Dropbox vs. Google Drive

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Dropbox
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Dropbox is a cloud storage solution, equipped with features that help users to save time, improve productivity, and collaborate with others. Users can edit PDFs, share videos, sign documents, and collaborate with stakeholders without leaving Dropbox.
$9.99
per month
Google Drive
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Google Drive is a cloud file storage, synchronization, and collaboration platform and service, that features Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for document editing and presentation.
$6
per month
Pricing
DropboxGoogle Drive
Editions & Modules
Plus
$9.99
per month
Essentials
$18
per month
Business
$20
per month per user
Business Plus
$26
per month per user
Basic
Free
Basic
$6.00
per month
Business
$12.00
per month
Enterprise
Contact Vendor for Quote
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
DropboxGoogle Drive
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsDiscounts are available for students, educators, and non profit organizations.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
DropboxGoogle Drive
TrustRadius Insights
DropboxGoogle Drive
Highlights

TrustRadius
Research Team Insight
Published

Features
DropboxGoogle Drive
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Dropbox
7.8
Ratings
7% below category average
Google Drive
7.8
Ratings
7% below category average
Versioning7.50 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Video files7.80 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Audio files7.90 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Document collaboration7.70 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Access control7.80 Ratings8.30 Ratings
File search7.60 Ratings6.10 Ratings
Device sync8.10 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Cloud Storage Security & Administration
Comparison of Cloud Storage Security & Administration features of Product A and Product B
Dropbox
7.9
Ratings
9% below category average
Google Drive
8.2
Ratings
6% below category average
User and role management7.80 Ratings8.30 Ratings
File organization8.10 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Device management7.90 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Cloud Storage Platform
Comparison of Cloud Storage Platform features of Product A and Product B
Dropbox
8.0
Ratings
6% below category average
Google Drive
8.4
Ratings
1% below category average
Performance7.50 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Reliability8.30 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Storage Reports8.20 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Best Alternatives
DropboxGoogle Drive
Small Businesses
SugarSync
SugarSync
Score 5.8 out of 10
SugarSync
SugarSync
Score 5.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.7 out of 10
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.7 out of 10
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
DropboxGoogle Drive
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
6.7
(0 ratings)
9.9
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.5
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
6.7
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
6.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.4
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.5
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(0 ratings)
6.0
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
6.6
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
DropboxGoogle Drive
Likelihood to Recommend
Dropbox is great for everyone. Data on a hard drive is no longer secure. Learned the hard way when a hard drive fried. It's great for families, students, artists, entrepreneurs, consultants, small businesses, startups, graphic designers, and photographers. Did I leave anyone out?
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Suppose you require quick access to files across multiple systems. Real-time collaboration on Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets. You don’t have to send ten different versions of the same file back and forth. One person can write a document in Los Angeles, and someone in Tokyo can be on at the same time and see their edits as they make them.
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Pros
  • Ensures documents are up to date, even with multiple users accessing the same documents.
  • I love that if a team member accidentally deletes a file, I can find it and restore it.
  • I like that I can edit from the web or have the app downloaded.
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  • Any user with access can store a file using different platforms like Android, IOS, Windows, or Ubuntu (Desktop version)
  • You can share files with any number of different users with different access rights or you can even keep it public by providing the access link and assign different rights for public access
  • You can open Excel/Word files using google software Sheets/Docs in the browser environment without having to install software like Microsoft Office etc on your Windows OS
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Cons
  • I’d like to be able to hover over an image/document and have it expand/enlarge without actually opening it
  • I’d love to see a carousel that lets me thumb through more quickly
  • I’m almost always in thumbnail view. I’d like to see them re-organize automatically when something is moved or deleted instead of leaving an empty space.
  • AI options for photo editing.
  • Easier pdf markups
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  • Advanced File Search, personally I find it uncomfortable to search for files with specific extensions within my drive in Google Drive, the interface is not very clear and the search options are limited, making this work tedious.
  • In applications like Google Sheets, the number of cells is extremely small, which limits the amount of information that can be saved, this makes the tool focus on small files.
  • Inherited permissions, it happens to me that in certain shared files when analyzing the permissions granted to the participants some of them are left with owner permissions without having given such property, that point is confusing so I would like the interface to be clearer.
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Likelihood to Renew
Even though it has its shortcomings, Dropbox is an exceptionally useful product for simple file sharing. It’s intelligent design and user-friendly interface have continued to facilitate project completion. However, as we expand, we will probably look to other solutions for storage and sharing as we undertake larger and more intensely collaborative projects
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It's perfect for me. It keeps things saved and is easy to remove items if needed. Also, I very much enjoy the formatting options. Along with the integrations it has for SSO. Overall, this is the most user friendly system I have ever come across.
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Usability
It works extremely well, and we have never had any issues with connecting or sharing files. It's very easy to use, and any team member can share, add, and delete files to a virtual drive. This is extremely helpful, and it's an amazing tool to use, ensuring everyone can connect and work together effectively.
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It's easy enough to use for computer users of all ages and skill levels. I am an advanced user, and I think the hardest part might be showing someone how to download and set up the app on their device if they weren't too familiar with computers, but overall it is very easy to understand.
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Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
Always available
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Performance
Dropbox is really useful, you can access any file from anywhere and you can upload and even edit files online, but, sometimes it can be slow. Downloading, uploading, and syncing is a bit slow, it can take several minutes. Furthermore, the search engine for large amounts of data can be slow too and it is not powerful.
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The documents load fairly quickly and also update in real time, especially given the fact that multiple people can be using it at once. The "Offline" feature works great to allow the user to make edits and access the document without access to the internet, and then sync changes later once they're back.
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Support Rating
They immediately responded like in an example that I gave where one of our staff members accidentally deleted the whole Special Hope Network Dropbox, we immediately contacted Dropbox they walked us through the steps of how to retrieve the information and luckily enough we were able to retrieve the entire Dropbox and we have had back and forth with Dropbox on what to do when an employee leaves how to remove them how to add another employee.
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It takes a few days for customer support to get back to you. Although, I have not had to use support too often. Once you get an email back, they are very thorough and work hard to fix the problem quickly. It is a really great resource and a great way to get the help you need if you're stuck. A phone call also works quickly but you have to call during specific times.
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In-Person Training
No answers on this topic
The effective google workspace using training that my organization received and was conducted by me (as a team lead of the ICT team) was mind-blowing and as a result, our staff is performing well in terms of using the application for their daily jobs than before. Now, in my institution, all teachers and all the administrative personnel are very much interested in cloud storage facilities, in previous my institution was afraid of losing all important documents in the cloud storage. But, after having received the training they are now realized that if anyone has only one google account then he or she can use 15GB of cloud storage freely and they are now happy because now it is not necessary for anyone to carry the traditional pen drive.
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Online Training
I did not personally take any training for Dropbox so I am self taught but I know when our Vice President selected Dropbox, he personally did do some training modules on it and I'm assuming it was very easy and simple to understand since he now acts like he is a pro at it!
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
I needed to stay current in improving my daily operations. Dropbox
was suggested to me by a former colleague two-years ago and I've been using it just fine ever since.
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It's an extremely easy software to implement, once you sign up for a google account you automatically have access to google drive with a set amount of storage space. The business or Google Suite accounts have more storage space than a regular free account, but setting up and accessing google drive is very easy in both cases
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Alternatives Considered
I prefer the layout and visual aspect of Dropbox as it mirrors my files on my computer. I feel that I am more organized, and it's easier to find my files in Dropbox than it was with Google Drive.
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Apple Drive dosn't offer that much storage and doesn't provide vast features with collaborative tools like docs , spreadsheet and forms etc. Google drive also allows you to search for files and folders that contain certain words in their title or content in any perticular file. therefore search is very deep and reliable and hepls to access your data easily
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Scalability
bc i think box.com is better and more affordable
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I have always been able to access
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Return on Investment
  • I access my Dropbox account from anywhere—any computer, my smartphone —is very accessible while still secure.
  • I would like it to be more editable with existing projects. This could be just me.
  • I would like it to integrate better with other systems, such as email and Office.
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  • It has given our operation remote capabilities
  • Easier to access and understand client's need through collaborative enviroment
  • availability to digital resources fast and easy
  • saved our operation hundreds of dollars in physical storage (both investment and maintenance)
  • our operation became easier for new staff to get onboard: small learning curve to use it
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ScreenShots

Dropbox Screenshots

Screenshot of the action bar, that sits across the browser page can be used to record the screen, edit PDFs, upload files, create folders, get signatures, or send and track documents.Screenshot of Dropbox Replay, that lets collaborators leave frame-accurate feedback and markups directly on project files.Screenshot of Dropbox Capture, which can be used to take screen recordings, screenshots, and GIFs with one click and share them with a link.Screenshot of the interface where Dropbox lets users upload, edit, send, and sign PDFs in one place.

Google Drive Screenshots

Screenshot of Google Drive PriorityScreenshot of Comment on Microsoft Files in Google DriveScreenshot of Shared drives