our research since 2012.