You wouldn’t wear both a belt and suspenders. So Why are you still using Dropbox when you have Google Drive?
Have you or your company recently changed from Dropbox to Google Drive? We've found that some longtime Dropbox users resist the change because they miss the familiar features and find Drive challenging to work with. This can result extra costs due to having to pay for redundant software licenses for multiple storage solutions.
Many people still utilize Dropbox because it was the first storage solution around. However, more and more people are discovering Google Drive and the convenience it offers. Dropbox provides classic, cloud-based storage that’s easy to use and does its job well, but is that enough? We’ve reviewed and compared both solutions and provide brief overview of each. In addition, Kiwi is an extremely useful tool that makes Drive easier to use and significantly increases adoption.
Business Plans
We’ll start with business offerings because that’s where people need more serious storage solutions and are looking to get the most value. A company's storage provider acts as an information hub that helps team members, even remote ones, share files and collaborate more efficiently. Both Dropbox and Google Drive offer a range of business plans.
Dropbox’s plans start at $12.50 per month for 3TB of storage, which is perfect for a small team, and provide unlimited plans starting at $20 per user, per month. These are reasonable, but the catch here is customer service. Depending on which plan you select, customer service is available either exclusively through email or phone support during regular business hours.
If you're already using G Suite, it comes with 30GB of storage and access to a collection of Google tools, including Docs, Sheets, Slides, and more. It starts at $6 per month with unlimited storage plans starting at only $12. The big difference? Google provides 24/7 customer support via email, phone, and chat for those working the late shift.
Storage Space
Arguably the most important factor when choosing between cloud storage providers: the amount of storage. Google Drive offers 15GB of free storage for all individual users, which is a good amount for the average person. If you’re a fan of Google Docs, you know that they tout unlimited storage space along with Google Photos, which offers free space for unlimited images. You can buy more storage within Google Drive, or upgrade to Google One, to get extra benefits.
On the other hand, the free Dropbox Basic plan provides 2GB of free storage, but users can earn more free space by following Dropbox on social media and referring the service to friends. This is a nice, but with Google Drive offering 15GB no strings attached, it’s a hard sell.
Sharing
Easy file sharing has become an important capability of a storage provider, especially for businesses. There’s more to “sharing” then just giving anyone access to your files. Use a provider that offers different accessibility levels for different parties to ensure your information is safe.
Dropbox is lacking in this area by only offering edit and view access. That may seem like all you would need, but the “view” option in Dropbox is viewing and commenting. Meaning, there is no level which only allows shared users to see a file and not have the ability to leave a comment.
On the other hand, Google Drive provides three levels that solves this issue—view only, view and comment only, and edit. Another advantage, Google Drive allows any guest user you choose to edit a file, without forcing them to create an account.
Real-Time Editing
A true game changer, editing documents and storing them in the cloud has eliminated the process of downloading documents, editing them, and then uploading them again. A new necessity in the workplace. Google Drive has mastered this useful tool with Google Docs and an entire suite that rivals Microsoft Office in convenience.
Dropbox is currently still testing the waters on the right tool to use. They launched Paper in 2016 to give Google a run for their money. But even with a modern interface, it is still not up to par with the capabilities of Google Docs.
We could go on to compare every aspect of these two cloud storage providers, but in this battle, Google Drive is the clear winner. Not just in price, but the offerings in real-time sharing and collaboration put it a step ahead of Dropbox.
Take Google Drive to the Next Level by Using Kiwi
Kiwi makes Google Drive much more user friendly and helps people actually use it more often. A study of Kiwi users found a 140% increase in Google Drive usage. For the first time Drive works seamlessly across multiple accounts. No more logging in and out to try to get to the right account to view the document someone sent you. Kiwi also makes Dirve more useful by making it simple to send large files.