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.
"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."
"The solution is used for data storage and any kind of visualization."
"Simple file sharing and sync for internal and external customers."
"Sharing and collaborating across files and folders has been a massive game changer."
"The ability to collaborate around data anywhere, anytime is the most powerful features of Box."
"The system's performance is impressive, and file sharing is notably straightforward."
"The most valuable feature of Box is security."
"The sharing feature, with its various permission settings, such as viewing or uploading, is convenient and helpful."
"The performance is good."
"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 convenience. It can connect with all devices that you own."
"Simple to share files with others."
"Its usability is valuable. It is easy to use."
"The initial setup is extremely easy."
"For me, the biggest thing is version history. I can easily go back and view older versions."
"It offers security, accessibility, and user-friendly features."
"The UI should be faster. Sometimes it lags when switching between documents."
"I would love to see the ability to invite collaborators extended to a file level, not just the folder level."
"The solution's data security should be improved."
"If there was a plugin that added some sort of toolbar in Office, that would be great."
"The upload speed needs improvement."
"Working on documents in real-time is sometimes faulty and could be improved."
"One thing that Box would benefit from is a records management component."
"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."
"There is room for improvement in Dropbox's security measures."
"We are moving to Microsoft Teams. Instead of Dropbox, we will be using Microsoft Teams that has the advantage of saving the versions. It supports file versioning so that you can always go back to the previous version if you want to. If somebody has made a change in one of the files and you don't know what changes have been made, you can always go back to the previous version. This feature led us to migrate to Microsoft Teams. With Dropbox, there is no option for simultaneous work. This feature is there in Google Files. In Microsoft Teams, you can invite team members to collaborate. That is the reason why I prefer Microsoft Teams over Dropbox. It should also have more integration with other solutions."
"Dropbox could be improved by reducing the storage price."
"The Security and privacy of this solution need improvement."
"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."
"Dropbox needs to increase its storage."
"The search could be made more intuitive."
"It could be more secure."
Box is ranked 10th in Cloud Storage with 38 reviews while Dropbox is ranked 4th in Cloud Storage with 85 reviews. Box is rated 8.4, while Dropbox is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Box writes "Used for data storage and data collaboration, but its data security could be improved". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Dropbox writes "Seamless file synchronization across devices with user-friendly deployment". Box is most compared with SharePoint, Microsoft OneDrive, Citrix ShareFile, Office 365 and Google Workspace, 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.
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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