Dropbox launched as a surprisingly simple and effective cloud storage and file-sharing service. You'd drag files into a Dropbox folder, and they'd sync across all your other devices. These days, it's is so much more, providing backup, e-signature tools, mobile apps with OCR technology, an online document editor, and numerous other useful features via its app store. The new features are a boon, transforming Dropbox into a mini productivity suite that I recommend. That said, the service has a few limitations that make IDrive and Microsoft OneDrive, our Editors' Choice winners for value and Microsoft shops, respectively, more attractive options.
Dropbox has a free version, Dropbox Basic, with 2GB of storage. You can earn up to 16GB of free storage by referring people to Dropbox, but it takes work: You only get a scant 500MB per person you refer. Either way, the amount you get for free is less generous than what you get from much of the competition. Apple iCloud and Microsoft OneDrive provide 5GB each, while IDrive doubles that to 10GB. Google Drive has 15GB of free storage, shared with Gmail. Here's another Dropbox Basic limitation: You can install the app on only three devices, including phones. None of the other cloud storage and file-sharing apps I've tested limited free versions in this way.
Dropbox's paid plans start at $11.99 per month or $119.88 per year for Plus, which has 2TB of storage space and removes the device limitation. It's pricier than the competition, though. Google One, which adds storage space to individual Google Drive accounts, charges $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year for 2TB of storage. Apple iCloud costs $9.99 per month for 2TB of storage. Microsoft charges $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year for Microsoft 365 Personal, which includes 1TB of OneDrive storage and Excel, Outlook, and Word. IDrive remains one of the best deals available at $9.95 per month or $69.65 per year for 5TB.
Another option is Dropbox Family, which gives you the same 2TB of storage as Dropbox Plus, but lets you add up to six people to the account, each with their own login. It comes with Family Room, a folder where everyone can access shared content. Otherwise, the benefits are the same as those of Plus. The Family plan costs $19.99 per month or $203.88 per year. Dropbox has a few other account options, but they're business-grade, and this review focuses on Dropbox for personal use. Terabyte for terabyte, then, Dropbox charges more than most of its competitors.
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Dropbox is accessible via a browser or desktop client for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Before you can use it, though, you must head to Dropbox.com and sign up for an account. After doing that, you're prompted to download the Dropbox app, which then creates a Dropbox folder. Any files you put in it are uploaded to the cloud and become available on other devices where you've installed Dropbox, as well as on the web app. Depending on your settings, your files may also be available offline (more on that in a moment).
Dropbox's desktop app primarily lives as an icon in the Windows system tray or Mac menu bar. Click it to see a summary of files that have recently been uploaded, or select your profile icon in the top-right corner to find the settings. From there, you can enable or disable the backup feature, set a bandwidth cap, choose which notifications you want to see, and select the files to sync to your device.
You should pay special attention to the syncing settings. Dropbox, by necessity, works differently than it did in the first few years after it launched. Back then, the model was to sync files directly from your computer to the cloud and to other computers from there. The problem today is that, at 2TB, Dropbox's cheapest paid plan offers more space than most people have on their computers, phones, or tablets. If you sync files from multiple devices and Dropbox copies all those files to every device you sync, you won't have room for them locally.
The result is a welcome compromise. When I set up Dropbox on a PC that didn't already have the application installed, all the new files were available online by default. It changed when I opened a file, causing the cloud icon to disappear and the file to be downloaded and made available for offline use. To summarize, the default setting doesn't sync all your files; rather, it makes them available and visible. Dropbox only downloads the files when you open them. This is good if you want to save storage space.
It's worth noting that this selective syncing feature is only available to paid customers, and it's currently not fully working on macOS. Dropbox advises Mac users to make files available offline before opening them with third-party software. If you don't want to use this feature, you can instead exclude certain folders from appearing on any of your synced devices.
You can back up your computer's documents, desktop, downloads, music, pictures, and movies folders. There's no way to back up other folders, which might annoy people with multiple hard drives. It makes sense, though. Dropbox isn't aiming to be a full-fledged backup service like IDrive; it's only meant to keep a copy of your data safe and synced. That said, Dropbox has versioning, which let me revert a file to any version created in the last 30 days.
The desktop app adds a few other nice-to-have features. For example, you can enable Dropbox as a save location in Microsoft 365, and an overlay in the Office app lets you track document versions.
The nice thing about the web version of Dropbox is that you don't really need to use it very often. That's a compliment. You can do almost everything in Dropbox using the desktop app, which is relatively rare in today's software ecosystem. The web interface is a competent alternative to the desktop or mobile experience, letting you browse and manage all your files, preview hundreds of file types, and easily restore any file you deleted in the past 30 days. That applies if you have Dropbox Basic, Plus, or Family.
Sharing a file from the desktop or web apps is simple: you right-click any file or folder. You can share files with another Dropbox user, or generate a link that lets anyone access the file. The options for sharing are strong, but only if you have a Dropbox Business account. Even with a paid Dropbox Plus account for home users, the options are limited. In my tests, I couldn't set expiration dates on shared links, password-protect files or folders, or lockdown content so people couldn't download them. Those are all things you can do using Dropbox Business. On the upside, the File Request feature let me set up a web page where people could upload files, whether or not they had a Dropbox account.
Perhaps one of the best arguments for using Dropbox is its integration with other applications. The sheer number of supported integrations is a decent reason to consider this file-syncing service over others. The Dropbox App Center provides hundreds of tools you can connect to Dropbox, allowing you to do things like share Dropbox files in Gmail conversations or automatically send content to any folder using IFTTT or Zapier. If an application can connect to any storage service, it can connect to Dropbox, and that's a powerful advantage.
Dropbox also gives you access to other company tools. Dropbox Sign, formerly known as Hello Sign, allows for legally binding document signatures. As a nice touch, Dropbox Plus subscribers can request up to three signatures per month at no extra charge. Dropbox Paper is a bare-bones alternative to Google Docs that works well for quick notes. These are useful additions, but not game-changing offerings.
Dropbox's mobile app is available for Android, iOS, and iPadOS. I tested it primarily on an iPhone.
The app lets you browse all your Dropbox files and any computer folders you've backed up. You can decide to make any file or folder available offline if you like, and you can edit certain files using the appropriate applications, such as a spreadsheet stored in Dropbox with the Excel app on your phone.
The mobile app also automatically backs up all photos and videos on your device. It's a standard feature of the best file-syncing services. If your phone is lost, stolen, or broken, your images and videos need not be gone forever. An added benefit is that you have access to all your photos and videos across all your devices, much like Google Drive.
There's also a handy scanning feature, which let me use my phone to scan multiple pages and create a PDF. My documents were processed using optical character recognition (OCR), so I could search scanned documents using keywords. It's incredibly useful if you have a lot of documents in your storage drive.
For free users, installing the Dropbox app on your phone counts as using up one of your three devices, though you can get around this cap by using the web app in a mobile browser. It works pretty well, though you lose the ability to automatically sync photos and videos.
Dropbox claims that all files are protected using 256-bit AES encryption and SSL/TLS. The company also offers in-transit, end-to-end encryption and two-factor authentication. It's worth noting that Proton Drive, a competitor focused on privacy and security, uses end-to-end encryption that locks down files before they're transmitted (a feature that unfortunately slows file upload speeds).
Best for Integrations
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Hundreds of integrations
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Mobile apps back up phone files and have OCR
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File Request feature lets people without Dropbox accounts share files
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Comes with a few useful Dropbox productivity tools
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Free version only lets you install it on three devices
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Not the best per-GB value
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Syncing issue with Macs
Dropbox, a pioneer in cloud storage and file sharing, is as reliable as ever with its multi-platform support and numerous integrations, but rival services deliver more value.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: Dropbox)
Dropbox
- 5.0 - Exemplary: Near perfection, ground-breaking
- 4.5 - Outstanding: Best in class, acts as a benchmark for measuring competitors
- 4.0 - Excellent: A performance, feature, or value leader in its class, with few shortfalls
- 3.5 - Good: Does what the product should do, and does so better than many competitors
- 3.0 - Average: Does what the product should do, and sits in the middle of the pack
- 2.5 - Fair: We have some reservations, buy with caution
- 2.0 - Subpar: We do not recommend, buy with extreme caution
- 1.5 - Poor: Do not buy this product
- 1.0 - Dismal: Don't even think about buying this product
Read Our Editorial Mission Statement and Testing Methodologies.
Dropbox deserves credit for being a pioneer in cloud storage and file sharing, and it's still a good service. It's fast, integrates with many apps, and comes with a few useful productivity tools. On the other hand, it's relatively expensive for the storage you get, even considering its many features. That's not to say Dropbox is bad; there are just better choices. For example, Microsoft OneDrive, an Editors' Choice winner, costs less and comes with Microsoft 365 Office software. Likewise, IDrive, another top pick, offers one of the best bang-for-your-buck cloud storage services.
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About Our Expert
Justin Pot believes technology is a tool, not a way of life. He writes tutorials and essays that inform and entertain. He loves beer, technology, nature, and people, not necessarily in that order. Learn more at JustinPot.com.
