Box vs Dropbox – Are they Equal?

Perhaps Dropbox and Box (formerly Box.net) are the best known examples that exclusively focus on cloud storage solutions. Not least compared to big names like Google and Microsoft with their Google Drive and Skydrive cloud storage services that only represent a fraction of their product portfolios.

Dropbox

Dropbox revolutionized cloud storage services with its Folder Sync service, allowing complete data sync between the Dropbox account and selected folders on users computers and mobile devices. Users can completely control which folders should be synced and easily unsync when needed. With its recent major 2.0 update changing the desktop interface makes accessing the Web service easier and sharing items faster and more obvious.

When it comes to free storage capacity, Dropbox offers a standard 2GB space. With its referral scheme, users can get additional 500MB per referral, up to a max 18GB.

Box

Box has both a free personal and fee-based version for businesses. The personal version offers a decent 5GB of free storage space to start. Business users can get up to 1000GB of storage for a $15/month per user. Larger companies and enterprises can get a custom offer from Box that includes features like full custom branding and role-based access control. Furthermore, 256-bit SSL encryption in transfer and storage is provided in Business and Enterprise packages.

Instead of being purely a cloud storage service, Box has some document creation and editing capabilities which makes it in some ways comparable to Google Drive, although less feature rich. Also, sharing and collaboration possibilities between individual users and groups is extensive, making it very feasible for professional use.

Syncing capabilities in Box are similar to Dropbox. The sync client install smoothly, creating a default sync folder, and displays a orange syncing image when files and folders are being synced.

Box vs Dropbox – Which is Right for You?

At the end of the day I believe these services are similar in many ways, especially for the individual or personal user. Box certainly has some extra capabilities when it comes to editing and collaboration. Also, Box can be integrated to some thir-party applications like SalesForce, making it an interesting alternative for business users. Both offer mobile clients and similar syncing capabilities. All in all, I would say that Box and Dropbox offer similar value for the individual users but Box has the upper hand for business users.