10 Best Alternatives to Dropbox
Dropbox over the past half a decade or so has become the biggest name in cloud storage. It is used everywhere from businesses, to University Students to families wanting to share images and documents with each other. However, what are the alternatives to Dropbox? Do any other companies offer you a better deal or maybe better features. Do any other companies supply you with more places to get your work done? Let’s look at some of the alternatives to the popular cloud storage solution.
GOOGLE DRIVE
PRICE/STORAGE OPTIONS: 15GB Free
Ranges from $1.99/month for 100GB – $299.99/month for 30TB
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BEST FEATURE: Synchronises with all of your Google Documentation and also allows you to save emails and documents instantly from Gmail which is a very popular email service used by many!
CON/s: Is very Google based and will often ask if you wish to convert files to a google-based document
One of the largest name in technology right now by the name of Google have a very popular Cloud service used by a lot of people. Its popularity is probably down to coming pre-installed on Android phones and it’s incorporation with Google’s documentation suite which is their version of Office or Apple’s offering. It offers what both Apple and Microsoft are offering with their documents suites where you can synchronises everything across your devices but also upload separate documents, images and videos if you so desire. Above are the important details for Google Drive that you may need to know.
ONEDRIVE
PRICE/STORAGE OPTIONS: 15GB Free
Ranges from $1.99/month for 100GB – Office 365 (for 5 people)+1TB for $6.99 a month
BEST FEATURE: Synchronises with your Microsoft computer seamlessly which is an operating system still used by the majority of computer owners.
CON/s: Appears to have a slow upload time compared to other competitors.
OneDrive is Microsoft’s offering and therefore is a brilliant option if you’re predominantly a Windows user as this application does also support Mac/Linux and most phones. In fact Microsoft recently brought out their whole Office suite to Android and iOS which synchronises with OneDrive and as a result your Office suite on your desktop or laptop.
iCLOUD (Drive)
PRICE/STORAGE OPTIONS: 5GB Free
Ranges from $0.99/month for 20GB – $19.99/month for 1TB
BEST FEATURE: Synchronises with all your iDevices seamlessly and allows you to access the content if you switch from an iPad to a Mac or other such Apple products.
CON/s: Can’t be used by any mobile devices other than iOS devices.
iCloud Drive as it is now called is an evolution on its predecessor which Apple has used for a long time to synchronise iOS’ data to the Cloud for backup. They recently went one step further and allowed the ability to manually upload and download documents from the service and offer more precise pricing options. The downfall of this service is that it is limited to Apple devices and is also one of the more pricey options, but this is to be expected from Apple.
AMAZON CLOUD DRIVE
PRICE/STORAGE OPTIONS: 5GB Free
Ranges from $0.50/month for 20GB – 1TB/month for around $26.66
BEST FEATURE: Unlimited automatic Photo Storage with a Prime account.
CON/s: Offers no desktop clients and requires a mobile device.
THINGS TO NOTE: Only uses yearly plans.
Amazon Cloud Drive is surprisingly the third largest Cloud service in America right now which may shock some people. It is a service that is only available on Mobile devices as an application but can be accessed via a browser on a desktop or laptop. The service is popular for it’s automatic photo upload service that it’s mobile application offers. It’s prices are done yearly, likely to coincide with Amazon’s Prime business model of a yearly subscription also.
SPIDEROAK
PRICE/STORAGE OPTIONS: 15GB Free
Offers a price plan of $12.00/month for 1TB
BEST FEATURE:
CON/s: Poor design to both the website and mobile clients resulting in harder navigation
THINGS TO NOTE: Intended for businesses so offers alternative pricing options for multiple users. Also uses Euros as payment.
SpiderOak is penned more towards businesses with some more confusing storage offerings. You can sign up for 15GB free or go for the full blown 1TB for $12.00 a month which is a good offering. The service offers some different options for businesses that wish to include more people with one storage cloud.
WUALA
PRICE/STORAGE OPTIONS:
Ranges from $0.99/month for 5GB – $159.90/month for 2TB
BEST FEATURE: Can offer both backup and the synchronisation of files
CON/s: Doesn’t offer a free option and is also one of the more expensive options out there.
Wuala is the company out of the choices who pride themselves on security. They encrypt all files before they are uploaded to their servers which allows a higher level of security when uploading files. They also offer a restore option for files if you accidentally make mistakes or which to use an older version of a document, something that can be very useful when working on important work. Kuala has a wide range of price options allowing for plenty of choice when it comes to your storage selection.
BOX
PRICE/STORAGE OPTIONS: 10GB Free
Ranges from $3.50/month for 100GB – $11/month for Unlimited Data
BEST FEATURE: Offers multiple user support
CON/s: Aimed more towards business users and as a result has a more professional feel so may not be appropriate for families or college/university students.
Box is another business-orientated option for Cloud users. It offers some incredible deals ranging from $3.50 a month for 100GB to $11 a month for Unlimited amount of data for Unlimited users. This offers businesses a brilliant option for mass-file storage. It doesn’t have the most intuitive desktop experience and the apps aren’t brilliant either. However, for a reliable service with an unlimited amount of data for multiple users, Box offers one of the best services around.
SUGARSYNC
PRICE/STORAGE OPTIONS: 5GB for 30 days with Free Trial
Ranges from $6.25/month for 100GB – $45.83/month for 1TB
BEST FEATURE: Allows you to share files privately which can be used to collaborate with others
CON/s: Has no free option after your 30 day free trial.
If you’re unsure on the whole principle of an online storage service and how applicable this is to your everyday life then Sugarsync is ideal for you. With a 30 free trial period to test how often you use online storage, get to grips with the process and enjoy 4+ rated iOS app, this alternative is a perfect option! However, this is a slightly more pricey choice in comparison to the other lead competitors, but with the option to privately share files with other users. This could be a winning feature if you are a student doing group work, family sharing photos or company accessing shared documents.
COPY
PRICE/STORAGE OPTIONS: 15GB Free Offers a Pro option for $4.99/month for 250GB
BEST FEATURE: Have a feature on the site to choose how many Users may be using the service for businesses and adjusts the price accordingly, comparing it to the likes of DropBox and Box.
CON/s: Does not offer a live document view that some other services do!
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For the companies looking to use online storage services, Copy is for you. Despite this, Copy does cater for those that want less space at a low price. This business-facing cloud service has a competitive feature showing a price comparison for multiple user options between lead competitors such as Box and Dropbox displaying their much cheaper offers. So for the business on a budget this is ideal.
MEGA
PRICE/STORAGE OPTIONS: 50GB Free
Ranges from $14.00/month for 500 GB – $39.99/month for 4 TB
BEST FEATURE: Offers by far the largest amount of free space compared to any of it’s competitors out there.
CON/s: Don’t offer a medium amount of storage between the free 50GB and the paid 500GB.
THINGS TO NOTE: Only offers prices in Euros.
Mega is a lead contender for those that require a large amount of space. With no pricing options between 50GB and 500GB this online storage service is very much all or nothing! However, Mega does offer the most free space putting the more popularised iCloud Drive’s free 5GB well and truly to shame! Mega is directed at the European users amongst us, with their pricing schemes being listed in euros but their prices are fair. The website is very attractive, displaying a strong focus on extremely easy usability with a speedy upload process. Overall, Mega is perfect for those starting out with a cloud storage service wanting to get as much space for free as easily as possible.
SUMMARY
After comparing and researching all these alternatives to the one and only DropBox, I would securely narrow it down to three options. OneDrive due to their recent release of Office on Android and iOS and the wider option to use it on more platforms and it’s seamless synchronisation with the very popular Office sweet. Google Drive for similar reasons to OneDrive and it offers some of the best storage options for those who aren’t hugely engrossed in the world of Google. Finally Box as it offers some of the best options when it comes to multiple users and the offer of unlimited storage is going to be tempting for any business with lots of data or the general user who has the largest movie library in the world!
