Box vs Microsoft OneDrive comparison

Box
Read 39 Box reviews
  • 3,494 Views
  • 1,906 Comparison Views
84% willing to recommend
Microsoft OneDrive
Read 19 Microsoft OneDrive reviews
  • 3,436 Views
  • 2,959 Comparison Views
90% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 7, 2022

We performed a comparison between Box and Microsoft OneDrive based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Box users say the solution is easy to set up. Microsoft OneDrive users share mixed reviews on the ease of deployment
  • Features: Users say both products have good stability and scalability.

    Box users say that the solution is very user friendly and it’s easy to load files. Reviewers mention that the UI could be faster and that they would like it if it could integrate better with other platforms.

    Microsoft OneDrive users like that the solution is organized, gives them the ability to share documents, and provides support for integration with a lot of tools. Users say the solution has issues with syncing, its security is not so flexible, and its user interface could be more intuitive.
  • Pricing: Box users feel that the pricing is competitive. For users who use Microsoft 365, Microsoft OneDrive is included for free. If not, some users consider it to be fair while others consider it to be expensive.
  • Service and Support: Box users are very satisfied with the technical support. Microsoft OneDrive users are disappointed with the level of support.
  • ROI: Users of both solutions mention a positive ROI.

Comparison Results: After comparing the two solutions, Box comes out on top. Compared to Microsoft OneDrive, it is easier to deploy, is user friendly, has great support, and has a good ROI.

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To learn more, read our detailed Box vs. Microsoft OneDrive Report (Updated: July 2024).
Buyer's Guide
Box vs. Microsoft OneDrive
July 2024
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Helped 793,295 peers since 2012
 

Categories and Ranking

Box
Ranking in Content Collaboration Platforms
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Content Management (4th), Cloud Storage (10th), Digital Asset Management (2nd), Document Management Software (1st)
Microsoft OneDrive
Ranking in Content Collaboration Platforms
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2024, in the Content Collaboration Platforms category, the mindshare of Box is 10.0%, up from 8.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft OneDrive is 10.7%, down from 14.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Content Collaboration Platforms
Unique Categories:
Enterprise Content Management
3.7%
Cloud Storage
12.5%
No other categories found
 

Featured Reviews

LG
Mar 5, 2020
A good interface for file sharing and management, but third-party integration should be improved
We use Box as a cloud-based storage service for our employees. We are using it to share documents, such as presentations, between people. Some of our customers have many gigabytes in files and we set up shared access to them using Box It also allows us to maintain and manage all of our documents…
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AN
Sep 27, 2020
Collaboration and sharing that is experiencing growing pains as it comes into its own
Syncing is one area that can be improved. When you click on sync on the online version, what happens is that it creates a drive on your desktop. Basically, it is like you have the online version directly on your desktop. Syncing has been an issue sometimes when there are huge folders. It might not be a huge folder in terms of space, but when there are a large number of files. When there are a lot of files, that is when the issue arises. For example, say you have a folder that has 200 files. When you sync it to a computer, it takes some time to load. When people start updating stuff in that same folder, it can slow down your computer because it updates you locally as well every time there is a change. That constant syncing can cause performance issues. It works fine if it is a smaller number of folders and files, but whenever there is a large number of files, that has been an issue for sure. They need to really improve on that. That is the biggest weakness of the solution, I would say. Syncing is number one. Another thing is when you delete stuff. You do not get a notification if you delete something online. So for example, if you are the owner of a folder and I have access to that folder and there is a file there and I delete it, it actually goes to your recycle bin. In other words, it goes to the owner's recycle bin. That is fine, but then the owner never gets a notification. So, if you have 10 files and then you notice that one is missing, you do not even know who deleted it or when it got deleted. It is residing in your recycle bin, and you can see that it is there. But you do not even know that you have to look at your recycle bin because you never got a notification. That is really a potentially huge issue with the solution. If you are a team leader and you do not know if someone is deleting your stuff, you might eventually lose something by accident. Another thing is permissions. There is no way to set non-delete permissions. You can be a viewer or an editor. If you are an editor, you can delete files. If you are a viewer, you can not delete files. But there is no option to remove the delete privileges from an editor. I think other companies, like Box and Dropbox, have that feature and they allow you to make it so you can edit but you do not have the ability to delete. You want people to be able to edit without deleting probably most of the time. I think that these are some pretty basic and fundamental things that Microsoft just does not have. But they could do even more with permissions. Just having viewing and editing permission is pretty basic, but even in Box, a person can view and edit, but not download. Or a person can view, edit, and download. The point is that there is more to do than just view and edit. There are many different options and combinations in Box that OneDrive just does not have. It is not so interesting to just have more new features. What is more important is having features that are really necessary and already exist in other competing products. That is something that I think Microsoft should strive for with OneDrive. Microsoft is probably one of the biggest companies in the world. If something like Box or Dropbox has better features than you, then you really need to look at your products and make some revisions.
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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The ability to collaborate around data anywhere, anytime is the most powerful features of Box."
"You can upload your bin, upload your files quickly, and download your files quickly. It provides a lot of other alternatives."
"The collaboration of the solution is good."
"Office Integration. The full integration into the Microsoft Office products is just perfect."
"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."
"File sharing, authorization on the back, its ease of use and reliable uptime performance are valuable features of this solution."
"File sharing with collaborators not on the same domain with offline access from multiple devices: I work on many projects that are multi-organizational, such as with customers, suppliers, or acquisitions."
"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."
More Box pros
"It is well integrated with other Microsoft products."
"One of the good features is that the users are not even aware that they're using it."
"They have support for integration with a lot of tools."
"The stability of Microsoft OneDrive is very good, it is reliable. There were multiple instances where I had lost my valuable data on hard drives in several other places. However, with Microsoft OneDrive, I've never lost a single file."
"It's quite easy to use and then of course it is quite well integrated to the rest of Office 365."
"Scalability is good just because it is a cloud-based product."
"With this solution, the sharing of documents if very easy to do. There's a lot of collaboration you can do with your colleagues."
"It helps you keep organized."
More Microsoft OneDrive pros
 

Cons

"Improvements in speed - Box's high level of security impacts performance, especially when compared with other similar services."
"In future releases, there could be encryption, to have better security."
"Tasks and comments could be easier to see, report, search, and manage."
"Like all cloud platforms, there are always areas of improvement around sync to local devices."
"They could integrate better with other platforms."
"The UI should be faster. Sometimes it lags when switching between documents."
"I don't like the low level of role-based security it provides – it's very cumbersome, and the support is ordinary at times."
"The search features and role permissions are not very user friendly. It only searches the first few pages of a document, which is quite a problem."
More Box cons
"The initial setup is a bit clunky."
"An increase in the capacity of storage in the free version would be nice."
"Performance is an issue when sharing a large number of files in a single folder."
"An online video player would be great, since sometimes you have to download the video to play it."
"The online application is quite limited, for this and other Office offerings."
"There are not enough ways to assign permissions to shared folders and files."
"The security is not as flexible as it is with Dropbox, which means that we can't share our OneDrive files."
"Microsoft OneDrive could improve because it doesn't support backing up .PST files, which are Outlook data files, and email archives. This is a substantial setback when it comes to Microsoft OneDrive."
More Microsoft OneDrive cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Better sign a full year's contract to get a discount."
"Box's pricing is excellent."
"There's a free version that allows you to use it with almost full-feature access. Even in the free version, it gives you all you need."
"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 needs to improve with their pricing in terms of licensing costs."
"We are using the free version of the solution. There is a free version and monthly and yearly subscriptions available."
"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."
More Box pricing and cost advice
"Costwise, it is a great option. In most cases, it is a free space, which will be more than enough for most customers."
"OneDrive comes with Microsoft 365 so it is just an added part of that package."
"It is free if you are using Office 365, and you get a terabyte of storage with your account."
"This is a pricy solution, given that we are only using it at 50% capacity."
"The licensing is expensive and on a yearly basis."
"The price of Microsoft OneDrive is reasonable and compatible with competitors."
"We pay a lot for the Enterprise version, but it is a premium service."
"Using this software, it has had an amazing impact moneywise on our business. It allows us to share documents without the need of extra hardware."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
52%
Computer Software Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Educational Organization
49%
Computer Software Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Government
5%
 

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.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Box?
The solution is expensive when it comes to API calls.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Box?
One drawback is its permissions system, which has caused issues prompting our transition to SharePoint. The reporting functionality could be improved; currently, they utilize Excel for reporting pu...
See all answers
What do you like most about Microsoft OneDrive?
The backup capability is one feature I love about OneDrive. I also like how it syncs when you're working offline. Everything is updated once you connect again.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Microsoft OneDrive?
It takes too long for OneDrive to synchronize various applications, especially when you are saving office data. It also requires too much bandwidth.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Microsoft OneDrive?
We use OneDrive to share documents throughout the organization and collaborate. It is also used for backups.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Compared 11% of the time
Egnyte vs Box Logo
Egnyte vs Box
Compared 6% of the time
Office 365 vs Box Logo
Office 365 vs Box
Compared 5% of the time
Dropbox vs Box Logo
Dropbox vs Box
Compared 4% of the time
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SharePoint vs Microsoft OneDrive
Compared 25% of the time
Dropbox vs Microsoft OneDrive Logo
Dropbox vs Microsoft OneDrive
Compared 24% of the time
Atlassian Confluence vs Microsoft OneDrive Logo
Atlassian Confluence vs Microsoft OneDrive
Compared 10% of the time
Citrix ShareFile vs Microsoft OneDrive Logo
Citrix ShareFile vs Microsoft OneDrive
Compared 8% of the time
Datto Workplace vs Microsoft OneDrive Logo
Datto Workplace vs Microsoft OneDrive
Compared 3% of the time
More Microsoft OneDrive Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Box
July 2024
Box reportDownload Box product report
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft OneDrive
July 2024
Microsoft OneDrive reportDownload Microsoft OneDrive product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS OneDrive
 

Learn More

Box
Microsoft
 

Overview

Box is a Modern Content Management Platform for companies of all sizes and industries. The difference that Box brings is that it offers the security and controls admins need with the sharing and collaboration capabilities end users want. Box has made it easier for people to securely share ideas, collaborate and get work done faster. Today, more than 62,000 businesses, including 59% of the Fortune 500, trust Box to manage content in the cloud.

The Box platform provides HIPAA, FINRA, FedRAMP, and many other compliances to go with granular access permissions and advanced security capabilities.

By using Box you can sync, share, and collaborate on all types of files, anywhere, on any device - but that's just the beginning. You can choose where to store your data, to manage your own encryption keys, and set workflows to automate content-based processes. You can also assign custom metadata tags to content, watermark sensitive content, and set file retention or legal hold policies.

Box has deep, native integrations with Microsoft Office and Outlook, Google Apps for Work, Salesforce, Netsuite, Docusign, Adobe, and many other best-of-breed solutions you may already be using.

Microsoft OneDrive for Business gives you online storage that works seamlessly with the tools you use every day to create, communicate, and collaborate from your PC/Mac or your iOS, Android, or Windows device.

 

Sample Customers

GE, Toyota, P&G, Caterpillar, Flex, Schneider Electric, Sally Beauty, Eurostar, AstraZeneca, AirBnB, Whirlpool, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Nationwide, Aeropostale etc
Chevron, Accenture, Booz Allen Hamilton, DBS, Nestle, Lowe's, MGM Resorts, Textron, MGM Resorts
Buyer's Guide
Box vs. Microsoft OneDrive
July 2024
Free Report: Box vs. Microsoft OneDrive
Find out what your peers are saying about Box vs. Microsoft OneDrive and other solutions. Updated: July 2024.
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